Richard Yarrow's opinion for startrescue.co.uk, providing low cost Roadside Assistance breakdown cover.

There are many things which are special about a Rolls-Royce but it’s hard to appreciate most of them until you’ve spent time behind the wheel. There’s the sumptuous quality of the leather and wood veneer interior, and the whoosh of power you can hear and feel as you push the starter button. There’s the way you waft along the road, isolated from the bumps in the tarmac in way that’s difficult to explain. There’s the rush of excitement you get when you give the throttle pedal a decent squeeze, and feel the surge of acceleration as the 6.6-litre V12 engine does its job. There’s also the look on your wife’s face when you surprise her on your wedding anniversary and pick her up from work in a hand-built car costing a shade under £200,000.

The vehicle in question is the Ghost, the so-called ‘baby Rolls’ that’s smaller than the Phantom you see Sir Alan Sugar swanning around in on The Apprentice, but still bigger than almost anything else on the road. It’s a stunning piece of engineering that delivers in every way. Having spent the weekend in the car, I came away mightily impressed.

But there’s one other thing you can’t understand until you’ve driven a Roller, and that’s the way other people look at you. I’ve tested a lot of head-turning cars over the years, many when they were a rare sight on UK roads. I’ve enjoyed watching public reaction to me in Ferraris and Aston Martins, I left a Smart parked outside a London Underground station and returned to find a crowd around it. I’ve been pulled over by the police in a Chrysler Crossfire because the officers wanted to have a look at it. But I’ve never been sneered at quite so openly as when I was behind the wheel of the Ghost. It’s something I hadn’t appreciated would happen, and it’s not something I liked. ‘Look at that, who’s that ****?’ seemed to be the general level of their looks. I can’t say I was happy to see the Ghost go early this morning, but I can’t say I’ll miss driving it either.