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Rolls Royce has record 2008

We reported a while back about Rolls Royce prospering despite the credit crunch, and figures revealed today show that they continue to prosper despite the doom and gloom. When we last wrote about this back in November, we reported that Rolls Royce’s year end showed an increase of 38% year on year, with a total of 945 cars sold. Well, they’ve obviously continued in the same vein as their 2008 sales total has reached 1210, an increase of 20% over 2007.

New Rolls Royce Wraith on the road (video)

The new Rolls Royce Wraith hits the road The new Rolls Royce Wraith – revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March – is Rolls Royce’s answer to the sport credentials of Bentley, and it’s a convincing effort. Essentially a Ghost Coupe, the Wraith’s styling is, perhaps, a little jarring with its almost dog humping back end, but from some angles it also looks remarkably elegant for a two door coupe that’s the size of a delivery truck. But the key to the Wraith’s appeal – apart from the sumptuous fixtures and fittings – is its dynamism and power, with 624bhp on tap from its v12 (and an earth-turning 590lb/ft of torque too) enough to shift the Wraith to 60mph in a very un-Rolls Royce 4.4 seconds.

Driven: Honda FRV

The Honda FRV is a misunderstood car. It's a European market orientated compact MPV that unusually has two rows of three seats, a configuration shared only with the earlier Fiat Multipla design. But unlike the bulbous, short, tall and deep-windowed Italian, the Honda shares almost identical dimensions to the five seat Renault Scenic that is the compact MPV market leader (the longer wheel base Scenic and other compact MPVs with three rows of seats to seat seven people is about a foot longer).