2017 Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge - A Princess’ Birthday Chariot

“Whether you’re five or 55 years old, seeing a majestic Rolls-Royce parked outside your house makes you feel special. As special as every five-year-old little girl should feel on her big day.”

2017 Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge – A Princess’ Birthday Chariot

Truth be told, Missi and I have never been big into birthday parties. We often let our kids pick what they want to do, and simply fulfill their requests. Thankfully they’ve always been simple requests like, dinner at Chuck-E-Cheese’s, or a $0.99 fish for our youngest. For our oldest, a sleepover or a few hours at the bowling alley typically do the trick. Pretty simple stuff. We’re not exactly MTV’s “Sweet 16” material, you know?

Somehow, all of that and then some went out the window when we were overcome by the emotion of our little one turning five, and our oldest 13 within a few days from each other. Holy smokes! Not only will we have to deal with the ever-lasting mood-swings of a teenager, but also the full-throttle smartassness of a toddler transitioning into a full-blown kid. Quickly, let’s celebrate the end of our sanity!

So we did. We became those party-crazy parents that hunted down venues, talked to party planners and inspected endless online reviews with hopes of finding the perfect party place. Thankfully, the soon-to-be 13 asked us for a laptop and said to forget the party. We sighed in relief. Still, that left us with our princess-in-training without a party venue, and the days were counting down.

I’m a car guy, so even more important than finding an actual party venue, was having the right ride for my little princess on her big day. After all, you’re only five once, right? Thankfully the cool guys at Volvo came through with a gorgeous, Volvo XC90 T6 Inscription, which happens to be their flagship vehicle with a price of nearly $73 grand. Needless to say, I felt proud. After all, I’d be parking the not-so-flagship family Honda Civic, and taking my daughter to her birthday party in a luxury Swedish vehicle. Score!

Birthday Piñata in the Volvo XC90

After a few visits to different “fancy” venues, we decided to be super original and have the party at a bouncy house place. But what happened the night before the party was something that I never thought would happen, but somehow I always dreamed of. My phone rang…

It was my good friend and colleague, Harvey Briggs from Rides and Drives, and this is literally how the conversation went:

“Hey Jerry”
“Hey Harvey, what’s up?”
“I’m going to be in Indy tomorrow”
“Oh sweet!”
“Yeah, let’s hang out. Do you want a Rolls-Royce Wraith or a Ghost?”
“@#$&!, Harvey?”

Yes. I can now say that at least once in my life my phone rang and someone asked me which kind of Rolls-Royce I wanted brought over to my house. A coupe or a sedan? ’Nuff said.

Being the responsible and loving father that I am, I put my daughter’s needs above my own and asked Harvey if he could kindly bring the Ghost (sedan) over. Being the awesome guy that he is, he also volunteered to chauffeur my little princess to her birthday party! Without a doubt, my luxurious and swanky Volvo SUV had instantaneously been mega one-upped.

The next morning at 10 o’clock sharp there was a $73,000 Volvo and a $400,000 dollar Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge parked at my house. If you’ve never had two cars totaling half-a-million dollars parked at your house for all your neighbors to see, it’s a very glamorous feeling.

“All of the sudden, we actually were MTV’s ‘Sweet 16’ material!”

As one would expect from a Princess, Josephine made sure to get dolled up in her pretty dress, and pretty shoes, and pretty hair. And because fashion has no boundaries, she wore her favorite ‘Shopkin’ socks with her “high” heels. She happily handed her backpack full of birthday toys to her chauffeur, and she posed for the camera as if she knew how much she would cherish those photos, 20 or 30 years later.

The Black Badge Ghost isn’t your “average” Rolls, if there is such thing. The darker sibling of the normal Ghost features all-black adornments that would normally be chromed. It rides on aluminum and carbon fiber 22-inch wheels worth $6,000 dollars each; it has an LED-filled suede headliner made to resemble a starry night; and because Princesses are typically in a hurry, a 6.6-liter V12 engine with 603 horsepower.

Obviously I pushed my wife and dad out of the way as they attempted to ride with her in the backseat. After all, it was me that got the call from Harvey! Needless to say, the rest was history. We rode to BounceU in the utmost luxury and style; turning heads at every light and even on the highway. If you’ve ever wondered why people spend mansion-money on a Rolls-Royce, simply ride or drive in one for a mile. You’ll quickly realize why.

In the end, it was my daughter’s birthday and everything was perfect. It was her first big party, and it was one for the books. All of her friends (and more) showed up, family flew in from out of town, the cake was perfect, and her dress was perfect. More importantly, she got the ride of a lifetime thanks to good friend that simply called to say: “Which Rolls-Royce do you want?”