Rolls-Royce redesigns hood ornament to be more aerodynamic

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The Rolls-Royce “Spirit of Ecstasy” hood ornament has always been too big for its own good. At the time the figurine was registered by the company in 1911, she stood a massive six inches tall, and by 1934, drivers were getting so annoyed with having to look around here that the company took her from standing to kneeling down. (She was stood back up after 1939 but shrunk in size significantly.)

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Now the British luxury marque is downsizing the statuette again – to about 3.25 inches tall, some 0.68 inches shorter than the current hood ornament – and streamlining the Spirit for better aerodynamics. Hey, when you’re about to pivot to making electric cars, every little bit of drag counts, right?

The new ornament has gone from a feet-together pose, bending forward at the waist; to one with one leg forward with knees bent.

Despite the company’s reputation as perhaps one of the most old-world traditionalist automakers out there, it decided the new Spirit Ecstasy would be based on a digital model instead of a hand-carved, -tweaked, or -drawn physical sculpture. This computer-based approach allowed its designer to add more realistic folds to the robes worn by the Spirit, as well as add more detailed facial features.

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As alluded to above, the new Spirit of Ecstasy will make her debut on the hood of Rolls-Royce’s all-new electric Spectre EV, in late 2023, before being rolled out across the rest of the company’s modest lineup.

The hood ornament is traditionally cast in stainless steel, but Rolls-Royce will also spec examples out of carbon fiber, solid silver, plated gold, and even illuminated crystal. That last one comes with a caveat, though—you have to live in a market that hasn’t banned the lit-up lady for light pollution reasons . C’mon, we’re going green, here!