Is a Rolls Royce an exotic car? During the early part of the 20th century and through the middle decades that answer was almost unilaterally, "No". In the 21st century, though, the answer you get will probably depend on who you ask. With so many young people never having been exposed to images of the Rolls Royce ultra-luxury car, and so few made or in existence on the planet compared to the number of the other cars in existence, the car company and their cars have become quite mysterious, unable to be identified by many. As such, in the ever changing automotive industry, their classification is eeking it's way toward being defined in popular culture as a car that is both luxury and exotic (kind of like the hybrid definition of a car brought on by rarity and lack of public recognition due to its lack of presence on the roads or in the spotlight).

21ST CENTURY SPOTLIGHT ON THE ROLLS ROYCE

Recent celebrity attention has been drawn to the brand by owners such as Simon Cowell of American Idol and record production fame and the recently deceased Michael Jackson. Cowell, famous as a judge on the pop culture driven singing star search show, is most notably one of the fastest and best celebrity drivers in the world. When visiting the BBC show "Top Gear", Cowell was easily able to move to the top of the board, earning himself a substantial amount of respect from motorsports enthusiasts worldwide who otherwise would not pay a bit of attention to him while thinking he's a mean spirited bore. [We kind of hope the STIG gave Cowell a bit of a friendly racing smackdown lesson off camera and after the show, though.] Jackson, on the other hand, as a pop star was used to being chauffeured around for security reason (we're sure). That did not stop the celebrity from keeping a personal car collection that included over 75 vehicles to utilize while fitting his eccentric moods or to put away in warehouses to store.

When a Southern California Rolls Royce dealership loaned a fleet of Rolls Royce cars to be used to drive the Jackson family and close personal friends in the funeral procession from the Staples Center to the Forrest Lawn Cemetery [July 2009], they did so as part of a targeted marketing strategy as much as from a client favor type bit of altruism. As a result of their successful placement in front of the media and press, the Rolls Royce brand, a car little known about by individuals under the age of 40 and not directly involved with the high line luxury and exotic car business, made it's first real media splash appearance to a new generation -- one that thinks of the traditionally know "ultra-luxury car" as an exotic primarily due to scarcity.

Whatever kind of car you choose to call it, the Rolls Royce is a car that has re-entered the public eye as a prestigious automobile. As such, the car seller's promotion agents have been successful both enticing the public to hold a higher level of esteem for it, while maintaining the cars mystique --and at the same time helping get its target audience of young celebrity clients and established wealthy individuals more familiar with it and its 21st century 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and upcoming 2010 models. The ultimate question, then, is not whether or not the Rolls Royce is a strictly a luxury car or whether or not it can be classified as an exotic car -- and it's not even about how much are you willing to pay for it if you could afford it.

The real question is, "Do you want to buy it?" Because bottom line, it's a public love and fascination with any product that makes it worth a monetary value, and the more rare an object is, the more likely it is to increase in both monetary value and social awareness status. After all, it's what makes us all covet exotics -- the idea of owning or enjoying having the opportunity to take part in driving or riding in something so fundamentally unique as an experience... and when it comes to offering their clients an exclusive opportunity to enjoy their time traveling on any short or long commute, the Rolls Royce model cars have definitely got it. The post-modern era "je ne sais quoi" that is redefining the car marquee as offering cars that are rapidly being redefined and classified as ultra-luxe exotics.

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