Rolls-Royce RR4 news - Mini Rolls - 2008

Rolls-Royce has just released the first sketches of its all-new model - a more compact, sharper saloon codenamed the RR4.

Unlike the rest of the world, we won't call it the 'Baby Rolls', because that sounds like some terrible cannibalistic dessert, but that's what you're looking at: a car that Rolls describes as 'a smaller, sleeker, more driver-oriented model than the Phantom'; a car that you should be excited about.

We've known about Rolls' plans to build a smaller saloon since the Paris Motor Show in 2006, but this is the first official word on the RR4's existence.

Rolls says that engineering development is underway, with the manufacturer's Goodwood factory being rebuilt to deal with the extra demand.

In truth, the sketches don't elicit much new information. It looks like the RR4 will get a high, Chrysler 300C-style belt line, but the same thick C-pillar as the Phantom.

Spy shots suggest that it could be based on the BMW 7-Series platform, and get Rolls' favourite suicide rear doors.

Most excitingly, the RR4 will ditch the tried-and-tested 6.75-litre V12 engine from the rest of the Rolls range in favour of an all-new powerplant.

There's no word on what it'll be yet, but given Rolls' BMW parentage, we might hazard a guess at either the 4.4-litre V8 from the X6, or perhaps the six-litre V12 from the 760i.

We do know the RR4 won't come cheap. Though it was originally expected to be an 'entry-level' model, Rolls has now confirmed that the RR4 will 'sit alongside the Phantom model line-up' - so don't expect prices to start below £250,000.

Nonetheless, it should be awesome. We'll find out more about the mini-Rolls before its launch in 2010. We can't wait.