BLACK MAGIC

There's more to black than being the opposite of white. We take the blackest Rolls-Royce ever for a trip through the history of darkness

- ROWAN HORNCASTLE

Close your eyes, what do you see? Black. Planets are born out of black, and life succumbs to it. No other colour has an emotional response quite like black. The first colour we used to paint (using animal fat and charcoal) was black. It's worn by priests and penitents, but equally favoured by both fashion designers and fascists. Black is the primordial colour. The OG.

It came before light and has had negative connotations ever since. Black is a void, deathly and not suitable for life. But it's also a constantly conflicted colour, being a mark of both holiness and sin, wealth and poverty, good and bad. Black is also associated with secrecy and stealth (Black Ops, for all you Call of Duty fans) and Yves Saint Laurent said, "Black is the liaison which connects art and fashion". So it's no wonder the car industry has failed to resist the temptation of black. Black sells cars.

It was the most popular paint in Britain from 2009 to 2012 and is currently slathered over a fifth of cars on the road. And you don't need to be an obsessive to recognise we're seeing more and more black trappings on cars; from 'piano black' interiors to black rims and smoked-out grilles. Then there are the fully fledged black special editions - because there's no way to make a Toyota RAV4 sexier and more sellable than the Black Edition.

But there's one company that's doubled down on black, making a whole range dedicated to it: Rolls-Royce.