As the nights draw in and pumpkins leer from the driveways of Britain’s locked-down cities, it seems unlikely – and unwise – to head out trick-or-treating this year.
You’re just going to have to eat that stash of mini Mars Bars and sweet-shop assortments yourself by the light of a flickering smartphone. While you do, we’ve been looking for the best cars for Halloween – no hearses allowed.
Though if you do think that’s your style, here’s a hearse buying guide…
Rolls-Royce Ghost
Just refreshed for 2021, the Ghost is perhaps the least frightening of the cars we can find for the Pakers Halloween Party.
Despite being Rolls-Royce’s smallest model it’s still a bit of a monster, though it feels lighter than air to drive. It’s silent and subtle (compared to the Cullinan), and you can buy the earliest ones for around £75,000 – perhaps the scariest thing about this Ghost is the depreciation…
>> Read our Rolls-Royce Ghost review
Plymouth Prowler
Hidden in the dark, is it human, or beast?
The Prowler is a strange chimaera of Chrysler’s weirdly cut-price image, hand-built manufacturing and almost bespoke hot-rod looks, with a mainstream engine and gearbox that make it unbelievably easy to drive compared with the 1930’s rods that inspired it. It’s got a criminal past, too – the Prowler’s art-deco theme legitimised the PT Cruiser and convinced scores of motorists that the style-over-substance large hatchback was ‘cool’. Fortunately, the Prowler is incredibly rare – you can sleep well tonight, knowing you’re safe from this risen-from-the-dead rod.
There are few for sale in the UK, as they were a specialist import, but you can find them for less than £40,000 if you look carefully.
>> Search for Plymouth Classic Cars for Sale
>> More about the Plymouth and Chrysler Prowler
Rolls-Royce Phantom
What’s bigger than a Ghost? How about a Phantom? This supernatural car can often be seen carrying around the impossibly old, detached from reality and so isolated from the world outside they could be trapped in limbo.
But that’s enough about London’s ruling elite – what about the car? It’s as quiet as a coffin inside, and almost as well-padded, though the view is a little better (including optional stars in the headliner).
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The doors slam shut with the solidity of a mausoleum in Montmartre, and the gothic architecture of the grille is topped with the Spirit of Ecstasy; itself an echo of a story of forbidden love, passion and tragedy that is over a century old. No matter what you think of what this car represents, you can’t deny you’d feel alive showing up at the party in it. Lurch, bring the car around.
>> Read our full Rolls-Royce Phantom review
Dodge Demon
Can’t afford to splash out on some Rolls-Royce style Ghost Adventures, or just determined that your car could rip a hole into the underworld?
Chrysler’s sister marque Dodge comes to the rescue with the aptly-named ‘Demon’. You’ve seen the sinister shape of the Chrysler 300C roaming Britain since 2005, and in America it has a two-door coupe version, the Challenger – which inevitably comes with a monstrous V8 option.
In the Demon, the standard 6.2-litre ‘Hemi’ V8 has been tuned to produce up to 840hp, allowing this large muscle car to reach 60mph in 2.0 seconds. Realising they created something truly terrifying, Dodge restricted the Demon to 168mph – but modified, it was (and may still be) the fastest accelerating non-electric production car ever made.
And it cost under $90,000 dollars when new; its unholy spirit lives on in the Challenger Hellcat…
>> Find out about Dodge Demon/Hellcat sales in Europe
Lamborghini Diablo
If you’re looking for the most old-school evil you can dig up, a manufacturer that shares a country with the home of the Catholic Church naming their car ‘devil’ has to rate pretty highly.
Following on from the pointy ’80s pin-up Countach, the Diablo got all ’90s on the wedge with soft edges and advanced technology that should inspire real terror in the hearts of any supercar fan. It was the first Lamborghini to exceed 200mph, and if you’re into tracing family origins, it coincided with Chrysler owning Lamborghini – perhaps that Pentastar of the American brand should have been a pentagram.
Under the long rear deck of the Diablo beats a V12 heart up to 6.0 litres, producing up to 595hp. This is one case where a Demon is, in fact, more powerful than a Devil – but at the time the Diablo was a proper pin-up. They’ll still set you back more than £200,000 now.
>> Read the Lamborghini Diablo review here
Rolls-Royce Wraith
Another gothic horror from Britain’s finest marque, the Wraith is definitely the rebel of the crew. Where the Phantom and Ghost are subdued, even staid, saloons designed to dominate silently, the Wraith is a rakish fastback coupe that adds just a hint of threatening growl as it puts 623hp of turbocharged V12 power through the rear wheels.
Opt for the Black Badge edition and it has some of the sound deadening removed for even more of a thrill as you hear the subdued howl of what is, by any measure, a supercar-class engine. These have even been seen drifting, such is the uncouth nature of the Wraith.
Amazing colour schemes are available, and the dead of night is captured with that starlight roof trim, too. This is, arguably, the most decadent Halloween car you can buy new – but the scariest thing is their ability to lose over £125,000 in five years. Yes, you’ll pick up a 2015 Wraith for half the new price – often with less than half an average mileage, and in tasteful colour schemes rather than the value-shredding ‘footballer’ hues of a typical cheap Bentley. If there’s such a thing as a bargain Rolls-Royce this is it – but just think how much further it could fall. Don’t have nightmares…
>> Read our Rolls-Royce Wraith review here
Are there any haunted places to visit in these cars?
Britain’s not short of ghosts – but most of them know their Green Cross Code and steer clear of manifesting in busy streets.
RAF Metheringham, a former airfield in Lincolnshire, is reputedly haunted by the ghost of a women who died in a motorbike accident. If nothing else, this highlights the dangers of long, straight yet bumpy roads in the area, but it’s also an interesting place to visit for the history and geography…
Britain’s most haunted road is allegedly the Stocksbridge Bypass. It’s been the subject of a terrifyingly bad (if the reviews are any guide) documentary by ghost hunter Phil Sinclair, You can watch it on Amazon Prime – if you dare.
Head north, to Dumfries, and you’ll find Scotland’s most haunted road – the A75 Kinmount straight. Fortunately even if you miss out on ‘great cats’ and ‘ghostly hens’ flying toward the windscreen, Dumfries has some wonderful places to visit when restrictions allow.
Finally, if we’re discussing haunted roads and cars, a mention has to go to ARK 666Y – the Haunted Capri. Activity seems to have subsided after many teams of ghost hunters have visited the classic Ford, and due warning – that site looks like it’s risen from the dead of 1990s gifs and fonts – but what better car to be possessed than the villain of Britain’s boy racer culture?
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