PREACH IT! How to drive like a rapper in 2010

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I am in the market for a new car, something that can capture the raw power and celestial grace of my 1995 Toyota Tercel in the heady color of Wild Mint.

So of course I paged Macky Dancy of Dancy Power Automotive Group, considered to be the go-to place when a star wants to buy a car. People like Alicia Keys and Busta Rhymes and Nas go to him for cars. Until now, the ultimate star car has been the Rolls Royce Phantom, and there were rumors going around that the Phantom might go electric in 2010, so I figured I would just, you know, pick up one of those. And maybe find out what Jay-Z might be driving in 2010.

The answer surprised me.

The actual dream celebrity car for 2010 is a far cry from what you might think ...

... and not just because it’s a smaller car. It’s also a cheaper car.

Yes, really.

The electric Phantom is rumored to be on the way, but not in 2010, Dancy tells me. Instead, the “it” car is another Rolls: the smaller, roughly $100,000 Ghost. Here’s the wildest part: Unlike the Phantom, which essentially is designed to house a professional driver at the wheel, the Ghost is designed -- just see if you can deal with this -- to be driven by the owner.

That’s obscene in the rap world, where moguls like Jay-Z and Russell Simmons tend to do business on the phone while on the road. Still, Dancy explains, rappers do sometimes like the power and feel of driving a hot car; hence the Ghost.

And oh: It goes from zero to 60 in less than five seconds. And has a 600-watt sound system. And 563 horses. And the cool hood ornament. And a stainless steel hood so special that you can’t take it to a regular car wash -- you need $1,000 cleanser just to keep the car fresh.

“It is THE car,” Dancy tells me, “the car I have been getting most orders and questions on. ... They are not making a million of these things, only a couple hundred built for the United States. And the fewer they make, the more my clients want it. You’ll be lucky if you see 50 on the road next year.”

In what color, I asked, should I request for my brand-new $100,000 Toyota replacemen?

“It does have a nice, traditional black, and white is also pretty popular,” Dancy says. I was disappointed by the lack of Wild Mint, but the $1,000 cleanser probably wouldn’t do that color justice.

See on on the road, Jay-Z!

-- Leslie Gornstein

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