The first official pictures and full details of the first Rolls-Royce to be built by new owners BMW will be released tomorrow.

The new £240,000 Rolls, until now codenamed RR01, is being produced at a new £65 million facility at Goodwood, near Chichester.

Tomorrow's launch will be followed by the first public appearance of the new car at next week's Detroit Motor Show in the United States.

BMW will be producing about 1,000 vehicles a year at Goodwood, close to where the marque's co-founder Sir Henry Royce once lived.

The new car is expected to be 19ft long and powered by a 6.8l V12 engine. Rolls's distinctive Spirit of Ecstasy symbol will remain.

Rolls-Royce project head Tony Gott has insisted the car is very much a Rolls and not just a fancy BMW.

He said: "There is no connection between the driving experience of the new Rolls-Royce and that of a BMW.

"When people buy a new Rolls-Royce, they are buying a product which is like no other motor car."

The engines and bodies of the new car are being delivered complete to Goodwood where the cars are painted and assembled by a workforce of 350.

BMW is hoping the new car will spark an upturn in UK sales.