"Let's talk about sex, baby!" Usually Richard Carter strikes a different note when he talks about a Rolls-Royce. But when the press spokesman for the distinguished BMW subsidiary looks at the new one Rolls-Royce Dawn wanders, sometimes go through the nags a bit with him. Because for the British, the open alternative to the Wraith, which celebrates its public premiere next week at the IAA in Frankfurt and will be released on the boulevards of the world shortly after the turn of the year at prices starting at EUR 330.000, is no less than the most passionate car, the Rolls Royce has ever put on the wheels.
It is not for nothing that design boss Giles Taylor was allowed to reshape 80 percent of all body parts and wrote the Dawn an almost lascivious casualness for Rolls-Royce, Carter says, as he strokes the fenders, which emphasize the high beltline and the smooth finish and explains to the commoners in their ignorance that even the huge cooler is a little more streamlined in the wind.This lustful and passionate basic mood even goes right through to the nomenclature: Instead of rummaging through the dark mythology of the castle ghosts, Dawn therefore pays homage to the magical Moment of dawn.
Of course, the Dawn is still a Wraith under the tin as you know it. It uses the same platform with a wheelbase that is 18 centimeters shorter than the Ghost in favor of driving dynamics, it comes with the eight-speed automatic transmission based on satellite signals, and the 6,6-liter V12 engine, which has two turbos, at least 570 hp and whispers in its bow Blow in 780 Nm. That should be enough so that even the estimated 2,7 tons empty weight feels wonderfully light and you can sometimes refresh the hairstyle a bit with a neat gas throttle.
Rolls-Royce celebrates Dawn as "the most sexy car alive" and if you imagine the large convertible on a coastal road like Highway Number One or the Croisette, you can actually shiver down your spine. But where other beach beauties rely on textiles that are as scarce as possible, the British go exactly the other way: their soft top is probably the largest that is currently being assembled in the automotive industry. If you have struggled majestically under the wooden lid behind the armchairs in the rear, you can also sit on the most spacious sun deck in the PS world. Even the big brother Phantom, as a Drophead Coupé, does not offer so feudal conditions.
And that's not the only superlative that Rolls-Royce uses to attract sun worshipers in tuxedos. At the same time, the British promise the world's quietest convertible to the better earners. The mechanics optimized once again, the hydraulic pump mounted far away from the interior and the scrim made of leather, fabric and insulation material a few layers thicker - so you drive in the closed dawn just as quietly as in the Wraith and get absolutely nothing out of the world out there.
Customers will take good note of this. But they won't be embarrassed to actually try it out often. And they will also rarely be exposed to the 22 seconds of patience for the noiseless hydraulic ballet. Because once you get behind the wheel of a Rolls-Royce, the sun always shines everywhere. And if the sky over paradise should darken, then the common Rolls-Royce customer has an average of a dozen other vehicles in the garage, one of which certainly has a solid roof.
Author: Benjamin Bessinger / SP-X