The new Rolls-Royce Dawn has broken cover officially today, a vast open-top luxury cruiser intended to cosset four adults who want both access to the sunshine but without sacrificing the near-silent ride the marque is known for. This is the Rolls-Royce Dawn, revealed in full for the first time this afternoon.
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Although Rolls-Royce sells about one-third of its annual production in North America, the new vehicle is “a contemporary take on the “casino” lifestyle”, said Giles Taylor, the company’s design director”.
Powering the Dawn is a 563 horsepower, 575 lb-ft of torque version of Rolls’ 6.6L V12 engine. They’re hinged in the rear so that occupants step out through an opening in front of them rather than behind them as in most cars.
When the Rolls-Royce Dawn goes on sale later this year, it will likely command a price premium over the Wraith coupe, which already starts at a steep $288,600.
At the upcoming 2015 Frankfurt auto show, the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet will share the stage with another ultra-luxury droptop, the 2017 Rolls-Royce Dawn.
The Daybreak is meant to draw “youthful, much more social clients”, the chief government of the BMW-owned firm stated, and can “prolong the frontier of the Rolls-Royce model”. As is typical with Rolls-Royce, Dawn customers will be able to specify myriad other color and material combinations. An ZF eight-speed automatic will handle shifting duties. It’s also fairly swift, taking 22 seconds to open, something which can happen at up to 31 miles per hour. Some may argue every model by the British automaker is sexy, the Dawn sets to offer the affluent an opportunity to drop the top and soak up the sun while rolling down the luxury lanes or parked outside social hotspots.
CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes doesn’t mince his words when he describes it as: “Quite simply, the sexiest Rolls-Royce ever built”.
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It’s also eerily quiet on the inside, with the new roof providing the kind of soundproofing previously considered impossible for a convertible.
