Just for fun, engage your senses and take a look at the newest Rolls-Royce option the Dawn that in just 4.9 seconds can reach 60 miles per hour with top speeds topping out at 155 miles per hour.
Executives say the Dawn is the quietest open top car ever made, too.
Studying the open-top motor car sector, and specifically its high-value luxury niche, executives at Rolls-Royce say it became apparent to designers that customers were being short-changed. The myopic focus on one specific configuration – the 2+2 setup – was, in the view of Rolls-Royce, a compromise too far.
“At Rolls-Royce, we pride ourselves as creators of fine motor cars that also serve as social spaces,” Giles Taylor, Director of Design, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said. “The idea of creating a car like Dawn that can be used in comfort by only two adults on a day to day basis is anathema. In creating Dawn we have accepted no compromise to the comfort and luxury of four adults who want to travel together in the pinnacle of style.”
The new Rolls-Royce Dawn offers a striking yet elegant exterior design with classic Rolls-Royce appearance and presence. Possibly the most vibrant Rolls-Royce in the lineup expect alluring qualities that bring a new level of finesse, sophistication and refinement in a coupé such as this one.
Folks at Rolls-Royce are also hoping to attract a broader, younger and more socially-aware audience around the world with this one too with a main goal to make a car that looks as beautiful with its roof up as with it down. One could almost say that the result of the design team’s endeavor on this one has been to make the new Rolls-Royce Dawn two cars in one.
On the outside, the Rolls-Royce Dawn maintains timeless Rolls-Royce design principles – 2:1 wheel height to body height, a long bonnet, short front overhang, a long rear overhang, an elegant tapering rear graphic and a high shoulder line. The powerful and striking front end is edgy, almost masculine with a bold shoulder line that flows over the swell of the rear wheels with a tapered “wake channel’ on the bonnet, emanating from the Spirit of Ecstasy’s wings and when seen side-on and roof up, Dawn looks a bit like a low-slung hot rod.
The grille and bumper focus attention on the horizontal lines of the car rather than the traditional vertical lines of the other members of the Rolls-Royce family. The bumper now incorporates the number plate surround and a new focused lower air dam. The mesh in the lower valance is recessed and black in color, helping create a sense of depth which supplements the depth in the grille. Also, chrome “blades” act to plant the car while also complementing the horizontal lines and accelerating the flow of the eye around the car thus increasing the impression of power and width.
As for the convertible top, the quiet lowering of the soft top transforms the Rolls-Royce Dawn and take note of the Midnight Sapphire exterior and Mandarin leather interior. You will also find stainless steel door handles, polished wheels, visible exhausts and front and rear bumper jewelry all to create that priceless look and feel and the deck itself is a work of craftsmanship. Clothed in open-pore Canadel panelling that traces the horse-shoe shape of the rear cabin, it demonstrates the great advances that the craftspeople in the Woodshop at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood have made in wood crafting technology and techniques. The wood on the deck, chosen by the customer to suit individual tastes, flows down the ’Waterfall’ between the rear seats and around the cabin clothing the interior door panels. The Rolls-Royce Dawn definitely offers four very individual seats and take note of the new clock design featuring the new motor car’s name inside as well.
Dawn is fitted with the Spirit of Ecstasy Rotary Controller, an intuitive, one-touch control that allows the user effortless access to media and navigation functions with a touch pad with the ability to write characters by finger, as well as the ability to scroll through function menus by turning the chrome dial and pressing down to select its functions.
As for the sound system, the Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke Audio system has been calibrated for a unique configuration of the Rolls-Royce Dawn and whether the roof is open or closed, Bespoke Audio ensures perfect acoustic balance and performance with 16 individually-tuned speakers and both theatre and studio settings.
Under the hood is a twin-turbo 6.6-litre V12 powertrain with 563 horsepower and 575 pound feet of torque, which means easy top speeds and the quietest ride ever with a weight of 5,644 pounds and 17.34 feet long, 6.39 feet wide and 4.93 feet tall.
Should You Need to Know: Available in the first quarter of 2016, the Rolls-Royce Dawn name is a nod to the company paying homage to the Silver Dawn, which is a name that was used on 28 vehicles from 1950 to 1954.
Miles Per Gallon: Not available at press time
Cost: $300,000-plus
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