Rolls Royce Dawn OFFICIALLY arrives as the Wraith loses its roof (+video)

[nggallery id=2171 template=customlinks]

The Rolls Royce Dawn – the convertible Wraith – has been revealed as a luxury four-seat coupe convertible, dubbed the sexiest Rolls Royce ever built.

The headlines of late about Rolls Royce have been about the planned SUV, but before that the current range needs rounding off with a convertible take on the Wraith, and here its is – the new Rolls Royce Dawn.

The Dawn may, in effect, be a Wraith with the roof off, but Rolls Royce are keen to point out that 80 per cent of the body panels on the Dawn are bespoke – not pilfered from the Wraith – and the result of that attention to detail has created “The sexiest Rolls Royce ever Built”. Or so say RR’s PR people.

Rolls Royce has also give the Dawn its own suspension setup, with new air springs and active roll bars which, they say, will mean it can waft like a Rolls should, handle like a Rolls shouldn’t and do all that despite 20″ alloys with run-flat tyres.

Powering the Dawn is the same 6.6 litre V12 as the Wraith has, which means 563bhp and 575lb/ft of torque, mated to an eight-speed auto ‘box that has Rolls’ clever ‘sorted by the SatNav’ setup to create exactly the right response to upcoming twists, turns and inclines.

The big drop-top is a fabric one, despite which Rolls claim it to be the most serene convertible cabin there is, with noise levels no greater than the Wraith when the hood’s up, but it seems a major motivation for a fabric roof is so you can hear rain pattering on the canvas. Apparently.

The interior of the Dawn is typically Rolls Royce (although their target audience for the Dawn is probably clear with the almost orange leather in the photos), and will be fully familiar to anyone who’s been in a Ghost or Wraith.

There are new special touches for the Dawn – like the polished metal chaplets round the dials which are designed to evoke luxury watches, and a new ‘Dawn’ clock – but Rolls Royce will fully expect you to dig deep to have an interior that works for your taste.

When the Rolls Royce Dawn starts to hit showrooms you can expect the starting price to be in excess of £250,000, despite which RR already have a healthy order book.

Rolls Royce Dawn Video