Shock and awe at Dawn

WILLY Tee Ten, president of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Manila Inc., and Sven Ritter, Asia-Pacific regional sales manager of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd.

Photos by Aida Sevilla-Mendoza

The 2016 Rolls-Royce Dawn created shock and awe when it rolled into view on the last Thursday of July.

Shock because of its extrovertly Mandarin Orange interior, and awe because it is so magnificently spectacular.

Willy Tee Ten, president of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Manila, drove the newest Rolls convertible into the showroom of British Bespoke Automobiles Inc. with the top down, allowing all to appreciate the stunning contrast between the Midnight Sapphire exterior and the Mandarin Orange leather interior supplemented by Rosewood full Canadel paneling.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Asia-Pacific regional sales manager Sven Ritter, who jetted into Manila from the regional office in Singapore for the Philippine press preview, said: “Dawn is incredibly well-suited to all generations of Rolls-Royce customers, but especially the younger, affluent set in the Philippines who desire something striking, beautiful and uncompromised.

Bespoke, handcrafted

“Its design evokes glamour and offers a supreme experience for four adults in total comfort. It is the pinnacle luxury good—rare, bespoke and handcrafted to the unmistakable Rolls-Royce standard.”

Willy Tee Ten added: “We are optimistic that our customers will respond very favorably to Dawn, and already we are registering strong interest for the car from Filipino customers.

THE LINES of the Dawn are sensuous, with a Mandarin Orange pinstripe accentuating the curvature of the body.

“The Philippines registered one of the fastest economic growth figures in Asia so far this year, bolstering our belief in Rolls-Royce’s continued success in the market.”

The second droptop model in Rolls-Royce lineup below the Phantom Drophead Coupe, the Dawn sits lower to the ground than the Wraith coupe, and shares the latter’s doors and rear bumper.

The Dawn’s rear-hinged front doors and the 21-inch forged 10-spoke polished wheels are noteworthy.

Full four-seater

Rolls-Royce calls the Dawn a thoroughly contemporary full four-seater Drophead.

Completely superior to two-plus-two topdowns in terms of legroom at the rear, the Dawn sets the benchmark for superluxury convertibles.

The lines of the Dawn are sensuous, with a Mandarin Orange pinstripe accentuating the curvature of the body.

Like the classic 1961-1964 Lincoln Continental, the splendid, handcrafted bodywork of the Dawn is not marred by any creases whatsoever.

WITH space for two in the backseat, four adults can travel together in the pinnacle of style.

The material opulence of the cabin, combining Mandarin Orange and navy blue full natural grain leather with herringbone-style Canadel Rosewood on the dash, doors, and rear tonneau, Art Deco detailing and switchgear, lambswool floor mats, the Rolls-Royce bespoke audio, and Spirit of Ecstasy rotary controller—all these contribute to Rolls-Royce’s claim that it is the most beautiful superluxury convertible in the world.

What’s more, the interior can be personalized according to the customer’s preferences. This is what Rolls-Royce Bespoke is world-famous for.

‘Silent ballet’

The cabin need not be sullied in case it rains. At the press preview, Sven Ritter demonstrated the “Silent Ballet,” the smooth and noiseless operation of the thickly padded fabric roof going up or down in just over 20 seconds.

The roof can be operated even at a cruising speed of up to 50 kilometers per hour.

WITH the roof down, the beauty and peerless craftsmanship of the cockpit in Mandarin Orange is opened up.

With the roof up, the Dawn is almost as hushed inside as the Ghost four-door, giving Rolls-Royce reason to tout it as not only the most beautiful superluxury convertible in the world, but also the quietest.

Another reason for the quietest drophead claim is the engine.

The gargantuan Dawn is powered by a 6.6-liter, 48-valve, twin turbo V12 engine similar to the Rolls-Royce Ghost, and producing the same 563 bhp/5250 revolutions per minute and 780 Newton-meters max torque at just 1500 rpm.

The 6.6-L V12 utters barely more than a hum, mated to the same eight-speed “satellite-aided” automatic transmission as the Wraith.

The suspension has been tweaked for revised weight distribution and body stiffness to provide Rolls-Royce’s expected “Aladdin Magic Carpet ride.”

According to Rolls-Royce Manila, the top speed of the Dawn is 250 kph (governed), with acceleration from zero to 100 kph in 5.1 seconds.

Sporting flair

Standard specs offered by Rolls-Royce Manila include adaptive LED headlights, navigation system, music interface for smartphones, driving lights selectable by menu, side, rear and top view camera system, comfort entry system, and lane deviation warning.

The Dawn’s 41.7-foot turning circle gives an idea of its size: total length over 17 ft, total width over 6 ft, and 2,560 kg unladen weight.

But fuel consumption reportedly averages only 14.2 L per 100 km in combined city and highway driving.

A rival of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet, the Dawn is not a sports car like the Bentley Continental GT convertible, but it has a sporting flair that should appeal to megarich millennials.

It’s not likely that the Queen of England, who rides only Rolls-Royce and Bentley limos, will ever be photographed in a Dawn, but that won’t detract from the Dawn’s superluxury desirability.