Rolls-Royce
1952 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn.
Rumors of a new Rolls-Royce convertible have been floating around the interwebs for a few months. But now the car has a name: the "Dawn."
We have it on good authority that the car will be a looker. Although the finished design has yet to be released, Rolls-Royce North America president Eric Sheperd told Business Insider at the New York Auto in April that he believes the car " is the most beautiful Rolls-Royce I've ever seen."
The Dawn will be "complementary drophead" to the Wraith coupe that's already in production, a spokesperson told us.
Although the Dawn won't exactly be a Wraith with its roof chopped off, expect to see tons of Wraith DNA make its way into the new car.
The Dawn is a convertible, but you're not allowed to call it that. In the luxury car world, Rolls-Royce operates in a stratum all its own. It isn't building an SUV, coming in the next few years, but it is creating a "high-sided, all-terrain motor car." This is actually consistent with how Rolls does things. Its convertibles have traditionally been referred to a "dropheads."
In this case, the Dawn convertible is a "drophead coupe."
Rolls is very excited about the vehicle.
"Our new Rolls-Royce Dawn promises a striking, seductive encounter like no other Rolls-Royce to date," CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes said in a statement. "Dawn is a beautiful new open-top motor car with a name that suggests the fresh opportunities that every new day holds - an awakening, an opening up of one's senses and a burst of sunshine."
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Rolls-Royce Wraith.
Power will likely come from the 6.6-liter, twin-turbocharged V12 (shared with the Wraith as well as the Ghost sedan), topping 600 horsepower.
When the Dawn hits the streets next year, it will revive a name that dates to 1949, and that was used in 28 custom drophead cars built from 1950 to 1954.
The Rolls-Royce Dawn is expected to launch in early 2016.