Wraith loses its lid as Dawn breaks

Rolls-Royce has lifted the wraps on the Dawn, a four-seat convertible based on the Wraith.

This aims to be ‘two cars in one,’ to quote design boss Giles Taylor, looking just as good whether its roof is up or down.

Moving the hood from one position to the other takes 21 seconds and can be done at up to 30mph.

Naturally, Rolls has worked hard on achieving the best possible refinement with the roof down – while also setting itself the goal of ensuring that when it’s up, the cabin is as quiet as the Wraith’s.

Ride quality is maintained by air springs and heavier-duty anti-roll bars.

The Dawn is 200kg heavier than the Wraith at 2560kg, so there’s more to control, but the company has also worked to ensure that the loss of a roof doesn’t mean a loss of rigidity.

That’s important as, with a 6.6-litre twin-turbo V12 beneath the bonnet, the Dawn is a fast car. An output of 563bhp and 575lb ft sees to that; the result is a 4.9-second 0-62 time, with top speed governed to 155mph.

Being based on the Wraith, the Dawn is about the same size.

Despite this, hardly any of its body panels are the same – in fact, aside from the doors and front panel, everything you see about it is unique.

So not much danger of finding yourself parked next to another one outside Lidl.