Historically, Wraith Rolls Royce has claimed to make the finest motor cars in the world. And if you’re looking for something luxurious, that has often been the case. But if you want a car with a more sporting character, they’ve rarely been the natural choice, often playing second fiddle to their sister company, Bentley. After the two split at the turn of the millennium, it took Rolls Royce Wraith a long time before they tried something properly sporting. Then, in 2013, we got it: the Wraith. It has the coolest name in the business, but is it enough to vanquish the competition?
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To give you a full understanding of what this model is and how it sits in the Wraith Rolls-Royce lineup, I need to give you a potted history of the company’s modern era. In the late 1990s, Rolls-Royce was put up for sale, and everybody assumed that BMW was going to be the buyers, as the two had been working together for a number of years earlier. But it turned out that Volkswagen was, in fact, the company that made the offer, which could not be refused. So, Rolls Royce Wraith was purchased by them along with the Bentley brand.
However, it turned out that it was Bentley that VW was actually after. They didn’t really have all that much interest in Rolls. BMW did, though, so a deal was struck which allowed them to buy, in essence, the idea of Rolls-Royce but little else, forcing BMW to start afresh with a totally clean sheet of paper.
A brand new factory was constructed at Good wood on England’s south coast, where the company remains to this very day. The first model brought out was the Phantom 7, of which I have driven an example, and it was marvelous. A truly sensational car and exactly the sort of thing you would expect from Rolls-Royce. However, with such greatness comes a great price tag. The one I drove cost just over £400,000, so it was never going to be a volume seller.
In 2009, the lineup was joined by the slightly smaller Ghost, which cost significantly less and shared many more parts with BMW, including a chassis closely related to the Seven Series of the time. Although not identical, it was still bespoke in terms of dimension and fit and finish. It was also constructed alongside the Phantom at the Good wood plant. It is the Ghost which provides the underpinnings for this, the Wraith, released in 2013.
This is a pillar less coupe with distinctive Rolls Royce Wraith styling aimed at the driver rather than the passenger. To that end, it still has the same 6.6-liter twin-turbocharged BMW V12 as the Ghost, but here, it makes more power: 630 horses with 590 pound-feet of torque. That’s 800 Newton-meters and is good enough for a 0-62 time of 4.4 seconds. Not bad when you consider the car still weighs two and a half tons.
If you were expecting some kind of Rolls-Royce GT3, you are certain to be disappointed. You cannot, in fact, even change your own gears in this. As it happens, the gearbox was one of the innovations introduced with the Wraith. Because here, for the first time, Rolls-Royce introduced what they call Satellite-Aided Transmission. In other words, the GPS in this car is linked to the gearbox, and the two communicate with each other to make sure that you are always in the right gear at the right moment.
This being said, they did promise extra driver involvement for the Wraith. And to that end, the car has a slightly lower and stiffer suspension and heavier steering. When you press on, it is still, though, very much a classic Rolls-Royce and has plenty of the touches we’ve come to expect from the company, including center caps that are always upright, rear-hinged doors which have brollies in each, and an interior that is quite special. But we’ll get onto that in a minute.
As you have probably guessed from the title, this is no ordinary Wraith. It is a special edition, one of a trio of specials that Rolls-Royce commissioned to celebrate the company’s longstanding connection with the world of art, glamour, and celebrity. The first was the Wraith inspired by fashion that was followed by the Wraith inspired by film and this is the Wraith inspired by music. Finding information on this car has proven extremely difficult. Even its owner, the very kind Richard Groves of Challenge the Road, doesn’t actually know all that much about it.
Here’s what we’re fairly certain about: there are nine of these in the wild, three regular models like this and half a dozen specially commissioned art cars made with the input of real-life rock stars like Roger Adultery, Ray Davies, and apparently Shirley Bassey, though the involvement of her and a few others had not actually been able to confirm.
Those cars were auctioned off, with a chunk of proceeds going towards charity. As for the rest of them, I’m pretty sure anyone could buy them, and they weren’t actually any more expensive than a regular Wraith, with prices starting from £228,000.
For that, you got this lyrical copper paint that in pretty much all conditions looks black until the sun really hits it. Then you see it’s actually a very gorgeous metallic brown. On camera, I don’t think it really comes across. There are also some nice touches on the interior, but the headline option here is the standard fitment of the very expensive Rolls-Royce bespoke audio, allegedly one of the best in-car stereos in the world.
I’m sure most of you will have worked out by now that I am a car geek, but I am also very passionate about my movies and my music. I am something of an audiophile myself, and generally speaking, trying to create audiophile quality in a car is simply a fool’s errand.
Nothing about it is right. You’re never going to be sat in the middle putting the speakers just about anywhere right. It’s always a compromise, and the car is a very noisy place with lots going on. That means it’s simply a poor place to even try and start with. But if you’re going to make a good job of in-car stereo, a Rolls-Royce is probably just about the best base you could ever hope for.
The system in here is simply branded bespoke audio. Unlike many other manufacturers, Rolls-Royce have not teamed up with a well-known audio brand to try and peddle the product. Who is actually behind it, I genuinely don’t know, but I’m sure someone out there does. I’m not convinced Rolls would have done all of this on their own.
In any case, the system comprises 1,300 watts, nine individual speakers, 18 channels, and even things like little exciters that they’ve put into the headlining, which apparently help make the sound feel as if it’s coming from ear level. All of this is accessed through an infotainment system hidden away behind this beautiful copper-looking dash and controlled by an iDrive system down here. This is ultimately BMW’s iDrive, just reskinned, and generally speaking, I don’t have a problem with that.
Rolls Royce Wraith Description:
Sports car or 2-door coupe for sale for 309,900 euros. It is a 633 HP ROLLS-ROYCE Wraith gasoline with automatic transmission. It has 40825 kilometers.
Among the standard and optional equipment, we find the following safety devices in the Rolls Royce Wraith Gray on offer:
- Airbag conductor
- Passenger airbag
- Airbag lateral
The offer of this Rolls Royce Wraith Gray includes the following in its equipment:
- 20′ Seven Spoke Wheels
- Walnut Burr
- Piano Black
The average consumption of the Rolls Royce Wraith on offer is 14.0 l/100 km, while the tank capacity amounts to 83.0 liters. More information: It reaches a maximum speed of 250 km/h and measures 5,269 mm.
Rolls Royce Wraith Technical specifications:
The Roll Royce Wraith ‘Palm Edition 999’ hides exceptional mechanics under the hood, with a 6.6-liter V12 Turbo engine capable of exceeding 600 HP in the Speed version. It increase the final power of the Palm Edition 999 to 730 HP, with a torque of 1,000 Nm, electronically limited.
Only nine units of this luxurious car have been manufactured, which easily exceeds the 320 km/h barrier, and despite its prohibitive price, in keeping with the brand, the redesign with a luxurious finish and its more than notable features,
Rolls-Royce Wraith Kryptos Collection, only 50 units of the first completely encrypted luxury car
Nobody in the world could deny that Rolls-Royce is one of the most exclusive manufacturers in the world and any of its models are available to only a lucky few. And when it comes to special editions, no one knows how to do it like them and this new Rolls-Royce Wraith Kryptos Collection is conclusive proof of this.
According to what the British firm reported, this model is inspired by the writing and encryption of computer codes, which is why it incorporates some details in vibrant colors that contrast with the luxurious classic finishes in black or gray.
The design department of this car manufacturer, based in Good wood, took inspiration from the Kryptos script of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States, and based on it they created their own encryption code, just as they define “Coding a journey that only a few will be able to master.”
This encrypted code was placed inside the vehicle, keeping a very special message only for those intrepid who dare to discover how to read it, although those who do not wish to undertake this task will also be able to find the text hidden under a sheet of metal. Polished, where you can clearly discover it when you look from the driver’s seat.
In addition to this code, on the roof of the cabin, the classic Bentley starry sky has given rise to a new scheme that is combined to create another encrypted code, using the brand’s already known bi-color light diodes and that extends throughout the entire throughout the vehicle.
Finally, in the front headrests there is a last encrypted code in green and gray, which hides a last message available for the lucky ones who can access this vehicle, as it will be an extremely limited edition, with a circulation of only 50 vehicles for everyone.
Through a press release, the British firm assured that Encrypted messages hidden in plain sight contribute to the cryptographic journey through the car. The custom-made collection captivates all viewers, but rewards even more those who make the effort to look a little closer and understand the messages that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
In said statement it was also specified that this model will be limited only to the aforementioned 50 units and that all of them will be equipped with the 6.6-liter turbo V12 engine that generates 625 horsepower, although no details were given about the price.