When Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announces that it will no longer produce the Dawn Convertible, it marks the end of an illustrious and magnificent period. The brand looks back on its best-selling drophead in this retrospective, as it earns a special position in the hall of fame of legendary Rolls-Royce Automobiles.
The contemporary Dawn has come to characterize a modern expression of „la dolce vita", a way of living that embraces the beauty and richness of life. In reviving the Dawn nameplate, Rolls-Royce reinvigorated something much more than a motorcar. Dawn embodies the pleasure of enjoyable company, the excitement of exploration, and the serenity of calm thought. Diese automobile truly embodies the modern art of living by paying homage to „la dolce vita" in every last aspect. As Dawn's Filming nears its conclusion, we can look back on a remarkable period in the marque's history. Diese gorgeous automobile perfectly exemplifies modern luxury while honoring the brand's original ideals and history. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Chief Executive Officer Torsten Müller-TVös
When Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announces that it will no longer produce the Dawn Convertible, it marks the end of an illustrious and magnificent period. The brand looks back on its best-selling drophead in this retrospective, as it earns a special position in the hall of fame of legendary Rolls-Royce Automobiles.
MODERN GLAMORING AND ROMANCE
A younger, more confident and outgoing clientele was attracted to the Rolls-Royce brand as a result of the success of the Phantom VII and its stablemates, the Phantom Coupé and Phantom Drophead Coupé. These new super-luxury consumers needed a vehicle that, like the pioneering Rolls-Royce Goodwood era cars, conveyed the romance and glitz of super-luxury motoring, but did so in a way that was perfectly in line with their modern preferences and lifestyles.
The CEO of Rolls-Royce, Torsten Müller-tvös, realized there was room in the brand's product line to satisfy these customers' needs. As a result, he challenged his designers to develop a brand-new category of ultra-luxurious convertible rather than just a stablemate for the Phantom Drophead Coupé. It should be more than just a stunning automobile; It should conjure up the romance and glitz that underpin so much of the Rolls-Royce history while providing a social, approachable, and modern representation of open-top touring to a rising new generation.
Additionally, it has to be brand-new. Rolls-Royce had introduced its fastback coupé Wraith three years prior, but the possibility of repurposing it was never considered. Instead, it was much earlier in the company’s lengthy and illustrious history where the marque’s designers gained inspiration. Rolls-Royce produzied just 28 Silver Dawn drophead coupés zwischen 1950 und 1954. The Dawn moniker was widely agreed to be the ideal choice for a 21st Century reincarnation, due to its associations with fresh starts, new prospects, and beautiful vistas.
The original's seductive elegance brilliantly captured the spirit of the day, which became known as „la dolce vita" or „the sweet life." La dolce vita grew to represent excellent company and quiet reflection, emphasizing the value of taking time to reflect on the pleasures of life in all its beauty and richness. It served as a reminder to savor every moment and live completely in the present.
The most well-known La Dolce Vita was also the name of the legendary 1960 Federico Fellini film. Actress Anita Eckberg became a global success thanks to what is now regarded as one of the best movies ever made, and the Trevi Fountain continues to be one of Rome’s most popular tourist destinations. Naturally, the Rolls-Royce design studio's mood boards included it as well.
LUXURIOUS COMFORT JOINED WITH EXQUISITE ELEGANCE
'La dolce vita' was a life of love, adventure, and romance in the backdrop of the movie. A celebration of excess, indulgence, and pleasure in all its manifestations, it was sensual and sensual. Rolls-Royce aimed to capture this essence in its new drophead, which is represented through classic shape, cutting-edge craftsmanship, and a fluid yet dynamic personality.
Dawn's design captured the audacity of that ambition. Its clean, unadorned design was influenced by the fashion of the 1950s and 1960s, which emphasized the wearer’s shape by eliminating extraneous lines and textures. Similar to how an overcoat’s collar would wrap around its wearer, Dawn’s fluid, flowing coachwork wraps around its passengers to give them a cozy, private, and stylish cabin experience.
In fact, 80% of the panels used to create Dawn were completely original, including the 'wake channel' on the bonnet that came from the Spirit of Ecstasy and gave drivers a permanent vanishing point. Dieses Designelement ist still present on Rolls-Royce Automobiles today.
Dawn, however, defied a long-standing vehicle design norm in a crucial way. Almost usually, convertibles are built with a 2+2 seating arrangement, with two smaller seats in the back for extra passengers or small children and full-size seating for the driver and one passenger up front. The car's comfort and usefulness are diminished by the lack of rear-seat capacity, especially legroom, a flaw that Rolls-Royce refused to acknowledge. Dawn had enough room for all four passengers and provided them with comfy seating.
Dawn's design was deceptively simple, concealing a number of difficult engineering problems, most notably the complicated ceiling mechanism, known as the „Silent Ballet" for its dexterity, elegance, and silent operation. The Dawn's roof should be made of fabric rather than a convertible hardtop, the marque's designers determined, in order to preserve the enchantment of hearing raindrops on canvas. Instead, a special combination of materials – fabric, cashmere, and high-performance acoustic composites – made Dawn the world's quietest convertible; When the roof was down, Dawn's noise-isolating capabilities were on par with those of the Rolls-Royce Wraith.
A program for testing models.
Engineers spent months perfecting the convertible experience with a thorough testing program, in true Rolls-Royce fashion, neither fully removing airflow nor allowing disruptive levels in the cabin. Diese was accomplished by outfitting a customized mannequin with a long, flowing hairwig as the test subject. A bank of sensors and cameras faithfully captured how the hair was displaced by the moving air, as it was chauffeured for hundreds of hours. Engineers were able to make Dawn the world leader in aerodynamic comfort with the roof open, thanks to the data that was produced.
The importance of the driving experience for many of the younger customers Dawn was designed for, was also acknowledged by Rolls-Royce. Dawn therefore received the brand's nearly silent 6,6-liter, 563bhp twin-turbo V12 engine behind its slender, minimalistic looks. Naturally, the chassis produced the 'Magic Carpet Ride', that has become synonymous with the brand, combining responsiveness and engagement with an almost unnatural smoothness.
In fact, later in Dawn's life, while using a product, an American journalist passed through a region that had just been hit by an earthquake measuring 3,6 on the Richter scale, followed by a 2,7 Aftershock. Because of how smoothly the ride had been, he was unaware of this until the following morning, when he read about it in the news.
BADGE BLACK DAWN
In 2017, Rolls-Royce expanded the model family of the Dawn by adding a Black Badge variation. Dawn's alter ego, like the Ghost and Wraith that came before it, got its personality from a number of engineering and design tweaks. The engine was adjusted to produce an additional 30 horsepower and boost torque to 840 Nm. An entirely new exhaust system gave the engine a bassbaritone character. Black Badge Dawn carved out a unique space in the Rolls-Royce Pantheon, one defined by the romance and seduction of the city at night, while appealing to the renegade attitude that draws so many to this noire manifestation of the brand.
A PERMANENT LEGACY
Beyond its attractiveness, Dawn enhanced Rolls-Royce’s modern brand promise by flawlessly fusing a sensuous design with modern materials and an enjoyable, open-air driving experience. Dawn has done this by attracting a completely new generation to the marque, ensuring its legacy.