At a glass mansion overlooking the Indian Ocean, on the southernmost tip of Africa, DJ FOMO plays thumping music as the sun slowly sets. The sky is a washed-out orange-pink haze. The chief executive of Rolls-Royce, Torsten Muller-Otvos, is having a drink with other top brass from the company.
We spent the day with Rolls-Royce’s new Dawn convertible, driving it more than 300 kilometres along the mountainous Western Cape province of South Africa. It was a haze of sun, vineyards, traffic jams, wood veneer and conspicuous consumption. The whole day was meant as a slice of the one-per cent life. To buy a Rolls-Royce – like buying a Gulfstream jet or a Sunseeker yacht – is to buy into a certain kind of lifestyle, to want the brochure life.
Luxury, Muller-Otvos says, is about rarity and individualism. That’s why Rolls-Royce doesn’t make more than 4,000 cars per year. Such limited production ensures rarity and allows the company to have a personal rapport with its clients. Most of those 4,000 cars – more than 95 per cent – are customized in some way through Rolls-Royce’s bespoke service. For a major job, Rolls will dispatch one of its designers anywhere in the world to discuss colour palette, materials and options with a customer. There’s nothing they can’t do, so long as you’re willing to pay for it.
Actually, there is one thing. Rolls-Royce will not let you alter the front grille or the Spirit of Ecstasy, the flying lady on the hood. It’s a 113-year-old brand, and some things are sacred.
To climb aboard the new Dawn convertible, you must open the doors backward, “coach” doors as Rolls calls them. They make entering and exiting more elegant if you happen to be wearing a skirt. They are also a great source of intrigue for onlookers.
You drive a Rolls with your fingertips. The thin steering wheel turns easily and with the distant feel of a yacht’s tiller. You see the long hood extend out beyond the window, a narrow strip of chrome down the middle pointing straight to the Spirit of Ecstasy. The city’s lights reflect back off the perfect paint.
The first setting on the fan is called “Soft.” The knobs turn with a well-damped weightiness. The door panels and dashboard are wood and everything else is leather.
You cruise in this car because why speed? You’re not in a rush to get out. You do not feel the road underneath the wheels, rather, you’re dimly aware of its presence. At 160 km/h, the power gauge on the dashboard indicates the engine is using 10 per cent of maximum capacity. It’s like a locomotive decoupled from its carriages.
The Dawn is the only convertible you’ll see in a Rolls-Royce showroom. Its larger cousin, the Phantom Drophead Coupe, is being discontinued in preparation for an all-new Phantom range in 2018.
Rolls-Royce thinks its growing number of younger customers want a more social car. That doesn’t mean having an Instagram feed on the dashboard; it means having space for four people and their stuff.
With the folding cloth top down, the car reveals wooden decking behind the rear seats. It’s actively courting yacht comparisons. Adults can sit in the back seat comfortably. And with the top up, the cabin becomes whisper quiet.
The final bit of the coastal road around False Bay to the glass house is among the best tarmac in the world. No surprise the Dawn is excellent, as well it better be for $400,000.
DJ FOMO keeps working as the sun goes down and the wind picks up. The night sky is different here; Orion is tilted sideways. FOMO, by the way, stands for Fear Of Missing Out. And when it comes down to it, that’s really what you buy when you buy a Rolls-Royce convertible – and fill it with three of your closest and most beautiful friends and take a road trip along the azure coastline of South Africa, or Monaco, or anywhere. You buy the ability to strike FOMO into the hearts of onlookers everywhere.
You’ll like this car if ... You and your friends are into conspicuous consumption.
TECH SPECS
Base price: $381,900
Engine: 6.6-litre twin-turbo V-12
Transmissions: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy (litres/100 km): 21.4 city, 9.8 highway
Drive: Rear-wheel drive
Alternatives: Bentley Continental GT Convertible
RATINGS
Looks: Convertibles often look awkward when the roof is up, but not the Dawn. It has a fast roofline and narrow side windows, in a design that echoes the Wraith Coupe. If you want “road presence” this is it.
Interior: To be clear, $381,900 is the starting price. Rolls expects most will sell far above that, due to customers’ desire for exotic wood, or paint-to-sample colour, or tri-tone leather or anything else they can dream up.
Performance: It’s a strange beast to drive. Ultra rapid with 563 horsepower, and yet also laid back. The 2.5-tonne curb weight may explain that. But in terms of driving dynamics, it’s excellent: the chassis is ultra-stiff, the suspension floaty, and understeer surprisingly absent at normal speeds.
Technology: The cloth top retracts in 22 seconds, at speeds of up to 48 km/h. It does a remarkably good job at blocking out wind noise. The infotainment system will be familiar to BMW owners. It’s Rolls-Royce’s variation on its latest iDrive.
Cargo: The folding cloth roof has to go somewhere, and it doesn’t intrude into the passenger compartment. So, it cuts down on trunk volume. For two, there’s plenty of luggage space, but with four you’ll all have to pack light.
The Verdict
9.0
Convertibles don’t get more luxurious, or more expensive.
The writer was a guest of the auto maker. Content was not subject to approval.
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