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By Car & Driving

The Dawn is Rolls Royce's latest convertible, one that claims to offer enough room for four adults to travel in glamourous comfort. Indeed, the company's CEO claims this is "the sexiest Rolls-Royce ever built". Is it just a pretty face though?

Ten Second Reviewword count: 49

With saloon, coupe and convertible versions of the Phantom available, it was only a matter of time before Rolls Royce offered a drop-top based on the Ghost. Although you might think it's just the Wraith (the Ghost Coupe) with the roof sawn off, 80% of the panels are new.

Backgroundword count: 150

Back in the early Fifties, twenty eight very special open-topped bodies were coach-built for the Rolls Royce Silver Dawn chassis, already an exclusive vehicle. Fast forward to the present and it's this feeling of exclusivity and specialness that the new Dawn promises. Although it shares the Ghost saloon's basic platform and twin turbo V12, Rolls Royce have worked hard to differentiate it from that and the Wraith coupe. It isn't just style over substance though. Special attention has been paid to ensuring the Dawn is just as refined and spacious as it's hard-topped sisters. Rolls are claiming the Dawn is the most torsionally rigid four seat convertible available; in layman's terms it shouldn't flex and shimmy like so many soft-tops do. Not only that but it should be able to hold four full size adults comfortably; perfect for swanning off to the French Riviera for a week - or six.

Driving Experienceword count: 193

Underneath the Dawn's long and elegant bonnet lies the same 6.6-litre twin-turbo V12 that powers both the Ghost and Wraith. In this application, it produces a healthy 570PS and 780Nm of torque, less than the Wraith but on par with the Ghost. Even weighing in at a heavyweight 2560kg (over 100kg more than the Bentley Bentayga SUV), you can hit 62mph in 4.9 seconds before running into the speed limiter at 155mph. This is very much a Rolls to be driven by its fortunate owner. Not that they'll have to do a vast amount: there's even 'Satellite Aided Transmission' that uses GPS to read the road, selecting the perfect gear for any given scenario. Although you could hustle the Dawn along at a fair rate of knots, it's not really what this car is designed to do. Rolls may talk about the Dawn 'providing superb driver feedback' but it's no Lotus Elise that's for sure. Instead, let the automatic gearbox shuffle effortlessly through the gears, get the top down and enjoy the sumptuous interior as bumps magically disappear from the road surface. Should you have the roof up, you're promised coupe-like refinement too.

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