Rolls-Royce previews the Dawn ahead of the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show

Rolls-Royce has just unveiled its latest soft-top convertible, the Dawn. This new car carries forward the heritage of the 1952 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn drophead. The new Dawn inherits its basic design cues from the other cars in the fleet. It also continues to maintain the company’s design principles such as 2:1 wheel height to body height, a long bonnet with a short front overhang, a tapering rear graphic and a high shoulder line. Rolls-Royce says that 80 per cent of the body panels on the soft-top are all new.

The four seats on the Dawn, which are hand-stitched in Mandarin leather, provide ample room even at the rear, despite the folding top. Rolls-Royce has used open-pore wood on the deck surrounding the rear seats and centre console while the instrument cluster has been slightly reworked. The Dawn will also feature Rolls-Royce’s bespoke 16-speaker audio system.

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Rolls-Royce claims that the Dawn is the quietest soft-top available right now thanks to the French Seam that ensures that the air flow over the roof doesn’t make too much noise. According to Rolls-Royce, the top, which opens in 22 seconds, can be operated when driving at speeds up to 50kmph.

“Our new Rolls-Royce Dawn promises a striking, seductive encounter like no other Rolls-Royce to date, and begins a new age of open-top, super-luxury motoring. Dawn is a beautiful new motor car that offers the most uncompromised open-top motoring experience in the world. It will be the most social of super-luxury drophead motor cars for those who wish to bathe in the sunlight of the world’s most exclusive social hotspots.,” said Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes, the chief executive officer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

The Dawn gets a newly designed suspension configuration to handle the body stiffness and mass distribution of the car. It’s powered by a 6.6-litre V12 powertrain that makes 563PS at 5,250rpm and 780Nm at 1,500rpm. The run-flat tyres on the Dawn allow the driver to go up to 160km at speeds close to 80kmph. The Dawn will also get the Spirit of Ecstasy Rotary Controller (yes, that is what it’s called) that allows the user to access media and navigation functions. The multi-media interface is linked to a 10.25-inch HD screen.

Rolls-Royce has fitted the Dawn with automatic cruise control system, new software for the radar and camera located on the front bumper valance and windscreen. In the event of the car rolling over, the Dawn will deploy a roll-over protection system from behind the rear head restraints. This system also covers the entire windscreen surround of the car. It will also get the Satellite Aided Transmission that debuted on the Wraith, as standard. This system anticipates the conditions of the road ahead utilising the GPS system, and adjusts systems accordingly. The Dawn will also get adaptive LED headlights with a new glare-free technology that replaces the system that automatically dips the high-beam headlights.

For more information, you can read the press release below.

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