Rolls-Royce Bids Farewell to the Dawn

The sun sets on production of the brand’s bestselling convertible.

THE DETROIT BUREAU.COM | May 3, 2023

It’s official; Rolls-Royce is bidding adieu to the Dawn, the best-selling drophead in the brand’s history, the luxury carmaker announced Tuesday.

“In reviving the Dawn nameplate, Rolls-Royce reinvigorated something much more than a motor car,” said Torsten Müller-Ötvös, chief executive officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “This beautiful motor car perfectly embodies contemporary luxury while celebrating the marque’s founding principles and heritage.”

While Rolls-Royce didn’t reveal how many Dawns have been built, the company’s puffy marketing language rings true.

Capturing the Dawn

This type of vehicle was once common among American automobiles wearing names like Duesenberg, Packard, Marmon and Pierce-Arrow. They are snapchats in time, capturing the glamour of their era. A Rolls-Royce Dawn is much the same, allowing owners understand how those cars felt in their era, while celebrating the finer things in life.

With an air of unflappability, this grandest of grand tourers, sharing its automotive architecture with the Ghost sedan and Wraith coupe. 

Introduced in 2015, the vehicles also used BMW’s F01 automotive architecture, which was developed for the BMW 7 Series, and also used for the Ghost sedan and Wraith coupe. The Dawn shared their 6.6-liter twin-turbocharged V-12 and 8-speed automatic. Power was rated at 563 horsepower, enough to effortlessly whisk you to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds on the way to a top speed is 155 mph.

But Rolls-Royce ended importation of the Dawn to the United States last year, following the end of Wraith importation the year before. This leaves Rolls-Royce without a glamourous coupe — at least for the time being. 

The reappearance of the Dawn

Rolls-Royce created the Dawn to appeal to a younger buyer.

The Dawn’s creation came after Rolls-Royce successfully launched their senior line-up, which included the leviathan Phantom VII sedan, Phantom Coupé and Phantom Drophead Coupe, cars that were aimed at the company’s traditional, monied clientele. But Rolls-Royce felt the need to reach younger buyers by offering vehicles that felt a bit more contemporary and bit less traditional.

 The Wraith came first in 2013, named after the model first built by Rolls-Royce in 1938. But the company knew better than to merely chop the top of the Wraith; its unique fastback lines wouldn’t easily translate to a convertible. Instead, company designers looked to the brand’s storied past, in particular the 1950-54 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn Drophead Coupe, of which the company built 28. Designers reinterpreted its simple, flowing coachwork, resulting in a car that shared by 20% of its body panels with the Wraith.

Debuting at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Dawn was a true four-seat convertible, not merely a 2+2. It was followed in 2017 by the Rolls-Royce Black Badge Dawn, which received a revised exhaust system that lent the car sportier air, one backed up an extra 30 horsepower. And of course, it was dechromed, as murdered out as you’d ever expect of a Rolls-Royce.

What’s next 

That doesn’t mean that Rolls-Royce is leaving the luxury coupe field.

But even as the sun is setting on the Dawn, a new spirit of Rolls-Royce is emerging: the Rolls-Royce Spectre, the British luxury automaker’s first battery-electric car. It marks the start of a monumental shift as the brand expects to be all electric by 2030, a move that mirrors most of the world’s automakers. The two-door coupe will be manufactured using the same exclusive all-aluminum spaceframe architecture as on previous Rolls-Royce models, which, according to the manufacturer, is designed to support future electrification.

With an appearance that recalls the Wraith, the new Spectre will be powered by a 430-kW powertrain (585 horsepower) electric driveline that produces 664 pound-feet of torque, enough to reach 60 mph in 4.4 seconds.

And while Rolls-Royce has not announced a replacement for the Dawn, the Spectre’s appearance suggests that an electrified replacement for the Dawn will follow sometime after the debut of the Wraith.

“As production of Dawn draws to a close, we can reflect on an extraordinary chapter in the marque’s history,” Müller-Ötvös said.