My old friend Paul sent me these shots of a R-R Wraith. It’s a car I’m not very likely to ever encounter in Eugene. I’ve been exposed to in pictures around the time it first came out in 2013 or so, but have never really thought about it since. But for those that have bemoaned the loss of big American coupes, here’s just the ticket: 122.5″ wheelbase and 207.4″ length, just like the good old days. Its 5,368 pounds even exceeds that some. As does its 623 hp turbocharged 6.6 L V12. But then for some $330,000, a bit of power and extra road-hugging weight are in order, no?
Its fastback is styling is bound to be a bit polarizing. Paul called it “Unsightly”. I’m not sure I would use that word, except perhaps for the lack of rear vision. As a lover of classic fastbacks, this one works pretty well for me. It evokes some of the Italian PF coupes of the fifties, like the Aurelia B20. I think I’d like to see one in a monochrome paint job.
Obviously, it also harks back to the classic Bentley Continental coupe too, but its tail was a bit more restrained and not so bulbous.
The Wraith’s front end is certainly the most toned-down of the family, and looks almost modest given the very flamboyant and exaggerated front ends on so many contemporary cars and trucks.
Don’t overlook the “suicide” front doors. The Wraith has a convertible counterpart, the Dawn.
While I’m not exactly blown away, a monochrome version would make a rather surprisingly unpretentious (visually) car if price was no object.
If the Wraith coupe is too invisible for you, R-R has you covered, with two “Bespoke” cars that might interest you. There’s this Swept Tail, for some $13 million.
And ratcheting up some more, the new Boat Tail will set you back some $25-28 million, although that’s just a number thrown around, as the specifics are dependent on whether you want air conditioning and an automatic. But if you’re thrifty, the three speed column-shifted manual does just fine with the turbo V12. In fact, you hardly have to shift it at all.
#IMO: The current RR looks like a PanzerWagen compared to the previous generation models.
Modern version of a ’52 Plymouth Belvedere, especially from the back.
Yeah, no. That thing is hideous. Stupid car for stupid money.
And BTW, can we please be over with the black wheel/murdered-out look? So stale. Enough already!
Looks like a police car from Dubai.
If that boat tail said Buick Riviera on it the automotive press would be cackling like a fox was in the hen house.
For my money, Bentley seems to have handled the separation/divorce more gracefully than Rolls Royce.
“For my money…”
I don’t know about you, but I don’t have enough for my opinion to matter to Rolls-Royce. OR Bentley.
Well, that was satire. I used that phrase for quite an obvious reason.
For $330,000 I’d like to be able to see that the thing has wheels. I just don’t get the matte black rim “thing”. Every once in a while something looks ok with them, but not this.
Wow, is that an ugly car and the two toned black and white makes it even worse.
The bigger picture here is that even Bentley and Rolls-Royce have had to streamline and come down in price. Previously, they both had two lines of coupes.
Not long ago, the Bentley “big-body” family included the Arnage sedan as well as the Brooklands coupe and Azure convertible, all three of which lasted through 2010. But when Bentley did what would be its last traditional big-body sedan, the 2011-2020 Mulsanne, a coupe never culminated. Well, there was a Mulsanne-based Grand Convertible, but it was made in very limited numbers and I wouldn’t say it counts. That means the Continental GT and Continental GTC are Bentley’s two-door models, and even the Mulsanne itself is now gone.
Likewise, the Wraith appeared sometime in 2014. It coexisted alongside the pre-existing Phantom Coupe and Phantom Drophead Coupe. The Wraith’s convertible counterpart, the Dawn, arrived in 2016, the same as the last year of the Phantom Coupe and Drophead Coupe. While the Wraith and Dawn are extremely nice, they’re on smaller bones and are much less expensive than either of the Phantom two-doors were. They’re also built on BMW bones, sharing their steel platform with the F-chassis 5, 6 and 7 Series. (The new 2021 Dawn uses a Rolls-Royce platform, however).
You would think there would be enough self-indulgent, rich people to justify the continued production of these ultra-exclusive, large-bodied coupes from Bentley and Rolls-Royce. Evidently not. Meanwhile, I’m sure both brands have another SUV or two in the works, having seen such success with the Cullinan and Bentayga.
It was a shock to see this vehicle in the middle of my unassuming neighborhood-
the inner Sunset district of San Francisco.
You’re right! It’s on Irving Street.
Looks like it has dog dishes. Doesn’t work for me.
Yeah they look pretty much the same as the 5 spoke dog dish steelies on modern Police Chargers and Explorers.
The two tone treatment strongly reminds me of the Marlin, maybe a bit of the profile too. I’m a big coupe fan but I don’t understand why they all had to become strict fastbacks with teeny trunk openings, vehicle design seems to be as devoid of middle ground as politics these days, it’s either absolute practicality or absolute impracticality.
I do like that these are real hardtops with roll down rear Windows. Sad it takes the cost of a house to get them in a modern coupe but at least it has them.
The current and previous-generation E-Class Coupe have roll-down rear windows, but who knows how much longer they’ll be around.
As someone who has owned over 30 Rolls-Royce & Bentley motorcars, 1932 to 1985, my opinion of the newer models is not very favorable. However this one, having looked at it for a while, is growing on me. I do like it’s vintage fastback look, but I wouldn’t own one today.
Then again I sold my last R-R & B motorcar about 20 years ago, with no regrets. If I was to spend “Stupid” amounts of money on a Post-war Rolls-Royce today, it would probably be a 6-cylinder Flying Spur or Drophead Cloud I
Certainly getting a polarised reaction, with not a lot of love, but some. You sense the Swept Tail is want Rolls-Royce really wanted to build but those pesky BMW accountants said no.
Remember, though, a Rolls-Royce does not compete with another car, but with a artwork, a yacht, a private jet lease package or a lease on a flat in Monaco. And if you have to ask the price, you can’t…..etc
But for my £300k, I’d have a 1950s Continental of some sort any day.
I’m sorry, but this “thing” does not look at all like a $330,000 car. Nothing remotely luxurious about the exterior; in fact, it looks like a poor attempt at a wrapped custom something, and that wheel/tire combo, YUCK!! (IMO) luxury cars should convey a certain presence, which this ones does not.
AMEN Moparman!
Reminds me of the old silver-top taxis I used to see around Melbourne in my youth, right down to the black wheels and dog-dishes. This is not a good thing. 🙁
Why bad, Mr W?
If said cab had had installed the standard chain-smoking 1st gen postwar Greek at the wheel – and it did, because they all did – you got to your destination quicker than anything else on wheels then or since, and for that you’d only had to pay a modest cash (and only cash) fee and mention no more than the first syllables of the address even if it was 50k away in a brand new suburb.
I mean, sure, the car had never had any apparent servicing, or cleaning, or been driven at less than 120kmh anywhere, ever – including up your driveway for your pick-up – but if this here Roller is able to replicate anything like the speed, reliability and sheer wrong-way-up-the-one-way-street-peak-hour-shortcut-horn-blasting-fuck-you-malaka efficiency of your remembered 1979 Holden Kingswood, then it actually represents value, and hence in this replica-hubcapless silver and black, it is in fact dressed quite appropriately for the task.
Justy, you misjudge my age! By 1979 I was licensed and well on the way to having my own wheels. I was thinking HD/HR standard model with the dash hacked apart seemingly with a gas axe for the obligatory huge metal taximeter which looked to be pre-war in origin. I do recall riding in HK and HT/HG models, but seem to have no memories of taxis past that point.
Your observations about the drivers are spot on. Except when I went to visit my relations in Warragul; somehow that town managed to confine those charming people to the fruit shop (yep, Con the Fruiterer) and the Blue Dolphin café. 🙂
As with the Corolla hatchback behind it, the two-tone does it no favors. That car’s best color is its’ bright blue, which would look good on the Rolls as well. I wonder how Rolls’ “Bespoke” division would respond to a request to paint the car Toyota Blue Flame?
Paul’s kidding but I do love the idea of a modern Rolls with a 3-on-the-tree.
My son and I saw one of these this past weekend. We could not quite figure out what it was, although we did correctly guess that it was British. Not a common sight around here.
“A House, A House, My Cardom or a House!”
Well, like Billy Shakespeare’s King Dick Mk III (as just quoth, with adjustments), I’ll take a house for that money.
(Though not anywhere in Melbourne, Aus., at $300K. Need about double, for entry level a long way out, near horses).