1990 Rolls Royce Corniche Drophead Great Color Superb Low Miles Great Car on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Rolls-Royce Wraith looks rad in red [UPDATE]

UPDATE: An earlier version of this post called this car the "St. James Edition," which is incorrect. It's not a full-on special edition, rather a bespoke color. And an awesome one, at that. Of all the cars that would look right in red, and of all the colors you could specify for a new Rolls-Royce, ordering up a bright scarlet Wraith might not seem like the first choice to many. Fortunately there are plenty of other options available in the Rolls-Royce catalog. But for those who disagree, the British luxury automaker offers St. James Red, the bespoke color seen here. The color is offset by chrome brightwork on the grille, window frames, and door handles. The wheels are done up in a two-tone silver and gloss black, while the interior is swathed in what we're sure is only the softest, most supple black leather known to man. Of course, since it's a Wraith, there's power to match that racy exterior. This coupe is, after all, the most powerful vehicle Rolls-Royce has ever offered, packing a 6.6-liter twin-turbo V12 with 624 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, propelling over 5,000 pounds of luxury to 60 in a scant 4.4 seconds. More than adequate, indeed. If there was ever a Rolls that could get away with the bright red approach, surely it's the Wraith.

Even in a down economy, Rolls-Royce is on a roll

Limited Volume, Big Margins Spell Success
Bigger isn't always better, especially when it comes to selling super luxury. Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös expects the British automaker to again post a record year, despite the economic troubles in Europe and weak growth in both the US and China.
"It is not all doom and gloom out there," Müller-Ötvös explains, noting that the declining sales in Europe and elsewhere have been offset by good performance for the marque in the Middle East, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Russia.

Rolls-Royce brings Pebble Beach 2019 Collection to Monterey

Rolls-Royce brought 13 Bespoke Commissions to Monterey Car Week, each of them only available to guests attending car week. Among the pride, said to be inspired by the resurgent natural landscape of Pebble Beach after years of natural disasters, are a single Phantom, four Cullinans, four Dawns, two Ghosts, and two Wraiths. The Phantom gets the most modest treatment, attired — as usual — for business in a Black Diamond and Gold Bespoke exterior. The interior highlight is the Phantom Gallery, which turns a swath of the instrument panel into a canvas for personalized art. The four Cullinan SUVs begin to taste the rainbow, drenched in the luxury maker's iced finish, which Rolls-Royce says is one of its most popular offerings. The ice finish entails a mildly paradoxical combination of a matte color with an elegant shine, and on the quartet of Cullinans comes in Burnout Grey, Black Green, Iced Gunmetal, and Galilea Blue. Outside the collection but just as interesting from a color perspective, Rolls-Royce showed a bespoke Cullinan in Fux Orange, the paint named after a collector who asked Rolls-Royce to color-match a woman's wrap he bought in Miami. The Ghost, Wraith, and Dawn go all the way with color as part of a Pastel Collection, their "painter's palette of colors" keyed off the riot of ground cover and wildflowers newly returned to the Monterey Peninsula. They include three Black Badge Commissions, the aim to show that Black Badge need not mean somber or dowdy. Rolls-Royce did the same thing last year with its Paradiso Black Badge Collection in Quail Blue.  This year's Ghost Black Badge comes in the new color Light Green Solid over a black interior livened up by Serenity Green splashes. The Wraith wears Semaphore Yellow over a Selby Grey and Lemon cabin speckled by the Black Badge Starlight Headliner. The Dawn shows off Coral Solid on its bodywork and Aero Cowling, made pristine by seven coats of paint and more than nine hours of hand polishing. The interior gets Arctic White and Sunset leather, evoking the "blooming northern California hills and valleys." Every one of the Black Badge Commissions will feature a "Pebble Beach 2019" treadplate, and the hardtops all get Black Badge Starlight Headliners. Anyone who is keen to put money down has one more day to get to Monterey.