Rolls-Royce’s founders must have been very clairvoyant to have chosen names that still stir up a certain aura around the brand, several decades after the originals were built. Also, though many of BMW’s designers of now have worked very hard to retain the brand’s design heritage in current day models, I’m sure many of them won’t begrudge the early designers and engineers their ability to build some instantly recognisable brand traits into the RR coaches of yore.

BMW, which currently owns Rolls-Royce, must be hoping that it be blessed with similar foresight with its freshly-launched Wraith, a badge that it has revived after more than seven decades. You see, Rolls-Royce says that the new Wraith is aiming to grab buyers from a small but emerging niche – one that is populated by young millionaires looking to buy a luxury-boat-like super performance car that is also easier to drive than their Italian or German super sports cars.

We are family

Every new model line launch (each one of them is a family in RR lingo) is a big event when it is a Rolls-Royce. Currently there are two – the Phantom and the Ghost. The Wraith joins in as the third family of cars, with almost identical facial features.

By Rolls-Royce standards, the Wraith is a huge departure from its existing cars. Staying true to the original and maintaining the lineage connection is crucial for Rolls-Royce’s designers and very few departures are possible. Though, for onlookers, from the front the Wraith might look like any other Rolls-Royce, a keen eye can, of course, detect the elegant changes that have been executed to mesh with this car’s ‘Fastback’ image.

The Wraith is based on the Ghost and even uses slightly shortened underpinnings. You can also see some of the Ghost’s design elements, only tweaked to fit the Wraith’s youthful and aggressive air. Despite some of those shared elements, the Wraith is very different from the Ghost and there are enough hints on the outside and inside that distinguish it.

The most significant change is at the rear, where its Fastback design is a retro-modern interpretation of a GranTurismo – Rolls-Royce’s own version of a gentleman’s GT. The Wraith’s rear still manages the classic Rolls-Royce butt, though the GT drama is also captured in its coupé design. Step to the side or view it from a rear three-quarter angle, and cover the roof and window, and the Wraith will look very much like it is part of the other families of RR cars.

In fact, this will be one reason why a drophead (convertible in RR lingo) Wraith may be more difficult to design, because distinguishing it from the existing Phantom Drophead will be that much more challenging. Rolls-Royce’s current design director Giles Taylor may have an answer to that challenge, but he isn’t saying anything about it yet.

The Wraith has the classic accentuated rear overhang, the oversized coach doors and the strong rear haunches that are trademark Rolls-Royce design characteristics. But, the sharply sloping roofline at the rear also gives it a classic GT touch. Interestingly, the original Wraith of 1938 was apparently only offered the chassis, and coach builders outside built the body to bespoke specifications that individual buyers wanted. So, apparently inspiration for the Wraith’s fastback design has instead come from a few Italian classic GTs.

Better and best

To give you examples of what folks at Rolls-Royce consider departures from their design heritage, consider the traditional looking pantheon grille on the bonnet (longer than the Ghost) and the 102-year-old Spirit of Ecstasy figurine. The grille has been recessed by 45mm, with a surround that has been lengthened by 40mm. The figurine has been positioned a bit forward on the grille and has been angled by 5 degrees. Both these changes add to the element of speed at the front of the Wraith.

Being a super luxury fastback, the Wraith needs to offer the pinnacle in both performance and lavishness. The interiors reflect the same level of uber indulgence and attention to detail as all the other Rolls-Royce cars. For me, the two most notable features in the Wraith’s cabin were the open-pore wood trim used for the door panels and centre console, and the starlight headliner.

The wood trim called Canadel Panelling is achieved by choosing matching grained veneers from a single tree and treating them to six layers of coatings, yet retaining the open-pore structure for a matte, real wood finish. The starlight headliner is a hugely popular bespoke feature that is a carry forward from the Phantom. The headliner recreates the starry night sky within the cabin, an effect that is achieved with 1,340 (no less) individual fibre-optic lights hand-woven into the leather roof-lining.

The cabin is quiet and typically Rolls-Royce. But it certainly isn’t so quiet as to let you hear the tick-tock from the dashboard clock. Push the Wraith’s throttle and there is the distinct sound of a V12 from bonnet, but one that is still making do with far fewer than the 624 horses that’s on standby. I drove the Wraith in Vienna and on a route winding up the Alps in Southern Austria.

Jeeves in the Bonnet

As the scenery outside the window changed from opera houses and fountains with Greek gods to Alpine forests and roads like brush-strokes cutting through them, the prospect of exploring the Wraith’s true potential seemed to be hand. My foot gets heavy on the throttle, the reading on the heads-up display climbs steadily past the 160kmph mark and the engine and road rush is not a whisper anymore. But, the power reserve gauge with its new aviation inspired blood orange needle tip is mocking me indicating that more than 80 per cent of power is still available on tap.

The Wraith’s 6.6-litre twin turbo V12 engine features direct petrol injection and generates a whopping 624bhp. Rolls-Royce speak in the product brochure attempts a bit of wry, Brit humour, but all the while being honest, when it says “should they wish to take advantage of the extraordinary power at their disposal, drivers may choose to be propelled from rest to 100 kmph in 4.6 seconds.”

Rolls-Royce says that the Wraith, unlike any of its other cars, has a hint of the ‘Noir’. There are pointers in its external design and of course, in it’s ‘most powerful ever’ engine, but it drives and handles like any other Rolls-Royce – effortlessly and with enough waftability to keep you comfy. But the hint of noir is what you don’t see or experience in a way that might be jarring for a Rolls-Royce owner.

The Wraith features a unique Satellite Aided Transmission system, in which an on-board computer connected via satellite anticipates the driver’s next move based on his location on the road and so pre-empts the transmission’s response. Based on the car’s current speed and the road condition ahead, the transmission selects the appropriate gear even before the driver responds. I didn’t quite manage to isolate this experience during the hill climbs. But, going downhill at speed, I could feel the SAT at work, selecting the gears in the 8-speed ZF automatic transmission ahead of the corners and hairpins.

So, I ask the RR team, with that hint of the darker side and focus on younger buyers shouldn’t the Wraith have been offered with paddle shifters? “It would have taken too much away from the trademark Rolls-Royce driveability characteristics and our survey of potential owners indicates that they won’t need it”, was their answer.

Rolls-Royce expects the Wraith to be that no compromise sporty, super luxury car that is also atypical of the brand’s traditional attributes. So, going a bit over the top fits that profile, like the mind-blowing 18-speaker music system that is powered by an 18-channel amplifier. There is also a more direct steering and the suspension that discreetly amplifies feedback when cornering, even while it ensures the hallmark magic carpet ride.

Bottomline

It is not difficult to see the niche that the Wraith is trying to create and capture. One in which the buyer is comfortable teaming Saville Row and denim or for that matter lace and spandex.

Surely there are such buyers in India, who will also be able to put down Rs 4.6 crore for the Wraith. If you belong in this category and have not looked at a Rolls-Royce before, the Wraith will certainly be worth considering. Just don’t even think about giving it to the chauffeur.

muralidhar.s@thehindu.co.in

comment COMMENT NOW