Haute Auto: Rolls-Royce Dawn

Dawn. Free associate the word and you’re likely to think…fresh start, the first light of day, new beginnings. In the case of Rolls Royce’s latest entry–the 2016 Dawn two-door, four-seat convertible–you might also link the word to the brand’s storied legacy. The vehicle’s creators drew on one terrific family tree that includes the 1952 Silver Dawn Drophead (convertible) Coupe, an auto considered to be the muse for this new model. A large and elegant car, the Silver Dawn was a predecessor to the Phantom and then the Silver Cloud, the latter a real cream puff of a vehicle that insulated its occupants with a quiet ride in luxurious splendor.

This 2016 two-door model is all that and much more. With a V-12 engine pumping out 563 horses and 575 foot-pounds of torque, this $335,000 (base price) car is surprisingly quick. It reaches 0-60 mph in under five seconds, which rivals the performance of 1960s muscle cars, yet it handles like a car with half its heft—a good thing given that it tips the scales at 5,644 pounds. The handling gurus from Rolls-Royce, likely with expertise imported from BMW, the German parent company, figured out a great way to make a car that rides on a cloud yet corners like it’s on rails. How do I know this?

Let’s take a small step back to the Rolls-Royce launch that introduced a lucky few journalists to the newest R-R offspring. The event was staged at The Peninsula Beverly Hills, a wonderfully luxurious retreat. (The 195-room hotel has 38 suites and 17 villas that rent for $575 to $9,750 a night. The staff’s attention to detail and to the guests’ every need is legendary.) At the launch, the bevy of Dawns in the hotel driveway looked right at home positioned next to the “house car” (a Rolls Royce, of course) and a customer’s 1952 Silver Dawn Drophead Coupe, a classic convertible, liveried in stunning red and black.

SINUOUS SWITCHBACKS

Each of the five Dawns present was allocated to journalist teams of two, with a suggested morning route wending its way to Malibu along some of the most sinuous roads in the Santa Monica Mountains. Being a third-generation Los Angeles native, I know the area well, thanks to decades of riding an assortment of vintage Triumph Bonnevilles that I’ve owned over the years.

My first reaction to the route was concern that this drop-top boulevardier might be a tad too heavy and a skosh wide in the hips for the multitude of switchbacks and reverse-camber threads of asphalt we were about to encounter. I should have known better. With the state-of-the-art suspension and the Satellite-Aided Transmission (SAT) communicating with its own GPS, the Dawn is the epitome of a smooth highway cruiser and . . . wait for it . . . a surprising canyon carver. There, I’ve said it. This car, weighing in at nearly three tonnes, took all the steering input we could throw at it when entering corners at speeds well above what’s prudent. We not only lived to tell the tale but actually enjoyed how the car reacted with surprising aplomb.