This is the Rolls-Royce Wraith Palm Edition 999. It’s extremely limited and it has gold in it. Lots of it. This elegant piece of automotive luxury is the creation of Mansory,->ke3403 the Swiss tuner who has made a habit of turning supercars->ke177de and luxury cars->ke505 into statements of opulence. We all know that Mansory is well-known for this kind of display, but for some reason, the tuning firm felt particularly compelled to dial up the extravagance on the Rolls-Royce Wraith.->ke1710 The result certainly speaks for itself, even if it takes a little while to come to grips with the sheer audacity of the program.

Yes, the gold finish on the exterior and interior are the news-breaking items of this program, but knowing Mansory, it’s far from the only one. The body, for example, has an exclusive paint finish and retuned aerodynamics. The interior is well-dressed in some of the finest materials in the land. There’s also a significant increase in the luxury car’s power, all thanks to a stout engine modification. Best of all, there’s an option to actually gold plate anything with a metallic surface because, well, that's how Mansory rolls.

Unfortunately, for the rest of the human population, acquiring a unit of the Wraith Palm Edition 999 is as difficult as winning the Powerball. Ok, not really, but you get the point. Mansory is only building nine of these bad boys, and at an undisclosed price tag. Rest assured, it’s not going to come cheap and folks like us will probably have to sell more than just one appendage to cover the cost. But hey, all’s not lost, right? We may not be able to buy this nine-of-a-kind Wraith, but at least we can spend our days just staring at it through our computer screens.

Continue reading to learn more about the Rolls-Royce Wraith "Palm Edition 999" By Mansory.

Exterior

An exterior program like this leaves you scratching your head, wondering where to even begin. I’ll take this one a step at a time and start with the most obvious: the car’s paint finish. This one features a two-tone, white and gold exterior that creates the luxurious identity of the program. White is the predominant color but gold is also represented significantly -- specifically on the hood and roof. Gold plates are also scattered throughout the body, adding to the elegance of the two-color combination.

From an aerodynamic standpoint, Mansory wasn’t shy about installing a new aerodynamic body kit made up of carbon fiber. The front fenders are new, as are the side skirts, the apron that stretches to the rear, and the roof spoiler. Now comes the really ostentatious part about this program. All of the Wraith’s badges have been replaced with versions finished with .999 pure gold, and should a customer feel the desire to go overboard on the gold, Mansory can gold plate all parts with a metallic finish, be it the sill guards, the grille, the door handles, or even the Spirit of Ecstacy that’s sitting ever so comfortably on the hood of the car.

Rounding out the exterior modifications is a new set of 22-inch, high-performance, gold-colored wheels shod in 265/35 Vresdestein tires.

Interior

If there was ever an interior that can best be described as lavish and palatial, there aren’t that many that can replicate what Mansory did to the cabin of the Wraith. The tuner’s upholstery team - yes, Mansory has an upholstery team - dressed up the surfaces with handcrafted leather that takes the same color cues as the exterior paint finish. Embroideries of the Palm logo can also be found in the seats and as a customer option, the Swiss tuner is offering to add more gold accents throughout the cabin. That’s entirely up to the customer, so by looking at much gold there is in the interior of this car, you can tell which of these Wraiths belong to somebody with bottomless pockets.

Drivetrain

As good as Mansory is at blowing us over with its flamboyant cosmetic and aerodynamic prowess, it’s equally adept in the technical aspect of a tuning program. In this case, work was done on the Wraith’s 6.6-liter V-12 engine to increase the output from the standard 624 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque to a stout 729 horsepower at 5,000 rpm and 737 pound-feet of torque at 1,500 to 5,500 rpm. Mansory didn’t detail how it was able to get those numbers out of the V-12 engine, but whatever it did, the extra horses helps the Wraith sprint from 0 to 62 mph in just 4.4 seconds to go with a top speed of 186 mph. That top speed might still be on the low end of what you can get from 737 ponies, but remember, the Wraith weighs over two tons. That’s still a lot of weight to carry around.

Prices

Due to its extremely limited number, it’s perfectly understandable for the Wraith Palm Edition 999 to not have any pricing details. Only nine customers will be able to get their hands on this particular program and all nine will presumably pay a king’s ransom - and then some - for the chance to own a truly unique Rolls-Royce Wraith, the likes of which we’ll probably never seen again.

Competition

Bentley Continental Sanguis by Mansory

Mansory has always been front and center when it comes to building aftermarket programs for cars like Rolls-Royce and its chief rival Bentley. Back in 2013, the Swiss tuner even released one for the Continental, or as Mansory preferred to call it, the Continental Sanguis.

In typical Mansory fashion, that kit was littered with modifications on all facets of the Bentley. It had an aero kit made up of a carbon fiber hood, carbon fiber front wings, side sills, and rear widening components. It was more of the same inside as the Continental’s cabin featured hand-crafted leather and Makassar ebony wood elements. Don’t ask me what that is because I have no idea myself.

The Sanguis program also carried its own performance upgrade that was made up of a new sports exhaust system, a new air filter, and an optimized engine performance graph. All in all, Mansory was able to generate as much as 672 horsepower and 575 pound-feet of torque out of the Continental’s 6.0-liter W-12 engine. Those figures help the Continental GT sprint from 0 to 62 mph in just 4.5 seconds to go with a top speed of 200 mph.

Read our full review here.

Bentley Continental GT "Monster by Mulliner"

A more recently customized Bentley Continental GT that can be considered a worthy competitor to the Rolls-Royce Wraith Palm Edition 999 was just unveiled at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. It’s called the Monster by Mulliner, and while it doesn’t have as much gold as the Palm Edition 999, it does have a state-of-the-art audio system that the Rolls doesn’t have.

The exterior is dressed in a glossy shade of Onyx black paint finish with Hotspur red accents on a handful of components in the body. It also has black hood vents and a new set of polished, gloss back wheels. Inside, the Continental’s customization is turned a few levels up and is highlighted by a bespoke audio unit that Monster developed specifically for this model. Tuned by Noel Lee, this sound system delivers 3,400 watts and has 16 speakers. The sheer number of speakers kind of makes the Beluga hide and Piano Black inserts seem like afterthoughts. Oh, and if it’s gold you’re looking for, the Continental does have a 24-carat gold wireless headphone that’s neatly hidden in a special compartment.

Sadly, the Continental Monster by Mulliner doesn’t have any engine upgrades. That’s a bummer compared to what Mansory did to the Rolls, but with a twin-turbo, 4.0-liter V-8 that cranks out 521 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque, at least it can keep up with the Wraith Palm Edition 999.

Read our full review here.

Conclusion

I’ve come to expect a certain standard from Mansory, but even with that, the Wraith Palm Edition 999 has exceeded my expectations. All the modifications are typical of Mansory, including the performance upgrade. It’s all those gold accents that really makes this luxury coupe a cut above the rest. Fortunately, I won’t have to worry about trying to buy one because I can’t. Even if I did have the money to spend, the limited nature of this car is going to make it practically impossible to score one. Not that I’d buy it if it was offered to me, but at least I can dream, right?