Rolls-Royce never fails to impress. That much is clear after the British luxury brand released another special edition model at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, adding to the seemingly hundreds of SE models unveiled to the public this year. This one is different, though. It's a special edition Rolls-Royce Dawn that’s wearing the Black Badge name. This one, ladies and gentlemen, is the Rolls-Royce Dawn Black Badge.

For those who are unfamiliar with the name, Black Badge is what Rolls-Royce describes as a “permanent Bespoke family of motor cars” under the Rolls-Royce brand. It’s essentially made up Rolls-Royce models that have been transformed into better representations of a specific model’s full potential. The line was introduced at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show when the British automaker brought with it the Ghost Black Badge and the Wraith Black Badge. Now it’s the Dawn’s turn to get the same treatment, and just like the two models that came before it, this one is peppered with extra features, added amenities, and an all-around sense of bespoke engineering that has come to define Rolls-Royce in recent years. The availability of the Dawn Black Badge is unique in its own way too since Rolls-Royce isn’t planning to roll out a specific number of models wearing the name. That’s because if anybody wants one, he or she will have to ask Rolls-Royce to build one for them.

Continue after the jump to read more about the Rolls-Royce Dawn Black Badge

What makes the Rolls Royce Dawn Black Badge special

There’s so many points to cover, so we'll go in order. Let’s start with what Rolls-Royce did to the exterior of the Dawn Black Badge. The first thing to remember here is that in keeping with this juiced up, bespoke theme the company started with the Ghost Black Badge and the Wraith Black Badge, no stone was left unturned in giving the Dawn Black Badge the same kind of attention. Take, for example, the black paint finish on the convertible. Apparently, this isn’t just typical black paint. The color, as Rolls describes it, is a “deeply intense shade of black” that was accomplished by putting in multiple layers of paint and lacquer, all of which were applied fastidiously before getting hand-polished. The automaker even describes the process as “the most exhaustive painting and polishing process ever used for a solid paint color.” It’s hard to notice in photos because, in the end, black is black whichever way you look at it. But hey, it’s the effort that counts, right?

Move past the laborious painting process and the rest of the exterior upgrades pop up. Over in the roof, the canvas that was used also featured a similar shadowy black shade. The convertible’s rear deck also gets in on the intense black treatment and not surprisingly, so do the front grille, the exhaust, trunk trim, and the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament, all of which were finished in dark chrome highlights. A particularly interesting easter egg in this creation is the “Double R” logo. Turns out, Rolls-Royce inverted the colors on the logo specifically for the Dawn Black Badge in order to highlight the alter-ego personality of the Black Badge line.

How does it compare to the Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge and the Rolls-Royce Wraith Black Badge?

Apart from being three distinct models, there really isn’t that much of a difference between the Dawn Black Badge and the two other Black Badge models that came before it. All three models come with the same deep and intense black paint finish. Not at all surprising considering that the name attached to the three models does have “Black” in it. Granted, Rolls-Royce didn’t say what kind of wheels it fitted into the Dawn Black Badge, but both the Ghost and Wraith versions carried what the company described as “composite carbon fiber, lightweight alloy wheels that are exclusive only to the Wraith and Ghost Black Badge Editions.” According to Rolls, creating those wheels, which features 22 layers of carbon fiber and a 3D forged, aircraft-grade aluminum center hub, took four years to complete.

Step inside the interior of the Dawn Black Badge and prepare yourselves to drown in excess black leather. It’s literally everywhere in the cabin, so any break in the monochromatic treatment is a welcome addition. Fortunately, Rolls-Royce knows that itself so it decided to add bright Mandarin orange highlights on various sections of the interior to bring some much-needed jolt of personality into the proceedings. Another exclusive addition to the Dawn Black Badge is the dark finish on the air events, something Rolls-Royce was able to accomplish through a coating method called Physical Vapour Deposition. I’m not pretending to know what that means, but the automaker says it helps create a dark finish that will “never discolor or tarnish,” presumably ensuring that at least one design element of the Dawn Black Badge will remain intact for a long time. Last but certainly not least is the presence of the infinity logo that comes embroidered into the convertible’s rear waterfall. The embroidered image of the logo is a nod towards Sir Malcolm Campbell, one of the most distinguished early customers of the British automaker who also happens to have invented the Infinity logo.

As provocative as the exterior and interior of the Rolls-Royce Dawn are, one of the real highlights of the Dawn Black Badge is its 6.6-liter bi-turbo V-12 engine. The engine itself isn’t the main selling point here, but rather the tweaks and upgrades that Rolls-Royce made to squeeze out more power out of the engine. Imagine that. All told, the Dawn Black Badge is capable of producing 593 horsepower and 620 pound-feet of torque. Those are impressive numbers but what few people realize is that the numbers are actually much higher than they are compared to the standard Dawn. All told, the Black Badge version of the Rolls convertible has 30 more ponies and 45 pound-feet of torque more than its standard counterpart. Sadly, the increased power does not play itself out in the car’s performance times, as well. The Dawn Black Badge’s acceleration to 62 mph still sits at 4.9 seconds while top speed remains electronically limited to just 155 mph.

Regardless of how it performs, the fact that it has more power on tap means that there’s more power to squeeze around. That kind of strategy was also on full display when the automaker unveiled the Ghost and Wraith Dark Badge models. Both models also experienced gains in power, but neither amounted to increased performance times. For a quick look at how much power all three Black Badge models received, check out the table below.

I’m not a big fan of the Rolls-Royce Dawn Black Badge. What now?

As ridiculous as it sounds, I don't see the point of all this black madness, power upgrades notwithstanding. The good news is that, like I said in the start, Rolls-Royce has rolled out a lot of special edition models in the past few years. Two that come to mind provide good alternatives in the event you’re not sold on the Black Badge.

One of them just happens to be the complete opposite of it. It’s called the Rolls-Royce Dawn “Inspired by Fashion” and as you can plainly see, it’s all dressed up in white, as in an Andalucian White body finish in the exterior and Arctic White leather in the interior. The dashboard also received a Piano White finish, complete with aluminum particles and a bespoke clock with a silver on silver effect to it. The result is staggering, maybe even more so than the Dawn Black Badge. The only thing that breaks from all the whiteness of the Dawn Inspired by Fashion Special Edition is the car’s soft, fabric roof, which was offered with a choice of three colors, specifically Mugello Red, Cobalto Blue, and Mandarin.

Now if you want your Rolls-Royce Dawn with a little bit more color to it, the Dawn Porto Cervo. It’s dressed up in an Emerald Green paint finish and features numerous exclusive styling cues to the beautiful seaside city of Porto Cervo, Italy from which it takes its name from. It’s arguably one of the most beautiful special edition models I’ve seen in a long time, and the nautical theme surrounding it only adds to its wondrous appeal as a true Rolls-Royce masterpiece.

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