Not long ago, our snappers caught what sure as heck appeared to be a Rolls-Royce Wraith convertible testing in the snow. Now, the famed purveyor of fancy four-wheeled opulence is confirming the existence a forthcoming drophead model called the Rolls-Royce Dawn — a name also given to a limited run of 28 drophead Rollers->ke74 in the 1950s.

“Dawn is a beautiful new open-top motor car with a name that suggests the fresh opportunities that every new day holds – an awakening, an opening up of one’s senses and a burst of sunshine,” said CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes, “It will be the most social of super-luxury motor cars for those beautiful people who wish to bathe in the sunlight of the world’s social hotspots.” Sounds like a spiritual experience for a narcissist rather than a car, but there you go.

Rolls-Royce was tight-lipped on specifics, but here’s what we think we know: As a convertible->ke144 variant of the Wraith Coupe,->ke1710 we’re expecting the Dawn to be pretty much the same from the waist down. That means a 6.6-liter V-12 producing 624 horsepower, nestled under a very long hood and powering the rear wheels through a ZF eight-speed transmission. The absence of a hardtop also means the fastback profile is gone in favor of a flat trunk and fabric roof.

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Why it matters

For all the pomp that Rolls-Royce likes to trot out ahead of the unveiling of any new car, the Dawn will be exactly what you expect it to be: a convertible version of the Wraith. But, there are probably plenty of one-percenters waiting on just such a car, so the company will probably sell plenty of them. Rolls says the Dawn will go on sale in the first quarter of 2016, for what we’re guessing will be around $300,000.

Rolls Royce Wraith Drophead

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