Wanna Wraith?

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Not to be outdone by the bull from Wolfsburg, BMW’s adopted super-luxury brand, Rolls Royce, offers its “most powerful and dynamic Rolls-Royce in history.” The Wraith, a car “with just a hint of the noir,” as Rolls says in an email.

The car looks a little bit like when a Plymouth Barracuda went to 4th base with a Phantom. It’s the Rolls version of a fastback muscle car. The V12 engine makes 624 bhp and propels the big bruiser from 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds.

In the gizmo department, the Wraith has a Satellite Aided Transmission (a.k.a., clever, clever SAT:) Via GPS mapping, “the correct gear is always pre-selected for the road terrain ahead.”

In Europe, the car will cost €245K ($320k) – downright approachable, compared to the Wolfsburg bull.




Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • CJinSD CJinSD on Mar 05, 2013

    Looks like something Boyd Coddington would have slapped his name on. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

  • Amca Amca on Mar 06, 2013

    Can't wait 'til they get one in the (window) of my local dealer. I must say I don't go for the two tone, nor for the stainless accents on the hood and windshield structure of the Phantom coupe and drophead. Too fussy. There's an all black Phantom drophead in my neighborhood. None of that fussy stainless. Marvelously thuggish looking - my first thought on seeing it is always of Darth Vader's helmet. If I won the Lotto and needed a Rolls, I think a navy blue one-tone over tobacco brown (or maybe more toward mahogany) Wraith coupe would be ideal. On the other hand, Bentley is said to be preparing a Mullsane coupe . . . .

    • Kyree Kyree on Mar 06, 2013

      Yes, they probably are, considering that the Mulsanne is the replacement for the Arnage, and the Arnage had coupe (Brooklands) and convertible (Azure) bodystyles, and all three of them--despite using antiquated technology--were far more classy than the Volkswagen-derived Continental line...

  • 28-Cars-Later So Honda are you serious again or will the lame continue?
  • Fred I had a 2009 S-line mine was chipped but otherwise stock. I still say it was the best "new" car I ever had. I wanted to get the new A3, but it was too expensive, didn't come with a hatch and no manual.
  • 3-On-The-Tree If Your buying a truck like that your not worried about MPG.
  • W Conrad I'd gladly get an EV, but I can't even afford anything close to a new car right now. No doubt if EV's get more affordable more people will be buying them. It is a shame so many are stuck in their old ways with ICE vehicles. I realize EV's still have some use cases that don't work, but for many people they would work just fine with a slightly altered mindset.
  • Master Baiter There are plenty of affordable EVs--in China where they make all the batteries. Tesla is the only auto maker with a reasonably coherent strategy involving manufacturing their own cells in the United States. Tesla's problem now is I think they've run out of customers willing to put up with their goofy ergonomics to have a nice drive train.
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