At the Geneva Motor Show in March 2016, Rolls-Royce introduced a permanent bespoke family of motor cars called Black Badge, designed in response to the lifestyles of a younger, more dynamic luxury patron.
Since its introduction, Black Badge has attracted a new generation of Rolls-Royce customers to the marque. Overwhelming customer demand for Ghost Black Badge and Wraith Black Badge proved the time was right to add a new chapter to the Black Badge story, according to the company.
In 2017, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed — a fitting stage upon which the third chapter in the Black Badge story could unfurl — Rolls-Royce staged the global debut of its Dawn Black Badge.
Finished in a deeply intense shade of two-tone Belladonna Purple/Diamond Black, with multiple layers of paint and lacquer fastidiously applied and polished by hand, Dawn’s sensuous lines are clothed in one of the most beautiful colours to ever grace a production car surface, say the brand ambassadors. The roof, which opens in a “Silent Ballet” to allow in the sounds of the night, is also only available in black canvas, whilst the rear deck is finished in black leather.
Its construction displays Rolls-Royce’s renowned attention to detail. Threads of aircraft grade aluminium, a delicate 0.014m in diameter, are woven together and then bonded in carbon fibre. Surfaces are then finished with six coats of lacquer before being left to cure for 72 hours and hand polished to Rolls-Royce’s hallmark mirror finish. The result is a highly contemporary finish, perfectly attuned to the darker more menacing aesthetic today’s patrons of luxury demand.
Black Badge is Rolls-Royce’s response to a small and select group of clients who reflect a different take on life, success and the luxury they consume. Luminaries including Sir Malcolm Campbell, Howard Hughes and Muhammed Ali epitomise the marque’s founding philosophy; an uncompromising refusal to accept the status quo and a constant yearn to innovate, create and advance. Their restless spirit was also shared by the marque’s co-founder; himself one of the great disruptors of his day. The Honourable CS Rolls was a man in a hurry. Not satisfied with fundamentally altering the road car landscape, he sought more and pursued his appetite for advancement and adventure in the air; a passion that would ultimately lead to his untimely demise aged just 33.
It is this indomitable spirit that, since the launch of Black Badge, has captivated so many of today’s young owners, who are now drawn to Rolls-Royce’s vision and flexibility in meeting their demands both in design and engineering terms. Black Badge is designed to amplify the inherent characteristics that have driven so many new, younger patrons of luxury to the marque.
In conceiving Black Badge versions of Wraith, Ghost and now Dawn, the marque’s bespoke designers and engineers drew upon their instinctive understanding of the lives of these extraordinary people to create both design and engineering treatments that perfectly amplify the inherent values of the great Rolls-Royce.
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