Rolls-Royce bids farewell to the Dawn

Rolls-Royce has announced that it has ended production of the Dawn, the company's best-selling drop-top model ever

Rolls-Royce has ended production of the Dawn, the company's best-selling drop-top model. The move comes as the company heads towards a future of electrification, with the all-electric Rolls-Royce Spectre set to go on sale next year.

Based on the Wraith coupe, which itself is also ending production this year, the Dawn first debuted in 2015, three years after the Wraith. The name was inspired by the Silver Dawn that was produced from 1950-1954, and of which only 28 examples were made.

The Dawn was powered by a 6.6-litre twin-turbo V12 engine that produced 563hp, but later received a more powerful Black Badge version that added 30hp in 2017.

The all-electric Spectre will be the future of Rolls-Royce

It also featured an intricate folding roof mechanism, which the company dubbed the 'Silent Ballet' for its precision, elegance and noiseless operation. The Dawn was called "the world's quietest convertible", thanks to the exceptional noise-isolating performance of the fabric roof and special care to airflow and aerodynamics when being topless.

Rolls-Royce did not name a direct replacement for the Dawn, but there remains speculation that a drop-top version of the Spectre is in the works. Such a model will effectively fill the convertible void in the line-up that the Dawn has vacated, although Rolls-Royce have not commented on its possibility as yet.

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This article was first published in CarBuyer.