Rolls-Royce’s last V12-powered coupe will be a special edition version of the Black Badge Wraith inspired by the 1938 Thunderbolt land speed record car.
12 examples of the limited edition Rolls-Royce Black Badge Wraith Black Arrow will be made in Rolls-Royce’s Goodwood factory before the carmaker begins production of its all-electric Spectre.
All have been allocated to clients around the world already.
The limited edition vehicle features paintwork that combines Black Diamond and Celebration Silver paint for a gradient effect that is inspired by the Thunderbolt.
The carmaker refers to the paintwork as having a “striking motion blur effect from front to rear”.
A bespoke plaque is mounted on the bonnet, symbolising the last V12 engine ever to be fitted to a Rolls-Royce coupe.
It’s inscribed with a V12 monogram in bright yellow and the ‘Final Coupe Collection’ in Black.
Inside the limited edition Wraith, there’s Thunderbolt bright yellow leather on the front seats. The stitching in the rear seats is finished in the same colour.
Rolls-Royce says the armrests, seat gussets, transmission tunnel, door detail, door panniers, and lower dashboard panel are all finished in a new material it calls ‘Club leather’.
It’s said to have a “club-armchair” look, with a greater sheen and deeper black colouration contrasting with the matte natural-grain black leather in the cabin.
The interior also includes a handcrafted bespoke starlight headliner with 2117 individual fibre-optic ‘stars’.
All the stars are precisely placed to depict the Milky Way over the Salt Flats in Utah on the 16th of September 1938, the night Captain George Eyston set the land-speed record in the original Thunderbolt.
The coach doors are lined with open-pore Black Wood, with 320 multi-directional layered marquetry pieces for a look Rolls-Royce says “mimics the cracked, irregular surface of the Bonneville Salt Flats.”
The laser feature also extends to the rear ‘waterfall’ panel that separates the two rear seats.
A dark marking at the twelve o’clock position of the steering wheel aligns with a similar pattern in the seats.
The marking is symbolic to Eyston’s sole point of reference while the Thunderbolt was traveling at speeds of over 500km/h.
The Thunderbolt set a world record for the fastest land speed vehicle in 1938 with a top speed of 575.33 km/h.
It featured two Rolls-Royce V12 ‘R’ Series aero engines, eight wheels, and weighed seven tonnes.
The special edition Rolls-Royce draws inspiration from the vehicle’s appearance, as the record-setting car featured a black arrow on the sides with a yellow central circle motif to make it visible at high speeds.
Rolls-Royce first introduced the Wraith in 2013, with the Black Badge Wraith following in 2016. Both it and its drop-top Dawn counterpart are exiting production ahead of the launch of the electric Spectre.
