Rolls-Royce Wraith: the fastest Rolls-Royce of its time

The Rolls-Royce Wraith is a full-size grand tourer built on the chassis of the Ghost saloon. Announced in January 2013 and shown at that year’s Geneva motor show, it revived a name first used by the original Rolls-Royce company in 1938 and was the fastest accelerating Rolls-Royce yet produced.

Rolls-Royce Wraith at a glance

This page is based on English Wikipedia only, so the figures could not be checked against a second source. No free photograph of the Wraith was available, so the previous thumbnail of the record is kept.

History of the Rolls-Royce Wraith

A new Wraith

The Wraith shares its nameplate with the 1938 model from the original Rolls-Royce company. The modern car was built to replace the Phantom Coupé, and unlike that earlier two-door, which was based on the seventh-generation Phantom, the Wraith was based on the Ghost. It shares the Ghost’s chassis with the Dawn convertible as well. The body style is a two-door pillar-less coupé with rear-hinged doors, a layout most popular in the 1950s and 1960s and known as the hardtop, which Rolls-Royce had not used since 1955.

Launch

The car was announced in January 2013 and unveiled at the Geneva motor show that year, with deliveries starting in the fourth quarter of 2013. The standard Wraith has a 6.6-litre twin-turbocharged V12 producing 632 PS (465 kW; 623 hp). It can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, making it the fastest accelerating Rolls-Royce produced up to that point, and its top speed is electronically limited to 250 km/h (155 mph).

Black Badge

The Wraith Black Badge was a special edition modified for greater performance. Power stayed the same but torque rose to 870 N·m (642 lb·ft), and the car received reworked suspension and steering, new driveshafts and a transmission tune that shifted higher in the rev range. Its exterior features, including the Spirit of Ecstasy, were painted black, and the interior used carbon fibre. The Black Badge name was later applied to the Cullinan and Dawn as well.

Special editions

The Landspeed Edition, unveiled online in June 2021 alongside the Dawn Landspeed, was a limited version of the Wraith Black Badge paying homage to Captain George E. T. Eyston; its interior carried his OBE, Military Cross and Chevalier de la Légion honours, and production was limited to thirty-five cars. The Kryptos, a special edition named from the Greek word for ‘concealed’ and designed as an homage to cryptology, was limited to 50 units. Tuners also took the car: the German firm Mansory showed its Wraith at Geneva in 2014 with new wheels, grille and lower bodywork, followed by the Bleurion and the Wraith 2, while Novitec’s Wraith Overdose had 717 hp (535 kW) and 986 N·m and was limited to eight cars.

Design and features

• Fastest Rolls yet: 632 PS and 0–60 mph in 4.4 seconds at launch.
• Pillar-less coupé: rear-hinged doors and a hardtop body style unused by Rolls-Royce since 1955.
• Ghost-based: the chassis is shared with the Ghost saloon and Dawn convertible.
• Black Badge: more torque, reworked chassis and black exterior detailing.
• Limited editions: the Landspeed Edition (35 cars) and the Kryptos (50 cars).

Rolls-Royce Wraith versions

• Wraith (2013–2022): the standard 632 PS coupé.
• Wraith Black Badge: 870 N·m, reworked suspension, steering and transmission.
• Landspeed Edition (2021): 35 cars honouring Captain George E. T. Eyston.
• Kryptos: 50 cars themed around cryptology.
• Mansory versions: the Wraith, Bleurion and Wraith 2 by the German tuner.
• Novitec Wraith Overdose: 717 hp and eight cars built.

The Wraith uses the platform of the Ghost, and its predecessor in the range was the Phantom Coupé. More cars are in the Rolls-Royce collection.

Sources

• Rolls-Royce Wraith (2013), English Wikipedia: launch, performance, Black Badge, special editions