Back in the late '80s, it was in fashion for people to steal hood ornaments from Mercedes-Benz cars and wear them on a necklace. It's a bit foggy how this all started, but I think it had to do with one rapper or another wearing it in a video back when MTV actually played music videos. That means that every Mercedes within 25 miles of a school was missing its hood ornament. Rolls-Royce isn't having any of that.
The 2016 Rolls-Royce Wraith is something of an outlier for the British luxury brand - it’s the Rolls you drive yourself, rather than enjoy from the more traditional perspective of the rear seat. Past that, however, it's also a car that intends to make your time behind the wheel a bit more engaging than what your chauffeur would experience piloting the four-door Ghost sedan on which the Wraith is based. Either way, after driving this two-door behemoth in and around Montreal, there's one thing I can state without reservation: regardless of where you're sitting, being inside the Rolls-Royce Wraith is an event in and of itself.
It’s no secret that Rolls-Royce is working on autonomous ships for commercial use (read: self-operating cargo ships) — we heard about them years ago, and work on them has been relatively quiet since. That changed this month, with Rolls-Royce detailing what it envisions the future will hold in this regard; there will be the autonomous ships themselves, of course, but also control centers where the ships are monitored and controlled. If the company’s concept video and photos are anything to go by, these control centers will be insanely futuristic.
![Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100 concept – A deeper look into the car [Video]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/rolls-royce-vision-next-100-concept-1-980x420.jpg)
We knew Rolls-Royce was showing off its Vision Next 100 concept in London, but we were thoroughly unprepared for what we saw. Taking a different approach than parent BMW did with its Vision Next 100 concept, Rolls tried to imagine what the super-luxury clientele of the future would want, versus the performance-minded enthusiast that BMW has traditionally appealed to.
The Rolls-Royce of the future will be an astonishing, autonomous, space-age coupe worthy of Minority Report, at least according to the brand's new VISION NEXT 100 concept. Latest in owner BMW's look ahead to the next century of automotive design and technology, the striking Rolls-Royce 103EX VISION NEXT 100 is certainly the most dramatic of the cars we've seen so far.
You might think that a regular Rolls-Royce would be the pinnacle of crowd-pleasing, but you'd be wrong. For that, you need to look to the automaker's newest designer label, Black Badge, and the epitome of selfie motivation, the Rolls-Royce Black Badge Wraith.
While many car maker's vision of the future involve technology-centric machinery and gadgets inside the car, Rolls-Royce is taking a slightly different look. The luxury marque has started its move to employ a new kind of architecture for its upcoming models. It envisions that by early 2018, all its cars will be sporting a new, proprietary aluminum space-frame architecture that promises to add even more stability and strength to Rolls-Royce's line of comfortable and luxurious vehicles and it will be starting its public tests soon.
Rolls-Royce cars are undoubtedly among the most luxurious and expensive automobiles that you can buy. For some of the very well-heeled buyers an off the rack Rolls isn’t what they are interested in. They want something more exclusive and luxurious and for that they turn to Rolls-Royce Bespoke to create custom cars to suit their tastes.
If you’re ridiculously wealthy and love the wind in your hair, Rolls-Royce has the convertible for you. The new Rolls-Royce Dawn has broken cover officially today, a vast open-top luxury cruiser intended to cosset four adults who want both access to the sunshine but without sacrificing the near-silent ride the marque is known for.
Rolls-Royce makes much of its super high-end cars by hand and has a number of custom and bespoke options that buyers can choose for their cars. One of the bespoke options that can be chosen is a Bespoke Audio system. Rolls is taking the Bespoke Audio system further than ever before with a new Wraith "Inspired by Music" version of the luxury car.
Last February, luxury car maker Rolls-Royce surprised the automobile industry by declaring that it will be dipping its toes into the SUV segment, though of course it prefers not to call it that. Dubbed Project Cullinan, this "Effortless Everywhere" all-terrain motor car would be poised to take on the Bentley Bentayga in almost everything, probably including the price. Fast-forward two months later, Rolls-Royce is giving the public a peek at the first step in that new dream, an engineering mule that will kickstart the development and testing phase of the SUV all-terrain motor car.
Hold onto your top hats: Rolls-Royce is making an SUV, and if the luxury marque's track record in opulence and excess is anything to go by, little this side of a Bentley Bentayga will eclipse it in the parking lot. In fact, the car firm's breathless announcement that it's wading into a new segment even keeps "SUV" itself at arm's distance, preferring instead to refer to its "Effortless Everywhere" abilities, desert-storming off road intentions, and of course near-ridiculous quantities of high-luxe outfitting. We don't know what it's called, but we can guess it'll be expensive.