The Rolls-Royce Wraith is a big car, but one owner who apparently decided it needed more boot space and a whole lot more exclusivity has had their car converted into a Shooting Brake. And why not? Designed by Holland’s Niels van Roij Design and constructed by Belgian coach builder Carat Duchatelet, it looks like one of the most convincing Shooting Brake conversions out there – and it won’t remain a one-off, either, because more are being offered.
From what we can see in the pictures, the Wraith’s silhouette has taken rather well to the extension, stretching the roof line to the rearmost part of the car so the shoulders now support near-vertical panels. The chrome window wraparound of the coupe has been pulled further back so it more seamlessly matches the new profile. The tailgate is all-new, obviously, along with the decking that’s visible in the boot. It’s all quite lavish.
While we’re not shown images of the cabin's front half yet, expect a retrimming throughout; that’s certainly the usual practice of Niels van Roij Design, which you may remember also produced a Model S Shooting Brake in 2018. Supporting that assumption is the announcement that other customer cars will be offered with the option of fully customisable cabins.
There’s no mention of anything having been done to the Wraith’s hand-built 6.6-litre twin-turbo V12, which is hardly surprising given the smoothness with which its 633hp is delivered. It’s possible the car’s air suspension might have been adjusted to account for the extra weight, although the cloud-like chassis supporting the 2.3-tonne car is probably already up to the job of accommodating a few extra kilos over the rear.
As ever with these things, pricing is on a need to know basis. That being said, we’d expect no less than a six-figure sum for the conversion – excluding the donor car, obviously. If you’re the sort of person who’s happy to have your Rolls-Royce come into contact with an angle grinder, then you're probably used to money-no-object propositions, and the exclusivity that tends to come with them. The Wraith Shooting Brake has that commodity in spades.
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