The Rolls-Royce Dawn was created to deliver the world’s most social, seductive open-top motoring experience for four people. In doing so, it attracted a new type of client to the marque – successful, young and dynamic men and women drawn to Dawn’s contemporary aesthetic and compelled by its owner/driver appeal.
To add yet more aesthetic appeal to this remarkable motor car, the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective of designers, engineers and craftspeople created a removable Aero Cowling. Introduced in 2018, this modern and meticulously constructed piece converts the aesthetic of Dawn into a two-seat roadster-style motor car with an extended tonneau cover sitting atop the two rear seats. By creating a higher-shouldered silhouette, Aero Cowling alters Dawn’s persona and heightens its sense of dynamic intent.
The Aero Cowling, which can be fitted and removed at a client’s discretion, encloses the rear seats beneath a beautifully hand-made cover, with two cowls rising from the leading edge of the tonneau area, to a point just behind each front seat headrest. The form of the cowls was precisely sculpted to funnel air gracefully over the cabin, so to enhance driver comfort.
Each cowl is equipped with a pair of lockable leather-lined storage compartments for personal effects, while the cover itself is made of carbon fibre and aluminium. This choice of materials makes Aero Cowling incredibly light yet strong. The lids of the cowls are swathed in finest Rolls-Royce leather, perfectly matching the interior of the car as commissioned by the owner.
A remarkable Bespoke canvas
The Aero Cowling is not designed to simply transform the appearance of the Dawn, but to complement it. Bespoke canvases for colour and detail atop the cowl lids allow for a harmonious flow of colour between motor car and tonneau.
Originally presented at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, the first Rolls-Royce Dawn Aero Cowling was matched perfectly with the Cassiopeia Silver and Casden Tan colour scheme of the motor car it adorned. The central spine was finished in exposed carbon fibre, showcasing its lightweight structure, with a weave book-matched to a contemporary chevron graphic. This intricately detailed spine harmoniously ran down the centre of the car, through the centre console and onto the dashboard.
Since its launch, Rolls-Royce Dawn Aero Cowling has enhanced many Bespoke commissions. One of the first was the Bayside Dawn Aero Cowling, commissioned by a customer in Yokohama, Japan, to pay tribute to his seafaring home city. It matched cutting-edge technical fibre with open-pore teak Canadel panelling, drawing inspiration from yacht decking. The Aero Cowling’s colourway evoked blue seas and white sails in the finest traditions of Yokohama Bay.
Most recently, Aero Cowling adorned Dawn Silver Bullet, revealed in early 2020. Inspired by rare, glamorous and rakish roadsters of the 1920s, this motor car’s tonneau was finished with an ultra-metallic silver-painted central spine and a vapour-blasted titanium windbreak, etched with the Silver Bullet nameplate and silhouette.
Aero Cowling is able to amplify a more striking aesthetic as well as elegantly contribute to its form. Arguably, its boldest appearance was part of the marque’s 2019 Pebble Beach Collection where it was incorporated into a Dawn Black Badge finished in striking Coral. This new pastel colour carried over to the Aero Cowling itself, creating an appearance reminiscent of the Speedster two-seater body style so closely associated with the USA’s western seaboard.
