A Silo look back article 🙂

It’s Fall 2013 and the “now brand new” Wraith from the Rolls-Royce car company is not something I get exposed to often. Let’s face it,  I’m a mid size car guy. Not high-end luxury.  I rationalize my affordability factor by saying that high end’s are too ‘heavy’ and shee-shee poo-poo. Up until now, that may have been as true.

Rolls had an unveiling of their new car The Wraith the other week here in beautiful Vancouver. And well, like the locale, the car itself did stand out even beyond the scenery. The Silo was invited to attend and I earned the assignment. Life is hard 😉

After entering the front doors of the party where a silver painted goddess of sorts and a sleek feather black wraith slowly and elegantly moved around the scene, one can only be sure to expect nothing short of the best attention to these prospective buyers.

There was jewelry set to the tone of $425,000 (Canada’s biggest pink Diamond); a price tag similar to the cars standing right next to them. The food was excellent and the company certainly discerning.

There was not shortage of demonstration of other models and those with mostly older not only in lineage but also in style, heralding a tradition one has come to know of Rolls Royce. Which is why when the time came for the unveiling of the new car, there was nothing short of a surprise. The car looked sleek and modern while maintaining the more discernable feature Rolls is known for. It looked like, well, not quite a Rolls. It seemed sporty even.

For those who wanted performance but still the luxury that comes with expectations. People actually gasped and well, they should have.

Once the shock settled opera singers belted out a song of elegance that matched the vehicle’s looks and appearance. I became transported and wanted to change careers all of sudden.

The show was a success, so now came the long shot that I would get to test-drive one of them. I am not a buyer, no sir.

“So when can I test drive one, ahahaha”

“Are you free tomorrow at 3pm?”

Ummm….yeah maybe sure….oh look at that I am free. Perfect” Gulp.

So on to the test drive.

I show up at the Rolls dealership in Vancouver and was met with nothing but interest and enthusiasm for someone who clearly was not in the market for such a car. That didn’t matter much as they were very excited to show off their new marvel. Ha! I thought. No way this thing can actually drive as cool as it looks. Well, my dear readers, was I wrong.

0-100 in 4.4 seconds. Quite. Handles like a dream. Smooth. Great suspension. 14 speaker sound system. Crazy navigation. Just crazy. The holographic road map was floating next to a virtual speedometer in/on (?) the windshield. Touch sensitive screen for drawing on. I mean the whole thing was about performance from interior to engine.

The camera system is a cool feature, however at the end of the experience I didn’t really know how to use them. What happens is a 5-camera system captures unique perspectives and through an algorithm creates a bird eyes view of the car. Very cool. However, I just used my mirrors and the over–the-shoulder-one-arm-on-the-back –of-the-passenger-seat to look behind me for the approach in backing up. Technology is great but it has to actually be effective or helpful. Give the user a certain level of confidence that she or he would never have alone otherwise.

And boy did I check my mirrors often when driving. I didn’t want to risk a dent or a scratch.

Just pulling out for the first time was nerve racking, but once you got the feel for it, which happens quick, you are instantly spoiled as a driver which is of course the point when dealing with luxury cars. And it seems Rolls still has been able to retain the  ability to spoil its driver no matter what. The wraith delivers. For the Silo,  Arthur Maughan.