Rolls-Royce debuts limited-edition Wraith

One of the world’s most expensive hotels will host the debut of one of Rolls-Royce’s most exclusive cars tonight.

The Wraith Eagle VIII will be unveiled at the Villa d’Este hotel, on the shores of Lake Como, during the prestigious Concorso d’Eleganza celebrations.

The 50 versions of the big coupe, which supposedly tells the “epic tale of one of the most pivotal moments of the 20th century”, will honour the first non-stop transatlantic flight in history.

It uses the Eagle VIII moniker because the Vickers Vimy plane used by Brits John Alcock and Arthur Brown to fly from Canada to Ireland used a pair of 20.3-litre, 350hp Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII aircraft engines.

There’s a fair slice of brass involved in the Wraith’s luxury interior, which also scores an X-pattern grille design to resemble an aircraft’s engine cowling, and a brass feature line to separate its two-tone paint scheme.

There are brass accents and hints through the cabin, too, including the speaker covers and the door pockets, while the clock on the dash glows green at night.

Its dash is made from Eucalyptus, which has its common bearing tizzied up by gold, silver and copper inlays. The inlays show the earth at night, apparently, while the headliner is supposed to show the alignment of the stars on the date of the flight, while the flight path tracks through the stars with brass threat.

The Sir Winston Churchill quote ““I do not know what we should most admire - their audacity, determination, skill, science, their aeroplane, their Rolls-Royce engines, or their good fortune” is on a brass plate on the driver’s door.