Wraith

Segment
Coupe

Shooting brakes are seeing a resurgence in popularity lately, with Volkswagen bringing one such version of the Arteon to market, and Genesis doing the same with its G70. However, shooting brakes are usually the reserve of the filthy rich, as one stupidly expensive Tesla has shown. Thus it makes sense for the likes of Rolls-Royce to create something special like this for its best customers. But what if you can't wait more than a couple of months? Meet the Carat Duchatelet Silver Spectre. It's based on the marvelous Rolls-Royce Wraith and it's arguably one of the best-looking Rolls models in ages. Except that it isn't, as the BMW-owned British brand had nothing to do with this one.

This special model was designed by Niels van Roij Design and brought to life by Belgian coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet, hence its long-winded name. As the pictures show, this thing has been crafted to perfection and looks good enough to have been a Rolls-Royce product through and through. The pictures also show just how practical this conversion has made the Wraith, with a massive, flat cargo area leading to a pass-through to the front.

Not much more is known about the cabin, but customers are able to spec anything they want when it comes to upholstery finishes and colors. That's just par for the course when you own a Rolls, but it's nice to know that there will be different interpretations of this masterpiece.

This particular car was commissioned by a Wraith owner who obviously wanted something special, but his idea isn't a one-off. It is the first of its kind, but Carat Duchatelet is building a total of seven of these Silver Spectre shooting brakes. We're glad that more than one are being built, but we have no doubt that most owners will likely only ever use it as a spectacle in some museum of a garage. As for price, no details on this are available yet, but if you can afford a Wraith, money isn't the problem here. Will this new spark of interest in shooting brakes result in more OEMs building cars of this style? We sure hope so.