Crack code with the Wraith Kryptos Collection

True to its name of the Kryptos Collection, the new Wraith is definitely cryptic. It eschews the normal special edition fare of free extras by coming with what Rolls-Royce says is an encrypted message embedded into the fabric of the car, in Rolls-speak, “a labyrinth of complex ciphers incorporated into its beguiling façade.”

Your mission, should you choose to spend circa a quarter of a mill on the V12 two-door coupe, is to break the code. In a storyline worthy of James Bond, the answer to the riddle is in a sealed envelope locked away in the safe of the chief executive at Rolls-Royce in Goodwood.

Owners of the 50 Kryptos Collection cars to be made can post their suggestions for what the answer is on the Rolls-Royce app. Rolls doesn’t say if there is a prize for anyone who cracks the code, only that it “will be an enlightening conclusion”. The secret of the universe perhaps?

“Ciphers can be traced through millennia, capturing the imagination of some of the world’s most brilliant minds,” says Rolls-Royce bespoke designer Katrin Lehmann whose idea it was to get quizzical with the Wraith.

“As a designer, I’ve always been fascinated by the notion that you can communicate messages that are understood by only an elite few, using symbols, pictograms, and ciphers. Finding the key becomes integral to appreciating the full meaning of an item that can otherwise be viewed simply as a work of art.”

Clues to the code start with an engraving in green enamel on the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot and extend to subtle hints in the colour and trim choices, in special embroidery on the head restraints, in a print on the facia and in a bi-coloured headliner that depicts a data-stream inspired motif. There is also something of a new look for the Wraith thrown in, with reprofiled bumper inserts and polished wheels.

Rolls CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös told us: “The brilliant and creative minds of our Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective have excelled once again, I look forward to seeing whether any of our clients will crack the code!”

As Churchill might have said about it, “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. You can’t help thinking that throwing in a set of free sheepskin rugs would have been easier…