IT'S being described by Rolls-Royce as the sexiest car it has ever made and the Dawn is about to take the luxury British brand back into the world of super-exclusive open top motoring.

With the exception of the drophead Phantom it's been the best part of 40 years since the famous marque has had a convertible in its stable.

That was the exotic Corniche and now the Dawn is poised to revive the glory days of luxury drop top motoring.

The Dawn may share its underpinnings with the Wraith Coupe launched two years ago but comes with almost an entirely different body.

At 17ft 4ins it is two inches longer than the Wraith and has a sleek profile, hood up or down.

It is a two-door, four seater but according to Rolls it is as quiet inside as the Wraith and the roof can be retracted in 22 seconds at speeds up to 30mph.

Boot space is 295 litres while inside it is sumptuously appointed with hide upholstery and an exclusive matt chrome finish to the dials.

Reflecting Rolls-Royce's global status the Dawn is fitted with a 10.25-inch display screen that can be operated from a touch pad that will also recognise characters written in Arabic and Mandarin.

Around the cabin is a stainless steel waist line while at the rear the Dawn is fitted with wooden decking akin to that of a speedboat and the car sits on 20-inch wheels as standard.

Like the Wraith, the Dawn is powered by a 6.6-litre V12 engine mated to an eight speed auto box which uses GPS signals to predict the road ahead enabling optimum performance.

Top speed is restricted at 155mph while 0 to 60 acceleration is 4.9 seconds, not quite as brisk as the Wraith but in line with the Dawn's 2.5-tonne body weight. Official fuel consumption is rated at 19.9mpg with emissions of 330g/km.

The Dawn will have its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week and while Rolls-Royce has yet to release pricing details they can be expected to be beyond the £230,000 of the Wraith.