Rolls-Royce’s new special edition is too confusing for our tiny minds

Another day, another tedious special edition of a car we know all about, right? Well, not exactly. This is the Rolls-Royce Wraith Kryptos Collection, and it’s hiding something brilliantly confusing. 

Just 50 examples of the Kryptos Collection will be built and running through the car is an encrypted cipher that hides a series of messages for the owner to uncover. Check out that pattern underneath the Spirit of Ecstasy and on the headrests – that’s a secret code known only to Rolls’ CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös and the designer responsible for this whole creation - Katrin Lehmann.

Gimmick it may be, but it’s actually a pretty cool one, no?

“The name Kryptos is derived from Ancient Greek, referring to something unseen, hidden and coded, mythical even. Ciphers can be traced through millennia, capturing the imagination of some of the world’s most brilliant minds,” says Lehmann.

“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.”

And for a bit of added drama, the key to the code is apparently housed in a sealed envelope in the Chief Exec’s safe. Nice.

As well as getting a brainteaser, Kryptos Collection buyers also get a bespoke ‘Delphic Grey’ exterior paint colour with hidden blue and green flakes that appear in sunlight. And then there’s the interior, which features some rather bold colour choices and a data-stream inspired motif in the headliner. Techy. 

There’s no word on how much this all costs, but then that wouldn’t be very Rolls, would it? What do we think, Internet?