- The Rolls-Royce Kryptos Collection is a limited run of cars that incorporate complex, encrypted ciphers into their design.
- The 50 Wraith models that comprise the collection will feature secret codes, including on the Spirit of Ecstasy emblem and the headrests.
- Only two people on the planet know the full meaning of the codes, and the solution is locked in the CEO’s safe.
- Rolls-Royce owners can send in guesses about the code’s meaning through the carmaker’s exclusive app, Whispers.
Rolls-Royce has announced the Kryptos Collection, a limited run of cars that will feature secret codes and cryptic designs.
Limited to 50 cars, the collection of Wraith coupés “carries within it an encrypted cipher that evolves throughout the car,” according to the company. Rolls-Royce says the Kryptos models were inspired by one designer’s passion for cryptography.
The ciphers appear as normal design elements — incorporated the Spirit of Ecstasy, the headrests, and elsewhere — but actually carry within them a series of secret messages. The codes are so secret, in fact, that only two people on Earth know their meaning.
An actual Kryptos Rolls-Royce will likely run you well over $300,000, but you can still catch a glimpse of the car’s “labyrinth of complex ciphers” below.
Rolls-Royce has announced a limited-edition version of its $330,000 Wraith coupé that’s full of secret codes and messages.
The Kryptos Collection of just 50 cars “incorporates a labyrinth of complex ciphers into its beguiling facade,” Rolls-Royce said in its announcement.
Why, you ask? “For the clients’ pleasure and amusement, leading them on a journey of discovery and intrigue,” of course.
And besides, the complex puzzles hidden inside the car may come in handy for all those long, boring rides to and from the heliport.
The Kryptos Collection was inspired by Rolls-Royce Bespoke designer Katrin Lehmann’s infatuation with cryptography.
“As a designer, I’ve always been fascinated by the notion that you can communicate messages that are understood only by an elite few,” Lehmann said in the announcement.
And the messages found in the Kryptos Collection are truly “understood only by an elite few” — Lehmann and the company’s CEO are the only two people who know the answers to the code.
The solution is in an envelope locked away in the CEO’s safe at Rolls-Royce’s home in Goodwood, England.
Rolls-Royce says the messages begin at the front of the car, with the Spirit of Ecstasy. On closer examination, it has green enamel detailing and engravings.
The perplexing designs continue to the interior. Parts of the cipher are stitched into the headrests where the Rolls-Royce emblem would normally be found — that’s “the most apparent clue,” according to Rolls.
Inside the Wraith, you’ll also find a new, tech-inspired take on Rolls-Royce’s starlight headliner.
Rolls-Royce says the Collection’s colorway — grey with lots of green accents, including flecks in the paint — “hints at the car’s innermost secrets.”
Buyers will be able to submit guesses as to the meaning of the codes through Rolls-Royce’s owners-only app, Whispers.
But the company isn’t so sure anybody will be able to decipher the hidden messages: “Who will crack the code? And what answers will the code bring? Only time will tell. Or will it?”