There may be no greater symbol of the commercialization of the holidays than the annual Christmas Book from Neiman Marcus, which contains, among other things, a collection of particularly extravagant items that are too rare—or too big—to be sold at Neiman’s retail stores. In the past, such Fantasy Gifts have included a Boeing Business Jet, a submarine, a 25-carat Nam diamond, a walk-on role on a Broadway show, even a live Black Angus bull, with accompanying barbecue.
And, of course, every year in recent memory, the catalog has featured at least one limited-production automobile, usually pimped out especially for Neiman Marcus, including seven 2008 Hennessey Venom “700NM” Viper, 100 custom 2015 Ford Mustang GT convertibles with 700-hp supercharged Coyote V8s, and 10 of the first Aston Martin Vanquish Volantes to appear in the United States for the 2014 model year. And for 2017, for the first time ever, a Rolls-Royce—or to be accurate, two Rolls-Royces—will be featured in the Fantasy Gift section, sold individually or proffered as pair of Yours & Mine 2017 Rolls-Royce Dawn drophead coupes.
With custom fitments rendered by Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke division as directed by the fashion experts at Neiman Marcus, each of the two Dawns that will appear in this posh holiday catalog was inspired by a posh holiday destination. The Coniston Blue “Lago di Como” Dawn is named after northern Italy’s lovely Lake Como, only being a Rolls, it uses the lake’s far sexier-sounding Italian name. Inside, Selby Grey and black leather covers nearly every surface that’s not brushed metal, glass, or a button, and while its distinct paucity of wood trim is unusual for a Rolls, that’s somewhat justifiable for something named after a lake. The orange “Saint-Tropez Dawn” features an interior awash in light Seashell, Mandarin, and Dark Spice leather with Canadel open-pore wood veneers. Both models feature contrasting silver “bonnets” and silver folding fabric tops.
While the Bespoke division’s modifications made to this duo of Dawns are mostly cosmetic, Fantasy Gift pricing still applies, with each Yours & Mine Dawn costing roughly a hundred grand more than the 2017 Dawn’s $343,875 base price. The Lago di Como Dawn is priced at $442,375 while the Saint-Tropez Dawn will set customers back $448,500. Rolls-Royce says that the cars may be further tailored by the customer once their orders are taken, but to do so would surely eat into what little change might be coming to them from their million-dollar bill with still so many other fantasy gifts one might indulge in, such as an $8000 doll house and a $35,000 helicopter tour and photo expedition over Malibu Beach with famed shooter Gray Malin. The more philanthropically inclined may prefer to make the $50,000 outlay for the construction of two water wells in communities in need, with the specific location to be determined by the buyer, preferably one with the good sense not to visit whilst at the helm of his or her new convertible Rolls-Royce.
