Wraith

The Wraith was not built for the catwalk: it was built to devour distance. And Sardinia, seen from the seat of a great coupé, is a continent in miniature. You set out from Olbia, drop down the Orientale Sarda — the SS125 between Dorgali and Baunei, corners carved into the limestone with the Supramonte on one side and the blue on the other — and reach the south having watched the light change three times. We have gathered the finest stages in our guide to the ten most beautiful roads in Sardinia.

The journey, not the shop window, is this car's natural territory. The fastback profile crosses the landscape with no anxiety about being noticed — though the glances come anyway — and the rear-hinged coach doors add a moment of theatre to every stop in the villages of the interior, from Oliena to Orgosolo.

The 6.6-litre twin-turbo V12 produces 632 hp: at its debut, this was the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever built. The thrust is imperious yet impeccably mannered — 0–62 mph in 4.6 seconds that the body registers as one long press into the seatback, accompanied by a low, distant rumble that is more tide than thunder.

Its hidden masterpiece is the Satellite Aided Transmission: the 8-speed automatic confers with the GPS, recognises the corner or climb ahead and readies the right gear before you ask for it. On the rising and falling roads of the east coast the effect is hypnotic: never a wrong ratio, never a hesitation. Sharper steering and a more planted stance than the marque's saloons make this the Rolls you drive by the wrist.

With no variants in the range, the Wraith concentrates its singularity in a detail that has become legend: the Starlight Headliner, more than thirteen hundred fibre-optic lights sewn one by one into the cabin's ceiling. On night-time runs along the coast, with the black sea to your right and that luminous canopy above the windscreen, the play of mirrors between inside and out is worth the journey on its own.

Four seats, a boot fit for genuine touring and the stage presence of a thoroughbred make it the most cinematic gateway to Goodwood's world of coupés. The service covers 27 destinations and 3 airports in Sardinia: to weigh it against the other long-range coupés, explore the grand tourers for hire in Sardinia, or the full range of Rolls-Royce rental.