Luxury Cars – Rolls-Royce’s puzzling Wraith Kryptos offers you a ‘prestigious prize’ if you crack its code

One of the strangest special editions of late is the Wraith Kryptos, from Rolls-Royce. Based on the ultra-luxurious V12-powered coupe, in turn based on the first-generation Ghost, the car is basically a puzzle on wheels.

The company has turned out 50 examples, one of which has arrived in Australia. Various parts of the exterior and interior of each car are decorated with the same cryptographic cipher. This unusual treatment was reputedly inspired by one of the designers at the company’s Goodwood, England, headquarters being fascinated by cryptocurrencies.

Some of the ciphers look like printed morse code, others are visible only from certain angles (such as the dots and dashes hidden in the woodgrain trim) and some, presumably, are even less obvious than that.

To help people along, Rolls-Royce has announced a couple of clues. The markings around the base of the car’s Spirit of Ecstasy figurine spell out Kryptos, and the markings on the headrests denote the letters RR. It may sound like a very expensive parlour game, but Rolls-Royce promises “a unique and prestigious prize” to anyone who cracks the entire cipher.

Entries can be submitted via the company’s Whispers phone app from next month. Oh, but you have to own a Rolls-Royce to gain a log-in. In this case, it probably helps to have a Wraith Kryptos too.

If you want to try your hand, the price is $878,000, drive away.