Rolls Royce doesn’t need Jon Olsson to make its cars faster and more elaborate. It’s quite capable of doing that all by itself, although admittedly not quite to the same extent. Enter the Rolls Royce Dawn Black Badge – a more purposeful, more black version of the regular Dawn drop-top that, says Rolls, is the “most glamorous, uncompromising expression of open-top luxury” there is.

In Rolls speak, Black Badge means ‘the fast one’. So like the Black Badge versions of the Wraith and Ghost, which were revealed alongside one another at last year’s Geneva motor show, the Dawn BB gets more power. An extra 30bhp has been liberated from the 6.6-litre, twin-turbo V12, bringing the total to 593bhp. Torque is up by 20Nm to 841Nm. 0-100kph takes 4.9 seconds and the top speed is limited to 250kph.

Meanwhile “fundamental” changes to the transmission, throttle and suspension aim to create a “more spirited, involving driving experience which retains the [Dawn’s] peerless quality of ride”. The brakes are new and an inch bigger in diameter than the regular Dawn’s, the steering has been “quickened and engineered for more feedback” and there’s an entirely new exhaust that emits a “menacing bass baritone”. We like all these things.

Rolls wants the Black Badge to appeal to a “younger, more dynamic patron of luxury” than its typical customer. It sees the label as an expression of the marque’s “assertive alter-ego”, hence the many aesthetic difference between the BB and a regular Dawn.

The chrome is darker and moodier (even the Spirit of Ecstasy, which has been turned into a “high-gloss vamp”), and the colour in which this car’s finished is, thanks to a painstaking painting process, the “deepest, darkest and most intense black to ever grace a production car surface”. Inside there’s much black leather, and new aluminium-threaded carbon composite trim. But this is Rolls remember, so all this can be fettled and massaged to better suit your tastes. For a fee, obviously…

No word on price, but a regular Dawn runs £264,000 (RM1.47 million). Factor in customisation, and the sky’s the limit. You can see it in the metal at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, and orders are being taken now.