Can a car really be worth its weight in gold? Well, this Ferrari proved that it was possible last year so only time will tell for the Mansory Palm Edition 999, which began life as a ‘regular’ Rolls-Royce Wraith. The German customization company claims that this edition redefines the boundaries of automotive opulence.

The car, which really illustrates how to make a factory-issue Rolls-Royce Wraith look ordinary, has been dubbed the Palm Edition 999 for two reasons. The first is a reference to 999 pure gold; and the second is to the number of completely bespoke Wraiths the company intends to build based on this golden theme – just nine.

Collectors love exclusivity for sure and that might make this model more sought after, which is why Mansory is going for the gold standard in terms of customization. The exterior boasts a two-tone white and gold paint finish and each of the badges has been recreated in a 999 pure gold finish. No, that is not the end of this shiny tale.

The body is noticeably different too. News reports indicate that it has been aerodynamically overhauled with new front and rear spoilers and aprons and side skirts in Mansory’s customary carbon fiber. Potential owners can also specify any metallic exterior fitting, from the door handles to the radiator grille and even the Spirit of Ecstasy itself, plated in 999 pure gold.

Now the typical Rolls-Royce is already the equivalent of putting wheels on your living room and whizzing about – if you are Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and have living rooms to spare in your palace. The Edition 999, with all that gold, skirting, spoilers and such will make what is already a heavyweight into something unmanageable but Mansory has a solution for this. The base Rolls-Royce Wraith is already the most potent Rolls-Royce currently on general sale, but Mansory has upped the car’s output of 632PS to 740PS (that’s roughly 729 horses). This means that despite dripping in gold, this car is capable of accelerating from 0-100km/h in 4.4 seconds and tops out at 300km/h.

Inside the gold theme and the pure gold continue in abundance. The premium leather’s tone matches the exterior paintwork with gold colored embroidery while several cockpit elements have been recast in pure gold.

It’s not clear how positively the Rolls-Royce design department will respond to Mansory’s latest creation, but it will certainly pique the interest of the super-rich driver that has everything except a Wraith that looks significantly different from that of his or her neighbor.

After all, the German car customization business exists to provide services mainstream super sports and super luxury carmakers can’t or won’t offer. No word on the price here but Rolls-Royce sells the Wraith for about £449,128…

On that note, the Sultan of Brunei is known to own a Rolls-Royce plated with 24k gold, made just for him. Well, the Sultan is the one man who can make bespoke Mansory editions look pedestrian…

This report was compiled by in-house writers, in combination with a wire report and images from the AFP.