Rolls-Royce has unveiled a bespoke model that will serve as a halo car for its recently revived and expanded coachbuilding arm.
The “Boat Tail” is reportedly said to have cost £20m and will be limited to just three examples, with each one being a fully homologated, road-legal motor car.
Created as a commission for an unnamed client, the car’s design was inspired by a 1932 Rolls-Royce Boat Tail, which the client not only owned but had also recently restored.
“This client-led creative expression coincided with a long-held ambition of the design team at Rolls-Royce to create a contemporary expression of the Boat Tail typology, where coachbuilders would graft the hull forms of sailing boats onto the rolling chassis of a Rolls-Royce,” says the company.
“Coachbuild provides freedom to move beyond the usual constraints. Normally, there is a natural ceiling to Rolls-Royce Bespoke by way of the canvas,” adds Alex Innes, who heads the design team at Rolls-Royce’s coachbuilding division. “Boat Tail is unprecedented. Boat Tail is a distinct counterpoint to industrialised luxury.”
While the Boat Tail’s design was being finalised, Rolls-Royce says the aluminium spaceframe architecture that underpins it was completely reconfigured to support the car’s enlarged proportions (it measures nearly 5.8m long), in a process that is said to have taken eight months.
A total of 1813 completely new parts were also created specifically for the car. Indeed, to complete the preliminary engineering phase, prior to the commencement of production, Rolls-Royce claims a total of over 20 collective years were expended!
Underneath, the car is powered by the same engine found in a Phantom, namely, a 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12 putting out 563 bhp.
