ROLLS-ROYCE BOAT TAIL: BEYOND BESPOKE

Bespoke brands are set on offering clients the best taylor-made experiences and products that they can come up with. However, industrialized design and luxury are also a reality, even the best brands have to sometimes rely on mass-production to fulfil the industry’s demands. It is especially outstanding when a luxury brand can forgo the temptation of serialized production and that’s why special edition items are so sought after. However, very few marques can pride themselves in offering a truly unique and unrepeatable experience. One such brand is Rolls-Royce, the House responsible for some of the world’s most exclusive automoviles.

While the cars produced by Rolls-Royce are always something to behold and a clear mark of excellence, the marque has now taken a step forward and brought coachbuilding, the act of creating the whole metal body of the vehicle from scratch, back to their ateliers. A staple on the brand’s long history, their capacity of accomodating to a client’s desires from the very building stages of the process is unparalleled and now fully in display with their ultra-limited line Rolls-Royce Boat Tail.

Composed of only three units, the Boat Tail line was conceived in close collaboration with the commissioning clients, ensuring that, even when the three vehicles share the same basic body shape, each is as individual and authentic as is possible. The design process ensures that the client’s wishes are fulfilled to perfection, even going as far as sculpting a full-size clay model to ensure the silhouette, proportions and general look are exactly as imagined.

The design itself echoes the original 1932 Boat Tail by Rolls-Royce, while not directly copying it. The whole idea is based on nautical elements, including the front wrap-around windshield that calls back to the visor on motor launches, while the general profile recalls a motor boat rising from the water. The front grill, an icon of Rolls-Royce design, has been reworked and now sits as an integrated part of the frontal design, giving the Boat Tail a superior quality over previous automobiles. The whole body reminds of a ship hull, the process of manually modeling and shaping it ensures a seamless appearance that looks like a single piece of metal through and through, bent to express the owner’s dreams.

The rear end of the car is more evidently influenced by nautical themes, incorporating large wood swathes with stainless steel application, all meticulously detailed by hand by the marque’s wood specialists. Caleidolegno, a material commonly found on the interior of Rolls-Royce models, has been adapted to live on the outside, offering a unique aesthetic.

“Show me something that I have never seen before.”

The nautical inspiration goes further by adopting the client’s favourite colour and giving it a complex personality: blue covers the entirety of the car, with subtle shadow and light games vibrating in the sunlight. The wheels are finished in bright blue, a progresive gradient cascading into the front grill, while the interior leather is configured to enhance the driver-centric build of the Boat Tail. The instrument panel dials are decorated in a Guilloché technique, often preferred by fine watchmakers.

“Boat Tail is the culmination of collaboration, ambition, endeavour, and time. “

A crowning touch in the design is the iconic dashboard clock, a centerpiece to Rolls-Royce design. For this car, the marque has partnered, to the client’s petition, with the Swiss House of Bovet 1822, offspringing an accomplishment never before seen in neither the haute horlogerie or the automotive industries. Two fine, reversible timepieces, crafted to be either worn on the wrist or placed front and centre on the dashboard, a true mark of craft mastery by both houses.

Needless to say, excellent engineering was applied when creating not only the exterior but the interior components of the Boat Tail. Custom pieces were created specifically for the cars, and, complying with the client’s wishes of immediately driving the Boat Tail upon delivery, each vehicle has been thoroughly tested and offers safety and comfort alongside speed.

A new and exciting phase for Rolls-Royce commenced with the delivery of the Boat Tail model, with coachbuilding being reintegrated into the brand’s services with the utmost success.