• An overview of coachbuilding at Rolls-Royce from the 1900s to the present day
• Virtually all Rolls-Royce motor cars were coachbuilt until the 1950s
• Tradition all but died out with the introduction of monocoque construction
• Contemporary renaissance sparked by Rolls-Royce in 2017 with Sweptail
• New standards of innovation, excellence and ambition set by Boat Tail and Droptail
• An established part of the marque’s offer, with the new extension at the Home of Rolls-Royce adding further capacity and capability

INTRODUCTION

This Press Kit provides an overview of the history of coachbuilding at Rolls-Royce, the marque’s contemporary capabilities and notable examples of Coachbuild motor cars past and present. For more detailed information about Sweptail, Boat Tail and Droptail and the materials and techniques used in their manufacture, please refer to the specific product Press Releases.

Coachbuilding is the art and science of creating bespoke bodywork on a pre-assembled chassis, a craft that predates the motor car itself. At one time all but extinguished by mass production, coachbuilding today lives on at the Home of Rolls-Royce, drawing on more than a century of experience and the marque’s unique Bespoke capabilities.

Today, Rolls-Royce Coachbuild allows a small, select group of clients to collaborate fully with the Rolls-Royce team in creating a genuinely unique, utterly personal motor car unlike any other. Coachbuild enables them to specify their motor car’s actual physical form, with body panels hand-sculpted by specialist craftspeople at the Home of Rolls-Royce. Coachbuild also opens up new possibilities in materials, methods, engineering and technology, free of the restrictions of conventional series production.

Every Coachbuild project is a true one-off, undertaken on the strict understanding that it will never be replicated. These creations are far more than motor cars; they are authentic works of automotive art that represent a highly expressive and enduring legacy for their owners.


THE GENESIS OF COACHBUILDING

Rolls-Royce was founded in an era when car manufacturers generally produced ‘rolling chassis’, which were sent to specialist coachbuilders to be fitted with bodywork to the client’s specification. Some of these coachbuilders had simply switched from making horse-drawn vehicles; others had begun capitalising on the new opportunities the motor car presented.

These pre-Edwardian car bodies were built in much the same way as their horse-drawn predecessors. It quickly became apparent that, when applied to motor cars, their traditional materials and methods were unequal to the speeds of 30 to 40 miles per hour they were now being subjected to. The art of coachbuilding would have to adapt to the new reality.


COACHBUILDING AND ROLLS-ROYCE: A BRIEF HISTORY

As the 1920s dawned, mass-market car makers increasingly brought body construction in-house, where engineers could address emerging issues such as vibration and torsional stress. Luxury marques like Rolls-Royce, however, continued to outsource coachwork to specialist houses for several more decades.

Until the 1930s, most coachbuilders remained true to long-established practice, which involved assembling a wooden frame, usually in ash, onto which aluminium or steel body panels were typically nailed, tacked or screwed. As materials improved and motor cars’ speeds increased, frames were increasingly made from metal tubing or angle-iron.

This traditional craft was eventually replaced by semi-monocoque construction, with subframes for the mechanical components. In the case of Rolls-Royce, this occurred in October 1965 with the introduction of Silver Shadow. Contrary to popular belief, this did not mark the end of coachbuilding at Rolls-Royce. The Phantom VI, built on a separate chassis, remained in production, albeit in small numbers, until 1993, with coachwork supplied by Rolls-Royce subsidiary H. J. Mulliner, Park Ward Ltd.


SOVEREIGNTY OF DESIGN

Although a coachbuilt Rolls-Royce could, in theory, be any shape the client desired, in practice, there were constraints. Rolls-Royce motor cars were designed on proven technical principles that were, to Henry Royce at least, unarguable and inviolable. By insisting on fixed dimensions for the bulkhead behind the radiator, he was able to ensure the bodywork maintained the essential proportions that visually identified it as a ‘true’ Rolls-Royce.

Those proportions remain essential to the marque’s design language. Every Rolls-Royce motor car maintains the 2:1 ratio of body height to wheel diameter first established with the Silver Ghost in 1907. The body shape is defined by three fluid lines running the length of the motor car: the ‘waft line’ that gives the car its sense of movement; the ‘waist line’ that lends it purpose and presence; and the silhouette, which expresses its individual character. It is also graced with the Pantheon grille, crowned with the Spirit of Ecstasy figurine.

Coachbuild clients and designers enjoy considerable creative freedom within these fundamental parameters.


GREAT COACHBUILT ROLLS-ROYCE MOTOR CARS OF THE PAST

40/50HP Phantom I Brougham De Ville (1926)

The great coachbuilders paid as much attention to the interior as the exterior of the cars they created. Among the key elements were the instrument dials, which frequently transcended merely displaying essential information to become miniature works of art in their own right.

In 1926, the 40/50HP Phantom I Brougham De Ville, known as ‘The Phantom of Love’ was built by Charles Clark & Son Ltd of Wolverhampton for Clarence Warren Gasque, an American businessman of French ancestry living in London, as a gift for his heiress wife, Maude. Gasque commissioned an interior to recreate the Rococo ambience of a salon in the Palace of Versailles, with polished satinwood veneer panelling, Aubusson tapestries and a painted ceiling inspired by a sedan chair owned by Marie Antoinette. It also included a remarkable French ormolu clock, mounted on the partition between the front and rear cabins – an extraordinary detail that represents the pinnacle of the instrument maker’s art.

17EX (1928)

By 1925, Henry Royce was concerned that the weight and size of some of the coachwork fitted to Rolls-Royce chassis was affecting the motor cars’ performance – a fact its competitors gleefully seized upon. In response, Henry Royce built an experimental Phantom with an open, lightweight, highly streamlined body. Dubbed 10EX, this was the foundation for a series of motor cars that provided crucial new insights into overcoming air resistance and represented a giant leap forward in automotive design.

The fifth in the series, 17EX, was completed in January 1928. It was capable of speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour and, because Royce was adamant that even his experimental motor cars should look as good as any that bore his name, was finished in blue to the marque’s exacting standards.

The colour blue has long been associated with dependability, stability and calm; it is also highly visible at speed, as demonstrated by the record-breaking cars and boats of Royce’s good friend, Sir Malcolm Campbell.

Phantom II Continental Drophead Coupé (1934)

Co-creation has always been at the heart of coachbuilding. Having commissioned a design for their perfect motor car, the customer worked with the designers and manufacturing specialists to produce a final design that was technically achievable. The coachwork would then be completed to the customer’s satisfaction.

This 1934 Phantom II Continental Drophead Coupé, designed by A. F. McNeil and built in London by Gurney Nutting & Co., is considered one of the most exotic and beautifully balanced examples of boat tail coachwork ever created. The sweeping concave curves at the rear rise upwards to the razor-edged varnished rear deck. A design that has stood the test of time well, it remains a fine example of sporting elegance.

As a historical aside, McNeil’s protégé and successor, John Blatchley, was responsible for two of the most successful Rolls-Royce models of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the Silver Cloud and Silver Shadow.

Phantom VI limousine (1972)

The Phantom VI was the last Rolls-Royce model to be constructed with a separate chassis, and was thus the swansong of the coachbuilder’s art. This example was designed and built by H. J. Mulliner, Park Ward Ltd, then a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rolls-Royce. Much like a Goodwood era Private commission, it was based on the production model, but included numerous additional features specified by the customer. Indeed, so lavish and comprehensive were the enhancements that the marque produced a special promotional brochure for prospective patrons based on this motor car, highlighting the scope of its bespoke capabilities.

In addition to flower vases, a state-of-the-art sound and television system and a refrigerator for cooling wines and picnic food, the car was equipped with burled walnut picnic tables. Stored in the luggage compartment, these could be fixed to the front wings for alfresco dining; driver and passenger perched on a pair of ‘toadstool’ seats clipped to the front overriders.


CONTEMPORARY COACHBUILDING AT THE HOME OF ROLLS-ROYCE

Bespoke has been central to the marque’s offering and experience since production began at Goodwood in 2003. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars constantly seeks to create personal and deeply meaningful luxury products that reflect its clients’ ambitions and personal codes of luxury. Rolls-Royce’s unparalleled Bespoke capabilities enable clients to bring these desires to life through the commission of beautiful, handcrafted and truly individual Rolls-Royce motor cars.

A small group of exceptional individuals wished to elevate this remarkable, deeply personal experience even further and move beyond the canvas of existing Rolls-Royce products. Recognising this demand, and drawing on more than a century of experience, as well as its unique Bespoke capabilities developed in the modern era, the marque has defined a new coachbuilding movement.

The renaissance of contemporary coachbuilding began in 2017 with ‘Sweptail’, a bold two-door coupé created in response to a client’s wish to reprise the art of coachbuilding in partnership with Rolls-Royce. With its sharply tapered outline and full-length glass roof, it can be characterised as the Extrovert. It was followed by the unveiling of Boat Tail in 2021, a highly social open-top that amplified its clients’ love of hosting – a motor car that unashamedly represents the Hedonist.

Droptail, introduced in 2023, marked the third chapter in this remarkable story. For Droptail, the focus was placed on creating an intimate and cosseting interior, which would also serve as an unprecedented canvas for highly bespoke wood craft. Droptail captures the charm and embrace of two-seat motoring – it truly is the Romantic.


GOODWOOD-ERA COACHBUILT MOTOR CARS

Sweptail (2017)

In 2013, Rolls-Royce was commissioned to create a coachbuilt two-seater coupé featuring a large panoramic glass roof, inspired by the beautiful coachbuilt motor cars from the marque’s golden era in the 1920s and 1930s.

The first fully coachbuilt Rolls-Royce of the modern Goodwood era, Sweptail’s defining feature is its raked rear profile, with the roof-line tapering in a sweeping gesture to a ‘bullet-tip’ that houses the centre brake light. The coachbuilt bodywork wraps under the motor car with no visible boundary to the surfaces, like the hull of a racing yacht. The underside of the motor car describes a progressive upward arc at the rear departure angle, producing the swept tail that gives the car its name.

With its clean lines and grandeur, and contemporary, minimalist handcrafted interior, Sweptail caused an international sensation when it was revealed in 2017. Four years in the making, it is now regarded as a true modern classic and the world’s greatest two-seater intercontinental tourer.

Boat Tail (2021-2022)

During the 20th century, a number of Rolls-Royce motor cars were built with a beautiful and distinctive body shape known as the Boat Tail. The nautical design was inspired by the great J-Class racing yachts that contested the sport’s ultimate prize, the America’s Cup, in the 1930s. In 2021, Rolls-Royce revived the Boat Tail design with the second fully coachbuilt commission of the modern Goodwood era. Boat Tail is entirely hand-built, with the body panels fashioned from single sheets of aluminium.

Three Boat Tails were completed, each unique to its commissioning client. The first two were unveiled at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in 2021 and 2022. At the request of its owner, the third was never exhibited in public, and no official images have ever been released.

Boat Tail (First Chapter) (2021) The first Boat Tail was commissioned by longstanding Rolls-Royce clients, and drew inspiration from a 1932 Rolls-Royce Boat Tail they had lovingly restored as part of their extensive private collection. The motor car is finished in a rich, complex blue embedded with metallic and crystal flakes. The rear deck is swathed in Caleidolegno veneer normally reserved for interior surfaces and specially adapted for exterior use, inlaid with brushed stainless steel pinstripes. At the press of a button, the deck opens in a sweeping butterfly motion to reveal an intricate Hosting Suite, complete with cocktail tables, interlocking stools made by Italian furniture house Promemoria, and even a parasol to shelter from the sun. A unique double refrigerator houses the clients’ preferred vintages of Armand de Brignac champagne.

The interior is finished in leather in two shades of blue with a soft metallic sheen applied to the surface. The centrepiece of the fascia is a pair of unique BOVET 1822 reversible timepieces commissioned by the client; a hand-crafted aluminium and leather case in the glove compartment contains a cherished Montblanc pen. The instrument panel dials are finished with guilloché, an intricate decorative technique more commonly seen in fine jewellery and watchmaking.

Boat Tail (Second Chapter) (2022)

The second Boat Tail to be completed was commissioned by a client whose family business grew from his father’s origins in the pearling industry. At the start of the commissioning process, the client presented Rolls-Royce Coachbuild designers with four pearl shells: these inspired the exterior colour, which was then one of the most complex Bespoke finishes ever created by Rolls-Royce. A shimmering blend of oyster and soft rose with large white and bronze mica flakes adding a pearlescent quality, it changes subtly under different light conditions. The contrasting cognac-coloured bonnet contains fine bronze and gold-coloured aluminium mica flakes under a crystal and iced matt clear coat.

The rear deck, which houses Boat Tail’s unique ‘butterfly-design’ hosting suite, is made from Royal Walnut veneer, inlaid with rose gold-plated pinstripes. The interior is finished in cognac and oyster-coloured leathers and Royal Walnut veneer, with rose gold and mother-of-pearl accents throughout.

The centrepiece of the dashboard is a timepiece made from mother-of-pearl; the same material appears on the control switches and instrument dials.

Droptail (2023-2024)

Droptail represents a renaissance of the roadster body type, which breaks free from the four-seat convention previously associated with Rolls-Royce. In capturing this spirit, designers studied the 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost ‘Sluggard’, the 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom Brewster New York Roadster and the 1925 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Piccadilly.

Droptail has two very distinct characters: a lithe, open-top roadster; and with the carbon-fibre roof installed, a dramatic coupé. Since each client wished to use their motor car around the world in multiple climates, the roof incorporates electrochromic glass that adjusts the amount of light entering the interior. In a technique reserved exclusively for Droptail, the body is a rigid monocoque in which steel is used for the load-bearing front wing and door sections, and carbon fibre from the B-pillar rearwards: the rear quarter panels are the largest carbon fibre panels ever created for a Rolls-Royce motor car.

La Rose Noire Droptail (2023)

The first to be unveiled was La Rose Noire Droptail, inspired by the Black Baccara rose, an intense, velvet-like flower that originates in France. The exterior is finished in the lustrous and complex True Love red, a completely new paint process perfected over 150 iterations; like the Black Baccara rose, it appears to change colour depending on the viewpoint.

The interior features the most complex parquetry ever created at Rolls-Royce, with an abstract depiction of falling rose petals formed using 1,603 Black Sycamore veneer triangles, each cut, sanded and precisely positioned by hand.

The fascia incorporates an integrated one-off timepiece by Audemars Piguet, specially commissioned by the client. The 43mm Royal Oak Concept Split-Seconds Chronograph GMT Large Date is removable, so it can be attached to a strap and worn. The motor car also includes a unique Champagne Chest finished in rose-petal parquetry.

Amethyst Droptail (2023)

Inspired by the eponymous gem – the birthstone of the commissioning clients’ son –Amethyst Droptail is finished in a soft purple main body colour with a delicate silver undertone. Named Globe Amaranth in tribute to a flower native to the clients’ home region, fine flecks of powdered aluminium reflect the light, creating a subtle iridescent effect. The deep purple Amethyst contrast paint on the upper coachwork contains red, blue and violet mica flakes to give a subtle metallic sheen. Inside, the primary Amethyst leather is finished with a subtle pearlescent lacquer.

Amethyst Droptail features the most extensive wooden surface area in Rolls-Royce history, extending from the fascia and doors to the shawl panel, cantilevered ‘plinth’ centre armrest and onto the rear deck. The deck was made using a new veneering process developed specifically for this project: the protective coatings, also unique to Amethyst Droptail, have been granted their own patent.

The fascia is graced with a unique timepiece commissioned by the client from the renowned Swiss haute horlogerie maison, Vacheron Constantin. Handmade in Geneva, the timepiece, named ‘Les Cabinotiers Armillary Tourbillon’, has an intricate hand-wound movement and is securely housed in a specially designed holder, enabling it to be removed and stored separately from the motor car if desired.

Arcadia Droptail (2024)

This commission takes its name from the mythical realm of Arcadia, depicted in Ancient Greek mythology as ‘Heaven on Earth’ – a land renowned for its extraordinary natural beauty and perfect harmony.

Arcadia Droptail is finished in a calm, natural duotone white, which appears as a solid colour at first glance, with aluminium and glass particles creating depth and shimmer when the light strikes it. In a key departure from the other Droptails, the carbon fibre used to construct the lower sections of Droptail is painted in the solid Bespoke silver colour rather than left fully or partially exposed. The wood elements are made from Santos Straight Grain, which has one of the finest grain types of all the woods used by Rolls-Royce. Despite its delicacy, it appears throughout Droptail, including the aerodynamically functional rear deck section, which is made up of 76 separate pieces.

The leather interior is finished in two entirely Bespoke hues, named after the client and reserved exclusively for their use. The main leather colour is a Bespoke White, continuing the exterior paint theme, while the contrast leather is a Bespoke tan colour that complements the veneer.

The fascia incorporates the most complex Rolls-Royce clock face ever created. Developed by Rolls-Royce Coachbuild designers and craftspeople, it incorporates an exquisite geometric guilloché pattern in raw metal with 119 facets, and partly polished, partly brushed hands and 12-hour markers or chaplets, each just 0.1mm thick.


THE FUTURE OF COACHBUILDING AT ROLLS-ROYCE

As clients’ desire for extraordinary expressions of contemporary Rolls-Royce coachbuilding continues to grow, Rolls-Royce is building for an even more ambitious future.

The marque’s site extension at the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, which is scheduled for completion in 2029, will provide additional space and state-of-the-art facilities for Bespoke and the marque’s Coachbuild division, enabling more and increasingly complex commissions to be undertaken.