Photo: Rolls-Royce
Almost one month after the public unveiling of its first coachbuilding project since the 2017 one-off Sweptail, Rolls-Royce elaborates on plans to follow up the Boat Tail. To sum up, more such expensive coachbuilt creations are coming.
That was the plan all along, though Rolls-Royce kept it vague in the introduction for Boat Tail, estimated at $28 million and currently holding the title of the world’s most expensive new car. CEO Torsten Müller-Otvös spoke to Autocar about plans for the newly set-up Coachbuild division, and how it will work alongside the Bespoke department and will probably be doing a new project every two years.
The goal, the CEO says, is to keep these projects as exclusive as possible, so Rolls-Royce doesn't even consider the possibility of increasing volume. Instead, they could be making one or three such cars with each new project, depending on clients’ ideas and, perhaps just as importantly, “our appetite for doing it.” The Coachbuild department is now in a position in which it can pick clients: in fact, the CEO explains, that’s what led to its creation. Rolls-Royce was flooded with calls from potential customers after Sweptail, so the decision was made to head into coachbuilding once more.
“The intention clearly is to create projects that are significant for the brand’s history in 70-100 years or so, and that are truly unique pieces,” Müller-Otvös says. “That also fits quite nicely into the heritage of Rolls-Royce with coachbuilding projects in the 1920s and 1930s.”
The idea of taking Coachbuild electric is part of the larger discussion, the CEO says. Rolls-Royce is currently working on its first fully electric vehicle, believed to be called Silent Shadow, and once full electrification is achieved, it will also affect the Coachbuild department.
Celebrity couple Beyonce and Jay-Z reportedly paid $28 million for the first of three units of the Boat Tail. Asked to confirm the rumored price tag, Müller-Otvös delicately sidestepped the question by discussing how the new department is about tradition and legacy and not an endeavor to supplement the current business model.
The goal, the CEO says, is to keep these projects as exclusive as possible, so Rolls-Royce doesn't even consider the possibility of increasing volume. Instead, they could be making one or three such cars with each new project, depending on clients’ ideas and, perhaps just as importantly, “our appetite for doing it.” The Coachbuild department is now in a position in which it can pick clients: in fact, the CEO explains, that’s what led to its creation. Rolls-Royce was flooded with calls from potential customers after Sweptail, so the decision was made to head into coachbuilding once more.
“The intention clearly is to create projects that are significant for the brand’s history in 70-100 years or so, and that are truly unique pieces,” Müller-Otvös says. “That also fits quite nicely into the heritage of Rolls-Royce with coachbuilding projects in the 1920s and 1930s.”
The idea of taking Coachbuild electric is part of the larger discussion, the CEO says. Rolls-Royce is currently working on its first fully electric vehicle, believed to be called Silent Shadow, and once full electrification is achieved, it will also affect the Coachbuild department.
Celebrity couple Beyonce and Jay-Z reportedly paid $28 million for the first of three units of the Boat Tail. Asked to confirm the rumored price tag, Müller-Otvös delicately sidestepped the question by discussing how the new department is about tradition and legacy and not an endeavor to supplement the current business model.
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