La Rose Noire Rolls-Royce Is World’s Most Expensive Car, With a $30 Million Price Tag

Called La Rose Noire, the new Rolls-Royce Droptail was presented to the owners on August 19, during a private event held at Monterey Car Week in Monterey, California, and then to the public hours later. We're yet to see the car in the flesh (and metal), but photos and an abundance of details reveal that Rolls-Royce spared no effort in making it a dream come true.

Just like the owners spared no expense for it.

Initial reports claim that La Rose Noire, a fully custom vehicle that took four years to build and features exquisite craftsmanship and custom accessories, cost £25 million, or $31.8 million at the current exchange rate. The commissioning couple is an "international" duo, most likely based in France, who wanted to immortalize their love of art, automobiles, each other, fine champagne, and a very special type of rose into one vehicle.

Given the magnitude of the project and the exclusiveness of the Coachbuild program, Rolls-Royce will never reveal a price tag for any of the entries in the program – at least, not officially so. In other words, we might never know for a fact whether a billionaire and his spouse really did spend $31.8 million on a car unless they go on the record themselves.

But this is the closest we're going to get to an official confirmation, and it'll have to do for now: a Rolls-Royce spokesperson confirms for Bloomberg that a vehicle like this one would cost upwards of $30 million. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Money talk aside, the first-of-four Droptail is a motorized interpretation of the French Black Baccara Rose, which holds a very special meaning for the owners. It's crafted to perfection in metal, carbon fiber, leather, and wood and features a styling that recalls the 1920s hotrods but with a modern, minimalist, yet decidedly opulent interior.

Equally modern is the twin-turbo 6.6-liter V12 engine souped up to 593 hp and 840 Nm (620 lb-ft) of torque, paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission with manual override. A custom Audemars Piguet 43mm Royal Oak Concept Split-Seconds Chronograph timepiece serves as dash clock but can be removed to be worn on the wrist, while a custom, matching Champagne Chest carries two bottles of a special edition of Champagne de Lossy – chilled to perfection.

As to the identity of the possible owners of such an elegant and opulent vehicle, it remains a mystery for now. Names being thrown in conversation, which would fit the clues left by Rolls-Royce in the official presentation, include billionaire Bernard Arnault and fellow French billionaire Francois Pinault.