Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, on the banks of the sparkling Lake Como in Italy, is legendary for hosting the rarest and most exotic automobiles in the world. Luxury automakers often choose it as the preferred motoring show to debut their finest creations. This year’s Concorso d’Eleganza saw one of the most high-profile unveilings of recent times — a one-off uber-luxurious motor car made by Rolls-Royce: the Sweptail, a bespoke model that takes its name and design cue from Rolls-Royce’s cars of the past.
The sky is the limit
Most luxury carmakers have in-house customisation departments that help customers personalise their cars. But with the Sweptail, Rolls-Royce has not only marked a return to its coach-building past after seven decades, but has also set new standards in the world of made-to-order motoring. Commissioned by one of Rolls’ “most valued customers”, the British marque began working on the Sweptail in 2013. The customer, who’s described as a “connoisseur and collector of distinctive, one-off items, including super-yachts and private aircraft”, approached the car-maker with his own idea of a two-seat Rolls-Royce and asked for a one-of-its-kind luxury car inspired by the “swept-tail” Rolls Royces of the ’20s and ’30s. In an official statement, Giles Taylor, Director of Design at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, based out of the UK, called the Sweptail “the automotive equivalent of haute couture”.
The design’s the thing
The two-seater is built on the aluminium spaceframe architecture of the Phantom VII Coupe. The face of the Sweptail features the traditional Rolls-Royce front grille, and is the largest of any modern-era Rolls-Royce. To emphasise its length, the roofline flows backwards sharply, towards the rear of the motor car, overshooting the boot lid edge. The rear has a raked stern, inspired by the world of yachting, an area of interest for the mystery man who commissioned it. The rear tapercontrasts strongly with the front, which not only gives the Sweptail a dynamic flow, but also creates a completely new perception of a dramatic Rolls-Royce Coupé.
Another highlight is the massive panoramic glass roof. Stretching from the leading edge of the windscreen to the tip of the trunk lid, the glass roof is a large, complex structure. It gives an uninterrupted view of the outside; something very different for Rolls-Royce, which usually chooses to cocoon the passengers inside the cabin rather than ‘exposing’ them.
Inside, the cabin is predictably opulent, with a clock made from Macassar veneer and machined titanium hands. In a sense, it’s almost James Bond-ish. The centre console conceals a champagne chiller and two crystal flutes along with a mechanism that deploys the champagne bottle at the press of a button. The car’s side walls hold a surprise too. A pair of leather-wrapped, carbon fibre attaché cases, sized to house the owner’s laptop, are hidden away here. The cases match a set of custom luggage, made by Rolls-Royce Bespoke, found in the wood-clad trunk.
Can design cues from the Sweptail be expected to trickle down to future models? Andrew Boyle, Head of Global Product Communications for Rolls-Royce, replies in the negative.
“Sweptail is a one-off coach built by Rolls-Royce for an individual customer, and as such has been designed for him alone, with design cues exclusive to him. you will not see elements of this car in future Rolls-Royces.”
It is powered by the Phantom VII’s 6.75-litre V12 engine, but the company is tight-lipped on if it has been tuned specifically for the bespoke model. Rolls will possibly never reveal the price paid by the customer, but whispers around the grand hotel in Italy put the figure as being close to $13 million (₹72 crore), making it the most expensive production car ever.