Rolls-Royce Is Bringing Back Bespoke Body Styles Via Its Revived Coachbuilding Department

• All coach-built cars will be based on the carmaker’s all-aluminium space frame platform.

• The carmaker will constrain certain parameters such as the body-to-wheel size ratio, body shape and the ‘Spirit of Ecstacy’.

• The carmaker’s most recent coachbuilding project was the Sweptail back in 2017.

It’s been a while since we’ve last seen a coach-built Rolls-Royce since the Sweptail back in 2017, but the carmaker is bringing that back with the revival of its coachbuilding department. Essentially, you get a pre-assembled chassis in which you can commission a bespoke body style to match your unique tastes. All coach-built models will be based on the carmaker’s all-aluminium space frame platform that debuted in the eighth-gen Phantom and also underpins the Cullinan and Ghost.

 

This isn’t Rolls-Royce’s first rodeo in coachbuilding, in fact it has had a long history dating back to the 1920s where a customer could have a rolling chassis delivered to their chosen coachbuilder, who would design and build a car body to the client’s specific requirements.

While in theory, a coachbuilt Rolls-Royce can be customised in any shape the customer desires, the carmaker will have certain constraints to keep the Rolls-Royce identity. They include a body-to-wheel size ratio of 2:1 that has been the case since the Silver Ghost in 1907. Aside from that, the body shape will be defined by three fluid lines running the length of the car. Also who could forget the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ present in all current Rolls-Royce models.

If we go by how the carmaker managed its last coachbuilding project, we’re on for some really mesmerising custom models. The Sweptail was a two-seater coupé, with a large panoramic glass roof, inspired by coach-built models of the 1920s and 1930s. What really caught our attention was the raked rear profile, where the roof-line tapered in a sweeping gesture that resembled a bullet-tip. 

Expect more details on what Rolls-Royce’s coachbuilding department is cooking up to be revealed soon. It’ll be interesting to see how the styling of a modern coach-built Rolls-Royce has evolved over a gap for four years.