When, about one year ago, Rolls-Royce presented the 103EX to the world, it invoked its coachbuilding heritage to inspire its future clientele.
This ‘Vision Vehicle’ foresaw a world of completely personal luxury mobility where new technologies would allow every Rolls-Royce to be designed in their owners’ image, should they so wish – a personal, bespoke motor car.
In 2013, Rolls-Royce was approached by one of its most valued customers with his own idea of a two-seater Rolls-Royce that he wanted to be created right away. That motor car is here, and has been christened ‘Sweptail’, in a nod to the swept-tail of certain Rolls-Royces from the 1920s that were admired by the client so much. He asked Rolls-Royce to reimagine this feature on his one-off car.
Presenting the car at the Concorso d’Eleganza at Villa d’Este on May 27, Torsten Muller-Otvos, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said: “Sweptail is a truly magnificent car. It exudes the romance of travel for its own sake, and immediately places ‘Sweptail’ in the pantheon of the world’s great intercontinental tourers.
“Rolls-Royce’s history as the world’s leading coachbuilder is at the very core of its identity as the world’s leading luxury brand. The arrival of 103EX shone a light on the future of Rolls-Royce in this field, and ‘Sweptail’ is proof, today, that Rolls-Royce is at the pinnacle of coachbuilding.
“We are listening carefully to our most special customers and assessing their interest in investing in similar, completely exclusive coachbuilt masterpieces.”
“Sweptail is the automotive equivalent of haute couture,” comments Giles Taylor, Director of Design at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “It is a Rolls-Royce designed and hand-tailored to fit a specific customer. This customer came to the House of Rolls-Royce with an idea, shared in the creative process where we advised him on his cloth, and then we tailored that cloth to him. You might say we cut the cloth for the suit of clothes that he will be judged by.”
Inspired by the Rolls-Royces of the 1920s and 1930s, the client’s desire was for a coachbuilt two seater-coupe featuring a large panoramic glass roof.
The ‘Sweptail’ is a very different and distinct Rolls-Royce: a new treatment of the iconic Rolls-Royce Pantheon grille lends a confident and solid character of the front profile. The grille is milled from solid aluminium before being polished by hand to a mirror finish.
Viewed from the side, the roofline extends from the leading edge of the windscreen towards the rear of the car, overshooting the boot lid edge to emphasise its length. At the rear, meanwhile, there is a raked stern that is the ultimate homage to the world of racing yachts which inspired the client.
The purity of the surface of ‘Sweptail’ is maintained as the bodywork wraps under the car with no visible boundary to the surfaces, a treatment that is akin to the hull of a yacht. The underside was designed to show a progressive upward sweep at the rear departure angle of the car, culminating in the swept-tail that gives ‘Sweptail’ its name.
The panoramic glass roof allows the cabin to be flooded with natural light, and is framed by polished aluminium rails.
The interior is ruled by a philosophy of simplicity and minimalism “leading to a distillation of componentry and a purification of clutter”. Generous quantities of polished Macassar Ebony and open-pore Paldao embellish the interior, set off by contrasting light moccasin and dark spice leathers that adorn the seats, armrests and dashboard top.
Two final surprise features have been secreted inside ‘Sweptail’, according to the stringent standards of the client.
Concealed in the outboard walls on either side of the car, behind the opening of the coach doors, are two identical panniers. Each pannier, when activated, deploys forward to present the owner’s bespoke made attache case which has been carefully packaged to exactly house his personal laptop device. The cases themselves have been hand-constructed from lightweight carbon fibre, wrapped in the finest leather that matches the interior of ‘Sweptail’ and detailed with machined aluminium and titanium clasps and locks.
These attache cases are twinned with the full set of luggage also developed by Rolls-Royce Bespoke for ‘Sweptail’. The luggage resides in the boot of the car, which is clad in the same wood as the hat shelf and inset with polished aluminium luggage rails.
Last, but by no means least, the centre console houses a one-off hand-built mechanism that, at the touch of a button, will deploy a bottle of the client’s favourite vintage champagne – the year of his birth – and two crystal champagne flutes. As the lid of the chiller opens, the mechanical action articulates the bottle to the perfect position for the owner to pick up!
As the manufacturer says: “In short, it is a Rolls-Royce – but like no other before”.
