Rolls-Royce Boat Tail: Pictures of second bespoke commission revealed ahead of Villa d’Este public debut

Successor to ‘world’s most expensive new car’ revealed with unique pearl-inspired colours and trim

Rolls-Royce has revealed the second interpretation of its ultra-exclusive Boat Tail model.

The new car was unveiled ahead of its public debut at the Concorso d’Eleganza at Villa d’Este and is one of only three Boat Tail cars that will be built by the Rolls-Royce Coachbuild services.

The first Boat Tail was revealed at the same exclusive event last May and was rumoured at the time to be the world’s most expensive new car, with an estimated price tag of £20 million.

This second commission takes a more subdued approach with subtler colours and materials inspired by the owner’s family history.

Each Boat Tail uses the same basic body design - a swept back roofless two-door tourer inspired by the racing yachts and custom-bodied Rolls-Royces of the early 20th century - but trimmed and equipped according to its owner’s particular tastes.

The owner of this second car commissioned it to reflect the background of his family business, which grew out of his father’s origins in the pearling industry.

Among touches linking the car to that past are a unique mother-of-pearl finish to interior switches and instruments and a clock made from mother-of-pearl from the owner’s private collection.

A selection of shells from the owner’s collection were also used to inspire the unique exterior and interior finishes.

The main bodywork is finished in a pearlescent blend of oyster and soft rose, with a contrasting cognac-coloured bonnet containing bronze and gold coloured flakes. The famous Pantheon Grille, milled from a solid billet of aluminium, features the Spirit of Ecstasy fashioned in rose gold and the rose gold motif is seen around the car, including in a thread woven into the  technical fibre lower sills.

The rose gold even finds its way into the car’s spectacular hosting suite, where the  “butterfly-design” boot panels are finished in royal walnut veneer with rose-gold plated pinstripes. When activated the powered panels swing up and out to reveal a crockery and cutlery set and a telescopic parasol.

The walnut veneer with its rose-gold pinstriping carries on into the car’s interior where it wraps around the transmission tunnel. Elsewhere, the luxury car’s interior is finished in cognac and oyster-coloured leathers with a pearlescent finish that mirror the exterior colours, along with mother-of-pearl accents.

Revealing the latest work from Rolls-Royce Coachbuild, the marque’s CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös, said: “Coachbuild elevates our work as a house of luxury into a new space; it is the haute couture of our industry.

“Far more than just a beautiful motor car, a coachbuilt creation becomes a legacy that embodies something extraordinarily personal and emotionally resonant for each client. For our designers, too, Coachbuild provides unparalleled creative freedom; opportunities to take design, materials, engineering and craftsmanship to the very highest levels.”

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