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| 7 Amazing Details from the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail New Chapter |
That second Boat Tail was just revealed at the 2022 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este.
The term "bespoke" gets thrown around a lot, but the true reality of one-off construction only the bravest automakers dare to face.
Rolls-Royce is one of the few contemporary manufacturers still practicing true coachbuilding, reviving a practice that fell out of vogue since World War II with the second one-off model of the modern era, the new Boat Tail .
Unveiled at the 2022 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, the second Boat Tail concept follows the pioneering Sweptail, the swoopy coupe that made its debut at a similar event in 2017.
Ordered by a sultan of the pearl industry, the luxury car features a new folding rear end featuring a set of picnic tools and a telescopic umbrella - much like the first Boat Tail that Beyonce and Jay-Z said they bought for $28 million .
But, the new Boat Tail is more than just a trick for gadget lovers.
Inside are a number of inventive details that show what happens when an ambitious automaker and a wealthy client - or patron, as one Rolls-Royce executive put it - work together in a process that took around four years from start to finish.
As before, the company will not disclose the total cost for this one-off model.
However, considering that the Sweptail was priced at around US$12.8 million five years ago, it is certain that this model is much more expensive.
Here are seven details of the Boat Tail that reveal the design and engineering behind this luxury car and its exorbitant price.
Grille Anti-Rolls-Royce
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| 7 Amazing Details from the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail New Chapter |
The Pantheon's stainless steel grille is one of the most iconic symbols in the automotive world, but this Boat Tail takes a break from Rolls-Royce's familiar visual language and starts with a single block of aluminum.
Melting the hunk into a shape that's softer than a conventional grille, the Rolls-Royce team then did what some would call sacrilege: the top and bottom were painted in a matte cognac hue, making it disappear into the hood and bumper, leaving only the aluminum vanes extruding. polished.
Pearl Flood
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| 7 Amazing Details from the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail New Chapter |
As already mentioned, this Boat Tail was ordered by a pearl entrepreneur who wanted to apply his family business to car design.
Not only is the exterior paint inspired by the client's signature four-pearl shell, he also supplied mother-of-pearl embedded into the unique instrumentation and clock on the dashboard, featuring cognac and oyster-tone leather.
Wheels and Complicated Whitewalls
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| 7 Amazing Details from the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail New Chapter |
Boat Tail brings back whitewall tires as a design aspect.
The 21-inch Goodyears feature white accents on the sidewalls, providing one of the most unexpected touches in a modern car.
But, don't let that distract you from the alloy wheels, which look simple but are far from being the word for it.
They get a rose gold finish, then paint before being laser engraved to reveal the contrast – a process Rolls-Royce says has never before been done on a production car.
And, all of that operating at 155 miles/hour (nearly 250 km/hour).
Not All Rose Gold
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| 7 Amazing Details from the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail New Chapter |
Of course it would be easy to apply a touch of rose gold to all the details and accents of the Boat Tail.
However, for the sake of restraint, the owner chose to keep using chrome on several items, such as door handles and A-pillars.
Complementing the finish is a yacht-inspired Royal Walnut veneer inlaid with a rose gold stripe – meaningless restraint without balance.
Nice Presentation
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| 7 Amazing Details from the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail New Chapter |
Activate the aft deck, and the wood paneling unfolds like butterfly wings to reveal the so-called hosting suite.
You'll find a two-row setup that includes crockery, plates, cutlery, and of course, there's a champagne cooler.
The picnic tables extend and rotate, creating a quite luxurious eating and drinking area.
To house it all, there's an umbrella extending from the chromed metal housing labeled "Parasol".
Print 3D Samar
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| 7 Amazing Details from the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail New Chapter |
Almost all of Boat Tail's materials feel familiar, such as paint, leather, wood, and so on.
However, bridging the gap between the tonneau and the cabin are 3D printed composite strips that form a graphic pattern of negative space.
According to Rolls-Royce's Head of Coachbuild Design, Alex Innes, the aim was to offer room for air circulation at higher speeds while avoiding vibrations from the speakers hidden below.
Special Paint
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| 7 Amazing Details from the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail New Chapter |
The unique neutral nature of the outer layer of the Boat Tail allows its body panels to develop an incomprehensible hue.
The color reflects more of what is reflected around it than the pigment itself.
"I can tell you that, a few weeks ago when we were reviewing this car with a client in England, the tone was white and simple. Somehow it has now changed to a terracotta theme like the landscape around it," said Innes.