Recall the Rolls-Royce Sweptail? An interesting and singular creature, the custom one-off appeared back in May of 2017.
The price tag agreed to by the client who took delivery of the Sweptail was never offcially revealed, but Rolls CEO Torsten Mueller called it ‘…probably the most expensive new car in ages…or ever.’ The contemporary Rolls nose—uncompromising, flat, and a little bit the crass Etonian bully—is a matter of taste, but the Sweptail’s design trailed away toward the back end in a languid, glassy and extravagant gentleness of roofline, and the combination made the car one remarkable touring coupe.
All this is by way of introducing a new Rolls custom build that is similarly expressive in its meandering terminus, and a new division at Goodwood that is tasked with designing and building one-off models like it, which are doubtless the priciest four-wheeled mechanical conveyances in the world. The new division is called Coachbuild; its first project is the Boat Tail.
The Boat Tail, of course, continues the Rolls tradition of incorporating decorative nautical elements into an automotive build. The 2015 Wraith Porto Cervo is one such example. But the Boat Tail’s rather unique back-end flourish—a rear deck similar to decking, the two halves of which open to mirror each other and reveal a gourmet cache: comestibles storage. The Rolls bumbershoots are augmented with a parasol for picnicking on the Mediterranean (if you plan to picnick in the UK, bring the umbrellas), and the car has tables for dining. The car is dressed in blues, of course, inside and out. And, while the Boat Tail is an open-top rover, its fair-weather persona can only be revealed if its ‘canopy’ hard top has been unfastened and removed.
The Boat Tail you see pictured here is actually one of three examples. All are unique, with the essential form retained. As was the case with the Sweptail, the price is unknown. It could be the rumored $28 million, but the defraying effect of a three-example run likely puts a sticker of $10 million to $15 million on this particular rarity.
