Rolls-Royce ramps up exclusivity with new Coachbuild arm

Phantom's Architecture of Luxury aluminium chassis will serve as a platform for an array of bespoke commissions

Rolls-Royce is set to establish a dedicated Coachbuild division to expand its production of bespoke luxury cars.

The Goodwood-based manufacturer has a heritage of producing exclusive built-to-order coachbuilt models that dates back to the 1920s. In 2017, the firm revealed the Sweptail as a one-off bespoke creation with a reported price tag of around £10 million.

The firm has expanded the customisation options offered by its Bespoke division, and since the start of this year every car that has been produced by Rolls-Royce has featured some customised elements.

Rolls-Royce has now hinted that it will expand that service further thanks to the firm’s lightweight Architecture of Luxury aluminium spaceframe chassis, which was introduced with the latest Phantom and now underpins all the company’s vehicles.

The firm claims that the ability to treat that platform in the same manner as a rolling chassis opens new possibilities in terms of coachbuild design and means it has “reacquired the freedom to construct almost any body shape its patrons can imagine, constrained only by fundamental design and engineering requirements”.

“The ability to personalise almost every aspect of their motor car is one of the main reasons our patrons come to us. But we know some wish to go further still,” said Rolls-Royce boss Torsten Müller-Ötvös. “In 2017, we stunned the world with our first fully coachbuilt motor car of the modern era, the spectacular Rolls-Royce Sweptail. This was, by definition, an entirely unique commission; but in our minds, it was the start of a journey.

“We have formally re-established our Coachbuild department for those patrons who wish to go beyond the existing restraints, and explore the almost limitless possibilities this opens up for them. We are able to offer our customers the opportunity to create a motor car in which every single element is hand-built to their precise individual requirements, as befits our status as a true luxury house.”

Rolls-Royce has yet to give full details of the expanded Coachbuild department, but said an official statement would “be made imminently”.

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