Why Go For A Standard Rolls-Royce When You Can Shape It Your Way, Your Highness?

• All coach-built cars will be based on the RR's all-aluminium space frame platform.

• The carmaker will constrain certain parameters such as the body-to-wheel size ratio, body shape and the ‘Spirit of Ecstacy’.

• The Sweptail was Rolls-Royce’s most recent coachbuilding project back in 2017.

What if you could mold your car literally to your liking? Well, Rolls-Royce is doing just that by reviving its coachbuilding department. Essentially, you get a pre-assembled chassis in which you can commission a bespoke body style to match your unique tastes. All coach-built models will be based on the carmaker’s all-aluminium space frame platform that debuted in the eighth-gen Phantom and also underpins the Cullinan and Ghost.

 

This isn’t Rolls-Royce’s first rodeo in coachbuilding, in fact it has had a long history dating back to the 1920s where a customer could have a rolling chassis delivered to their chosen coachbuilder, who would design and build a car body to the client’s specific requirements.

While in theory, a coachbuilt Rolls-Royce can be customised in any shape the customer desires, the carmaker will have certain constraints to keep the Rolls-Royce identity. They include a body-to-wheel size ratio of 2:1 that has been the case since the Silver Ghost in 1907. Aside from that, the body shape will be defined by three fluid lines running the length of the car. Also who could forget the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ present in all current Rolls-Royce models.

If we go by how the carmaker managed its last coachbuilding project back in 2017, we’re on for some really mesmerising custom models. The Sweptail was a two-seater coupé, with a large panoramic glass roof, inspired by coach-built models of the 1920s and 1930s. What really caught our attention was the raked rear profile, where the roof-line tapered in a sweeping gesture that resembled a bullet-tip. 

Expect more details on what Rolls-Royce’s coachbuilding department is cooking up to be revealed soon. It’ll be interesting to see how the styling of a modern coach-built Rolls-Royce has evolved over a gap for four years.