cars
When you want something more than just the best, get a Rolls-Royce Boat Tail
The Rolls-Royce Boat Tail takes exclusivity to another realm. Wanted spoke to its designer, Alex Innes, at Lake Como in Italy
Here at Wanted we are all about luxury, style and exclusivity. We love a bespoke one-off creation and we understand the work that goes in to making something truly unique. Whether it’s a beautifully crafted watch, an elegant tailored outfit or a piece of lovingly sculpted furniture, we appreciate almost all of it for the work that is required and, hopefully, the beauty of the results.
The Rolls-Royce Boat Tail takes that to another level. Rolls says it will make three of the Boat Tails, each unique to each customer — the elite of the elite, if you will. Not surprisingly, the luxury car company won’t disclose a figure, but given that clients have spent about $20m on one-off creations before, we suspect it is that and a bit more.
And what is the Boat Tail? It’s a vast, four-seater convertible with a bit of a nautical theme. To get a better idea we took a look at it with its designer, Alex Innes at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental hotel at Lake Como in Italy.
Innes told us that the customer has an original Rolls Boat Tail from the beginning of the last century. Who doesn’t love something priceless and new to go with something priceless and old?
The so-called horizon or water line, the chrome line that flows across the front above the famous pantheon grille and slim headlights, is a new feature that Innes says not only “stabilises the central design” but also previews a future design direction for the marque. You may have heard it first here, folks.
Image: Supplied
Then there are the whisper lines, starting prominently and fading away into the bodywork, and the chamfer lines that provide a dynamic look and also hide the edges of the metalwork. A lot goes into the design and engineering of a Rolls-Royce, especially a bespoke one, and that’s before you even get to the craftspeople who actually build it.
The items hidden beneath the electronically opening doors on the car’s boat tail, certainly make for a piece of theatre. At the press of a button the vast wings open up and the picnic sets rise from within. They are surrounded by a combination of elegant wood and carbon fibre, not usually materials which are paired together but the designers came up with the idea to try to reduce weight and the customer agreed it worked.
Image: Supplied