The New Rolls-Royce Boat Tail Coachbuild Unveiled

The new Rolls-Royce Boat Tail celebrates the revival of the automaker’s historic Coachbuild division who create specially commissioned one-off designs for their most discerning clients.

What do you get when you combine a small group of extremely passionate Rolls-Royce clients with a love for nautical design and the newly revived Rolls-Royce Coachbuilding division?

The new Rolls-Royce Boat Tail of course.

Inspired by the graceful lines of the J-Craft yacht and the restored 1932 Rolls-Royce Boat Tail of one of the owners, the new Rolls-Royce Boat Tail commission follows in the footsteps of the 2017 coachbuilt “Sweptail” and celebrates the return of Rolls-Royce’s historical Coachbuilding services which brought the brand great success in the 1920’s and 30’s.

Where Rolls-Royce Bespoke allows for the absolute customization of current models, the Coachbuild experience takes things one step further and will enable clients the opportunity to commission truly one-off vehicles (the three Boat Tails share the same unique body shape, but each has been highly customized per the individual client’s requests).

The concept for the Boat Tail originally grew from a group of clients who approached Rolls-Royce after the reveal of the Sweptail to ask if they could also commission their own unique design.

From the passionate group, it emerged three of the potential clients shared a love of nautical design, which coincided with a long-held ambition of the design team at Rolls-Royce to create a sailing boat-inspired vehicle. Once a general design for the coach body was decided upon by all involved, the Rolls-Royce design team then consulted each of the three individual clients to customize specific details of their own car.

“Today marks a seminal moment for the House of Rolls-Royce. We are proud to unveil Rolls-Royce Boat Tail to the world, and with it, the confirmation of coachbuilding as a permanent fixture within our future portfolio,” shares Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive, Rolls-Royce.

“Historically, coachbuilding had been an integral part of the Rolls-Royce story.
In the contemporary Rolls-Royce narrative, it has informed our guiding philosophy of Bespoke. But it is so much more. Rolls-Royce Coachbuild is a return to the very roots of our brand. It represents an opportunity for the select few to participate in the creation of utterly unique and truly personal commissions of future historical significance.”

At nearly 5.8 meters long, the long lines of the first Boat Tail is finished in an oceanic blue with a shimmering crystal flake paint color. The immediate stand-out feature of the exterior is, of course, the “timber deck” with Caleidolegno veneer that folds open like a butterfly at the touch of a button to reveal a detailed hosting suite complete with a parasol to shade the passengers while resting.

The blue tones of the exterior are carried over into the interior of the Boat Tail and reflect the color tone transition of the bonnet into the front seats with a darker blue hue contrasting against the lighter tone of the rear seats.

The owners also have a love for BOVET 1822 watches and were able to commission two-sided timepieces to feature in the interior, one for the lady and one for the gentleman, that can be worn or placed within the fascia as car clocks. The timepieces required Rolls-Royce and Bovet 1822 to work in partnership for over three years.

Other notable inclusions within the design of this particular Boat Tail include a special Montblanc pen from the owner’s collection that will reside in a hand-crafted case in the glove box and a double refrigerator found in the Hosting Suite that houses the client’s favorite vintages of Armand de Brignac champagne. The specially designed refrigerator can be rapidly cooled to precisely six degrees – the optimum serving temperature of the preferred vintage.

To fulfill the clients’ extraordinary ambitions, the Rolls-Royce design team had to overcome significant engineering challenges in the development of Rolls-Royce Boat Tail. In total, 1813 completely new parts were explicitly created for the cars.

A unique electronic treatment was required to support the complex requirements of the hosting suite to the rear of Boat Tail. Five electronic control units (ECUs) were created for the rear of the car alone – a process that required a complete redesign and took nine months of research and development to achieve.

Only then was it possible for the aft deck lids to open to an appropriate 67-degree angle, incorporate a highly secure locking mechanism and integrate a total climate control system to the rear hosting suite to keep the fridge at the required temperatures.

While Rolls-Royce has remained quiet on the total price of the new Rolls-Royce Boat Tail, it is possibly the most expensive modern model created to date, and as a fully homologated, road-legal vehicle created to be driven and enjoyed, all owners have indicated they intend on driving their Boat Tail as soon as it arrives in their driveway!