The Car, Rolls-Royce Sweptail (12)

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[ The CAR ]

TOASTING

THE ROAD

by Diego Tamone

Perfectly chilled champagne is a must aboard the Sweptail, the incredible new bespoke Rolls-Royce. The two-seater took four years to create and is inspired by the very best the car, yacht and aviation worlds have to offer

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[ The CAR ]

Beautifully flowing balance forms – that’s the Sweptail. It also has an absolutely unique curved glass roof with a chrome edge that melds with

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t is a question of taste rather than money. Of personal pleasure. The joy of owning something absolutely unique. Something you can’t just buy on the open market. Or at

least not through the usual channels. The whole concept of luxury is deeply embedded in our genetic code, but knowing it when you see it is a gift of sorts. Luxury is everywhere after all – and that includes the car world. In the very early days of motoring, at the start of the last century, luxury meant cars that were custom-crafted by the most influential coachbuilders of the day who used their astonishing artistry to breathe life into the dreams of lovers of great beauty. As the years went by, however, its meaning gradually changed and became quite wrongly equated with and measured by mere price. So, for example, ultra-high performance super cars found themselves labelled as luxury cars, a fate that also awaited fairly straightforward GTs that might simply have been kitted out with a generous array of optionals. But genuine luxury, as we said earlier, is a very different thing as Rolls-Royce is quick to point out. In recent times, six-figure cars and very generous specs have become its byword. That said, the great English marque has never lost sight of the original meaning of the term which, until the 1950s, helped craft its legend. The new Sweptail unveiled this year and featured at the recent Villa d’Este Concours d’Elegance provides dazzling confirmation of this. No ordinary Rolls, it is the astonishing result of a commission from a private client who, in 2013, contacted

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the windscreen before tapering at the rear into an unmistakably RollsRoyce tail

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[ The CAR ]

The minimalist, light-filled interior is trimmed in nauticallyinspired Macassar ebony and open-pore Paldao wood.

Meticulous detailing and features abound: there is even a truly ingenious secret compartment in each of the door panels for the owner’s two bespoke briefcases

Rolls-Royce Bespoke and Giles Taylor, Director of Design RollsRoyce Motor Cars. He was looking for a one-off that would combine the very best that the car, yacht and aviation worlds had to offer. A car that would have all the charisma of a big Rolls of the 1920s or 30s – think the 1925 Phantom I Round Door by Jonckheere or the Phantom II Streamline Saloon by Park Ward, the Gurney Nutting Phantom II Two Door Light Saloon and the Park Ward 20/25 Limousine Coupé, all launched in 1934.

Not surprisingly, these cars are also among the most coveted collector’s models in the world right now. Because they are, of course, unique and unrepeatable. The Sweptail is a flawless example of haute couture tailoring in car form. Although a twoseater, it is enormous. The interior is minimalist and trimmed in a mix of Macassar ebony and open-pore Paldao woods. Sleekly high-tech yet bespoke-crafted features include a nautical-feel deck at the rear, a refrigerated compartment for champagne and flutes, and another for two bespoke briefcases in the door panel.

All signal the car’s grandeur and its unique styling cues, first and foremost of which is a huge curved panoramic glass roof which tapers into the upward-sweep of the underbody that gives the car its Sweptail moniker and which is a deliberate luxury boat reference. www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com

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