Rolls-Royce creates £20 million-worth of luxury: the world’s most expensive car

Commissioned by a billionaire couple, the exclusive bespoke motor comes complete with cocktail tables and a parasol.

Rolls Royce is the ultimate luxury car of the super-rich and for one anonymous billionaire couple, a standard model just wouldn’t do. They commissioned the world’s most expensive new vehicle from the exclusive manufacturer, spending £20 million on a bespoke design - the Boat Tail convertible grand tourer.

The first of three custom-made, hand-built vehicles commissioned by Rolls-Royce for a special nautical-themed series, it comes complete with a host of unusual – and eccentric – features, in keeping with the ‘flamboyant’ tastes of the uber-wealthy couple. Inspired by the traditional coachbuilding method, which involves transplanting boat hulls onto Rolls-Royce chassis, the vehicle’s unique aesthetic draws on stylish 1920s and 30s J-class yachts. Certainly, it has been created with mind-boggling attention to detail with no expense spared to build a one-of-a kind vehicle intended to ‘mark a sense of occasion’, according to Rolls Royce.

CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös explained that with a custom commission of this nature, ‘preconceived notions of possibility are reset… the outcome reflects a vision so focused that its significance transcends the world of motor cars.’ Alex Innes, head of Coachbuild Design at Rolls-Royce, added that these bespoke projects ‘move beyond the usual constraints’, explaining: ‘At Rolls-Royce Coachbuild we break through that ceiling… to shape a concept directly with our commissioning patrons.’

While the chassis, engine and underpinnings are modelled on the existing Rolls-Royce Phantom, every other feature is bespoke. Details were originated, designed and created from scratch, including Rolls-Royce’s largest-ever panels, made by hand. Other touches range from the smallest details, like a pen holder and clock, to extensive additions that includes rotating cocktail tables with matching chairs, a complete dinner set, and an automatically extending parasol. The vehicle is left-hand drive, implying its owners aren’t UK-based.

Boat Tail has easily surpassed the two vehicles that previously held the crown for the world’s most expensive new cars: a £10 million coachbuilt Sweptail, also a Rolls-Royce, made in 2017 (said to have prompted the Boat Tail commission); and a single-edition £11.3 million La Voiture Noire hypercar created by Bugatti, which was debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2019. With a roomy length of just less than 5.8 metres, encompassing four seats and two doors, Boat Tail is the first project created by Rolls-Royce’s brand new dedicated coachbuilding department, based at Goodwood in West Sussex. While regular models sell for less than £300,000, the company explains that bringing the new car into being involved engineering 1,813 new parts, involving eight months of development. Its unusual rear end, housing five electronic control units, required nine months work for the wiring alone. The result is impressive for four meticulous years of project work. The car also has an in-built fridge, said to rapid-cool tipples to 6C, as well as a pen holder that was added to house the owner’s particularly cherished Montblanc pen.

Modern touches to accompany the nostalgicwhimsy include a bespoke Bose sound system to ensure the highest level of auditory experience using the car’s whole floor structure as resonance chambers for its bass speakers - to dramatic effect.