BEST OF BRITISH: Rolls-Royce Bespoke

Most car brands have catalogues full of optional extras for their new vehicles. Some even reserve a small corner of the showroom dedicated to dealer-fit accessories.

But Rolls-Royce trumps them all with its Bespoke program. A ‘sky’s the limit’ personalisation service, Bespoke’s global centrepiece is the marque’s Goodwood factory Atelier Room, which takes vehicle customisation to stratospheric heights.

That the vast majority of Rolls-Royce owners opt for Bespoke treatment is telling, yet only a handful of customers will ever visit the Atelier Room where, as part of motoring.com.au’s Best of British feature, we were granted access.

Nicholas Osy de Zegwaart, Bespoke manager for Rolls-Royce Europe and Asia Pacific, says that some customers who enlist Rolls-Royce Bespoke know exactly what they want, while others require inspiration to find out what makes them tick.

For some their car will be marked by a family crest or company logo and in one case a Japanese customer even supplied his own timber. Despite the weather and crash testing required to use the unique wood, Rolls-Royce complied.

The average new car can be painted with perhaps a dozen colours from the factory. Rolls Royce Bespoke? It offers 44,000 shades, hues and colours. Plus hand painted coach lining, patterns and more.

And that's just the exterior of the car.

In the cabin, the leather options are innumerable, as are the thread colours used for the stitching. And don't get me started on the 'starlight' interior headlining… It's one of the most popular Bespoke features, where fibre optic lights are stitched into the car's ceiling in any pattern the customer desires.

Of course the ultimate Bespoke treatment is a visit to the legendary Atelier Room — a compact but dazzling facility ornamented with a glittering array of hand-made car parts, panels and objet d'art.

From custom made picnic sets to diamond encrusted door inserts, customised marquetry inlays and individualised hand-stitched embroidery, the British car-maker can — and will — accommodate the whims of all customers.

The Bespoke arm of Rolls-Royce has been built around catering to the needs of buyers and as Osy de Zegwaart explains, nothing is off limits.

And when you see the likes of Alia Al Suwaidii, a young royal from Dubai in her two-tone pink and chrome Rolls-Royce Phantom, you realise how dedicated the brand is to its customers.

Simply put, they aim to please.

"We're not the taste police," says Osy de Zegwaart.

"A Bespoke Rolls-Royce is the expression of one's personality. We're simply here to make that car as personal as we can."

The dictionary defines "bespoke" as something custom-made or built to order, and it couldn’t be more apt for the world's leading luxury car company.

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