Rolls-Royce launches bespoke Coachbuild division

Rolls-Royce has established a new dedicated Coachbuild department for customers who want to create a one-off bespoke luxury car.

Picking up where the dramatic $17.5 million yacht-inspired Rolls-Royce Sweptail left off in 2017, the new Coachbuild division is claimed to hark back to Rolls-Royce built-to-order bespoke activities that date all the way back to the 1920s.

The existing Bespoke division, which already handles requests from customers to personalise their Rolls-Royce Ghost or Phantom, has also been expanded.

It's understood the British luxury brand will be able to offer a sequel to the Sweptail by employing its lightweight Architecture of Luxury aluminium spaceframe chassis, which allows far greater flexibility than a mainstream car-maker's platform.

So versatile is the architecture, Rolls-Royce says it can now construct almost "any body shape", with its customers' imagination only limited by "fundamental design and engineering requirements".

“The ability to personalise almost every aspect of their motor car is one of the main reasons our patrons come to us. But we know some wish to go further still,” said Rolls-Royce boss Torsten Müller-Ötvös.

“In 2017, we stunned the world with our first fully coachbuilt motor car of the modern era, the spectacular Rolls-Royce Sweptail. This was, by definition, an entirely unique commission. But in our minds, it was the start of a journey.

“We have formally re-established our Coachbuild department for those patrons who wish to go beyond the existing restraints, and explore the almost limitless possibilities this opens up for them.

"We are able to offer our customers the opportunity to create a motor car in which every single element is hand-built to their precise individual requirements, as befits our status as a true luxury house.”

Rolls-Royce is expected to release details on its new Coachbuild department in the coming weeks.