Rolls-Royce unveiled the second of three boat tail convertibles on Friday, with part of the British ultra-luxury automaker returning to coachbuilding.
Boat tails are the product of the Rolls-Royce Coachbuild division, and are being shown to the public to demonstrate the division’s capabilities. The three cars are made for a separate customer base, who came to Rolls after seeing the unveiled Swiftel One-Off in 2017.
In the proper coachbuilding tradition, the bodywork of each boat tail is hand-crafted from aluminum sheets. According to Rolls, the design was inspired by racing yachts in the early 20th century. The automaker did not provide any technical details, but it is possible that the boat tails were based on a previous generation of Rolls platforms and not the aluminum space-frame used by the current Phantom, Ghost and Cullinan.
Rolls-Royce Boat Tail
The customer who commissioned the second boat tail has a family history in the pearl industry and, according to Rolls, gave the designers four pearls to use as inspiration for the exterior color. The automaker describes it as a “glittering combination of oysters and soft roses, with large white and bronze mica flakes adding a unique pearly quality.”
The basepack color is contrasted by a cognac-colored hood with bronze and gold colored aluminum flakes and a crystal and ice matte clear coat. Traditional Pantheon Grill and Spirit of Ecstasy Hood ornaments finished in rose gold.
Like the first boat tail unveiled in 2021, this car has a rear deck with a suitable nautical wood finish. In this case, the customer chooses the royal walnut with rose gold pinstripe. Rolls open two parts of the deck to reveal what a “hosting suite” means. It is basically a trunk with a refrigerator, champagne flute and other items for a fancy roadside picnic.
Rolls-Royce Boat Tail
The royal walnut veneer was also used for the interior, which also has cognac and oyster-colored leather and rose gold and mother-of-pearl accents. A mother-of-pearl timepiece from the customer’s collection is mounted on the dashboard.
The second Rolls-Royce boat tail will be officially unveiled at the 2022 Concours d’Eleganza Villa d’Est, scheduled for May 21. This is almost a year after the unveiling of the first boat tail, so we will probably see the third and final 6 Example of this land yacht in one year.
A gentleman doesn’t ask the price of a boat’s tail, and Rolls-Royce doesn’t say. However, it was estimated that the first of the three cost 14.5 million. Apparently, the pearl industry is quite lucrative.