Most expensive car in the world
Introduction: A Hidden Corner of Goodwood
Welcome to a very secret corner of Goodwood, the home of Rolls-Royce motor cars. It’s here in our dedicated Coach build facility that the first expression in the next chapter of our contemporary coachbuilding movement was handcrafted. La Rose Noir Droptail represents a bold, daring, and sophisticated personal expression inspired by the Black Baccarat Rose.
Reimagining the Roadster Body Style
As a design team, the significance of creating the only modern interpretation of the roadster body style was not lost on us.
In many ways, we felt liberated to fundamentally re-examine the tenets of Rolls-Royce design, and that is perhaps no more evident than here with the interpretation of our iconic Pantheon Grill.
Innovation in the Pantheon Grill
For the first time in the marque’s history, the normally upright and straight veins are actually inclined here at the top, with this kinked impression. This kink, together with the deeply recessed headlamps, creates this strong, heavy brow impression to the front of the car.
Down in the lower corners where we would typically have a rectangular conclusion to the grill, we have introduced for the first time a chamfer.
This chamfer, together with deep draw, projects a more functional aesthetic to the grill that is familiar with the roadster concepts of old.
Hydra Shade: A New Exterior Finish
What you will also notice here is a unique finish to the grill treatment itself that also extends to all of the metalwork across the exterior. Here, we actually developed an entirely new technological finish which we’ve named Hydra Shade.
A Sculpted, Minimalist Flank
As we move to the flanks of the car, you can see how we have been guided by the pursuit of reduction. In paring back the surfaces, what remains is executed with a level of clarity that can only be achieved with a hand-built Coach build motor car.
In the lower areas is a unique lower intake that also carries the colour of the exterior paint: True Love.
Inspiration from the Black Baccarat Rose
As touched on, La Rose Noir is inspired by the Black Baccarat Rose—native to France and beloved by the mother of the commissioning family. Its deep pomegranate hue and velvet-like quality transform under intensive light to show accents of red.
Distinctive Exterior Proportions
Inside view, we can immediately appreciate the unique stance that Drop tail carries—particularly its proportions. You have a very short front overhang, but also a strong rearward inclination to the face of the car.
At the rear, we have a more compact overhang than we are typically used to seeing on Rolls-Royces. Perhaps more profoundly, you have this extremely generous body side section to a very shallow windscreen proportion.
This visually pushes the occupants deep down inside the interior, cosseting and protecting them— a particular attribute of a roadster body type.
Clean Surfaces and Integrated Badging
You will also notice a general distillation and purification to the form. Together with the clients, we were insistent that the surfaces must remain uninterrupted.
Typically, we would find the Rolls-Royce monogram together with the indicator in this area of the car. We took the unprecedented step of integrating the indicator into the forward area of the door handle. Also, for the first time in its history, we deconstructed the Rolls-Royce badge and visually represented it here with this beautiful, silhouetted double-R, executed with the ingot and laid atop the sail cowl elements.
A Nautical-Inspired Rear End
As we come to the rear of Drop tail, we can immediately appreciate the strong impression of sculpture—particularly the taper towards the centreline. The view is dominated by this transom surface which, in many ways, mimics the construct of a yacht.
It also serves as an uninterrupted canvas for the placement of these jewel-like rear tail lamps. While highly modern in their execution, they actually serve as a historic nod to the early roadster-bodied Rolls-Royces.
Aerodynamics and Rear Deck Design
The dynamic nature of the roadster body is also evident in the proportion of the lower diffuser element that establishes the width—particularly the rear track of the car. This is, of course, a driver’s car, and therefore there are aerodynamic demands placed on this rear area.
We developed and worked with these demands by creating an aerodynamically sculpted profile in this rear deck area, which together with this floating element here, provides the downforce for the car when it’s traveling at speed.
The Interior: Romance and Protection
As we follow the cowl line back up, we arrive at the interior, where we can immediately appreciate the three key design gestures.
The first is the shawl element that takes the line from the front of the grill, comes rearward into the waist rail, and envelops the two occupants—cosseting them. This provides the level of romance and intimacy expected with a two-seater proposition.
Architecture-Inspired Console and Details
Secondly, you can see the center console plinth: this beautiful elliptical element is more akin to what you would expect in an architectural space rather than an automotive one. This element sits high, giving the impression that the occupants are deep down and protected within the cabin space.
Unique Instrument Panel and Parquetry
The final gesture is, of course, the instrument panel, reflecting the materials and colors of La Rose Noir—particularly the inclusion of the red accent together with high-precision metalwork.
As a first for us, we also incorporated parquetry into the center needle coins of the dials themselves.
Bespoke Timepiece by Audemars Piguet
By way of the client’s request, we worked together with Audemars Piguet to produce and integrate one of their unique high-complication timepieces into the fascia panel of the car itself. Moreover, we fulfilled the exacting wish from the client that it should also be wearable on the wrist.
When the client enters the car, they can remove the timepiece and place it into the clasp holder here, where it will retreat back into the instrument panel. The straps can be stowed separately.
The Rose Petal Interior Artwork
The real showpiece of La Rose Noir: a simple request from the client was to create the impression of floating roses as if they had been scattered across the interior by hand.
Here, there is a beautiful merger between the age-old practice of parquetry with an achingly modern design that represents an abstract depiction of rose petals. These tri-angled elements are made up of 163 individual pieces. It took three years to move from formative development through to the production of the piece seen here.
Extending the Rose Motif to the Exterior
This highly contemporary depiction of rose petals is not just exclusive to the interior. We bring the theme out onto the aft deck as well.
Here, we used a completely different technology, drawing on the best skills within our paint area. The artisans depicted 96 individual rose petals, executed in the True Love paint found on the main flanks of the car. Building on the foundation of the mystery base layer, they are all hand-stenciled and hand-sprayed. The client insisted there be no visible detection between the surfaces to understand they had been applied by hand.
Transforming into a Coupe: Roof Design
With the roof fitted, Droptail is transformed from a light, open-top roadster into a dramatic and formidable-looking coupe.
As a design team, we studied 1930s hot rods from the West Coast to appreciate the generous body side section and shallow glass proportion. Together with the fast, accelerating roofline, this was a feature the commissioning client pushed us to exaggerate—pulling it as far rearward as possible before truncating it at the rear, mimicking cap roofs on 1920s Rolls-Royce roadsters.
Glass Roof with Electrochromic Technology
We pioneered a large application of glass: a beautiful, uninterrupted, and pure treatment that sits across the entire upper surface of the roof.
While that is impressive, the real ingenuity is that it incorporates electro chromatic technology, allowing the client at the touch of a button to transform the roof from an opaque sun-shaded protection to complete translucency—taking in the view up and out of the cabin.
Final Thoughts: A Statement of Artful Connoisseurship
Our contemporary movement of Coach build is about creating something artful that has real meaning.
La Rose Noir Drop tail is glamour distilled imbuing the personal passions and distinctly bold visions of the commissioning couple. It is all the more extraordinary for it. It is an elevated statement of true connoisseurship.
