- Project Nightengale is the first car in Rolls-Royce’s Coachbuild Collection.
- Based on the Spectre, it has a fully electric powertrain.
- It features Streamline Moderne design cues inspired by the Art Deco era.
- It’s limited to just 100 units worldwide.
Rolls-Royce has no trouble selling multi-million dollar bespoke vehicles. In fact, the British luxury car maker has so many customers lining up for one-of-one cars that it had to make an entirely new division to meet demand.
The Rolls-Royce Coachbuild Collection is a limited run of hand-built vehicles that offer many of the same bespoke qualities of cars like the Droptail or Sweptail, but slightly more attainable. Rolls-Royce will offer upwards of 100 examples of these special vehicles to customers, working with them to customize them as they please.
The first model in that new Coachbuild Collection is a stunner—meet Project Nightengale.
Art Deco Extravagance
Rolls-Royce Project Nightengale
Photo by: Rolls-Royce
Project Nightengale stays true to its bespoke roots with custom bodywork and a unique design you won’t find anywhere else in the lineup. Riding on the same platform as the current Spectre, Project Nightengale is powered by two electric motors, giving it at least the same 577 horsepower as the standard Spectre, if not more.
The powertrain is only a small part of what makes this vehicle special, though. Project Nightengale features a stunning, open-top design inspired by its bespoke brethren before it. It uses principles of the Streamline Moderne design style of the Art Deco era, which was hugely popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Think, the Batmobile from Batman: The Animated Series.
The car itself is massive, sitting at a whopping 18.9 feet long—almost exactly as long as Rolls-Royce’s flagship Phantom. Except that Project Nightengale is exclusively a two-seater. It also rides on a massive (but beautiful) set of 24-inch wheels, the largest ever fitted to a Rolls-Royce vehicle.
Since it’s electric, there are no air intakes or vents on the front grille. Rolls-Royce wanted the body surfacing to remain entirely uninterrupted between the Pantheon Grille, which itself is just over three feet wide. The grille features 24 vertical aluminum veins, and unlike some of Rolls’ current production cars, it isn’t illuminated—I know, blasphemy.
Arguably the most interesting detail on the front end, though, is the headlights. Two ultra-slim, vertically oriented assemblies live on either side of the bumper. They are entirely unique to this model, and Rolls-Royce says they are impossible to replicate on a mass scale, which means you won’t see them on the next Spectre, for example.
The exterior of this particular car is finished in a pale, solid blue with subtle red flakes infused into the paint. The red hue is a nod to the automaker’s experimental prototypes of the 1920s, and it adorns the badges, as well. The paint is joined by a hardly noticeable—unless you really look—blue carbon fiber finish that envelops the entire vehicle.
Interior Opulence For Two
Photo by: Rolls-Royce
The details are no less lavish inside. The seats wear a pastel Charles Blue leather with Grace White accents and Deep Navy inserts. The retractable soft top, meanwhile, is finished in a light silver.
Of course, since this Rolls doesn’t have a fixed roof, it doesn’t have the company’s signature Starlight headliner inside. Instead, Rolls introduces a new Starlight Breeze Suite, which consists of 10,500 ‘stars’ that extend from the door panels to behind the seats, wrapping around the driver and passenger in a horseshoe shape.
Rolls-Royce will only build 100 examples of Project Nightengale as part of the Coachbuild Collection. Many of the colors and materials used here won’t be found on any other Rolls-Royce on the market.
As you’d expect, nearly every example of Project Nightengale is already accounted for. The price? Well, if the company’s one-offs fetch into the multi-millions of dollars, a one-of-100 vehicle in the Coachbuild Collection should be slightly cheaper. And by slightly, we mean still well over a million bucks.
For the clients lucky enough to get their hands on one, it’s well worth the price of admission.
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Source: Rolls-Royce
Motor1’s Take: Rolls-Royce knows how to do exclusive luxury better than anyone else, and Project Nightengale is no exception. The automaker’s latest project combines the best elements of the brand with new elements yet to be seen on a Rolls-Royce product. It’s a stunner in every sense of the word.
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