Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Debuts As First Of Four New Droptail Coachbuilds

Rolls-Royce Coachbuild has taken the covers off its latest creation, and as we predicted a year ago, it is called Droptail. Specifically, the creation you see before you is La Rose Noire, as each of the four Droptail commissions Rolls-Royce will create is unique enough to have its own name.

At 208.6 inches long and 78.7 inches wide, the Droptail is an imposing piece of machinery, but it looks smaller than that thanks to its sleek styling, which includes a new interpretation of the famous Pantheon grille. It should be fairly light, too, as the Coachbuild-exclusive monocoque created for this project is made of a blend of aluminum, steel, and carbon fiber.

There's a lot to unpack here because this truly is a bespoke creation. Rolls-Royce doesn't just apply some new paint, redo the upholstery, and call it a day. This is, by far, the most impressive custom car to come from an OEM in years. In fact, CarBuzz has learned that this one-of-one creation "allegedly" cost $30 million to build. More than either the Boat Tail and Sweptail.

The Droptail is the first roadster (two-door, two-seat drop-top) in Rolls-Royce's modern history. It draws inspiration from the 1912 Silver Ghost 'Sluggard,' the 1925 Silver Ghost Piccadilly, and the 1930 Phantom Brewster New York Roadster. However, it's clearly its own thing.

The Pantheon grille's vanes are kinked at the top for the first time, with a reclining 'temple brow' overhang helping connect the headlights by casting a shadow over the upper fascia. The body line dropping from the front wheel draws the onlooker's gaze to the rear 'sail cowls,' between which a deck section has been created.

This is especially noteworthy as it produces downforce despite its tapered shape. Getting this to work without a spoiler took over two years and 20 iterations. Another neat innovation is the door handle, which features a hidden lock mechanism and indicator lamp. The Rolls-Royce 'Badge of Honor' was also subtly distilled into a 'double R' monogram.

Vertical taillights, a large rear diffuser, and a removable roof also catch the eye. The latter two items are made from carbon fiber, with the roof featuring electrochromic self-tinting glass for maximum comfort. This roof gives off a "chopped" appearance partially inspired by hot rod culture.

Inside, the fascia shows just three main buttons. Simplifying this in an elegant manner took four years of development, testing, and homologation. Also noteworthy is the wood section that wraps around the occupants with a cantilevered plinth-like armrest sited between the two seats adding further drama. This slides forward and backward to provide access to the rotary infotainment controller.

As if that's not enough, Rolls-Royce has added 30 horsepower to the 6.75-liter twin-turbo V12, marking the first time power has been increased for a Rolls-Royce Coachbuild project.

The Droptail is a fantastic canvas on which to work, and a French family went to town expressing their unique tastes here. Their creation was inspired by the Black Baccara rose from France, a velvet-like flower that changes color depending on the light. In the shade, a dark pomegranate color appears almost black, transitioning to a pearlescent red in the sunlight. These hues inspired the paintwork on La Rose Noire Droptail, with the darker shade named Mystery and the lighter called True Love.

The body was painted in a secret base coat, followed by five layers of clear lacquer, each blended with a slightly different tone of red. This required a whole new paint process that took over 150 iterations to perfect.

Where one might normally find chrome, the brightwork has been specially finished without paint. A new hue called Hydroshade was developed and sees a specific chrome electrolyte used in the plating process and co-deposited on each stainless steel substrate in a layer just one micron thick. This is then hand-polished, and the finish is applied to select interior elements, too. The 22-inch wheels are painted in color-shifting Mystery, but that's only one step. Parts of the wheel are treated to a diamond milling process, exposing the base alloy. This is then polished to create contrasting accents.

Speaking of subtle accents, the Pantheon vanes feature hand-applied True Love-colored accents on the reverse side where one would not easily detect them. Similarly, the lower front intake, with 202 hand-polished stainless steel ingots, is hand-painted in the same hue.

Inside is "the most complex expression of parquetry ever created at Rolls-Royce." Enveloping the occupants is an abstract representation of falling rose petals made using 1,603 pieces of hand-laid black wood veneer triangles. The wood is from Black Sycamore sourced from France, and each of the 1,603 wood triangles is cut, sanded, and positioned by hand. Light and dark grey elements are preserved in their natural hue, with color differences coming from using different logs of wood. Paint was only used for the red areas, and Rolls-Royce spent a year developing a new lacquer to maximize longevity.

Assembling the shawl panel and fascia was done by just one person working in one-hour sessions. This was to ensure maximum focus and to avoid distractions, with the artisan working in total silence in a sound-insulated space for no more than five hours total per day. This work of art took nine months on its own.

Mystery and True Love leather are contrasted by a copper shimmer, tying the cabin to the bodywork.

To go with the custom car, a custom one-off timepiece was created by the Swiss watchmaking artists at Audemars Piguet. Based on a 43-millimeter Royal Oak Concept Split-Seconds Chronograph GMT Large Date, the counters and inner bezel are finished in red, while the black dial features rhodium-toned bevels.

The reason a real watch was chosen is so that the timepiece can be either mounted on the dash or worn on the arm. To add more drama to the occasion, a powered clasp mechanism presents the watch at the touch of a button and has a custom titanium blank head watch to fill the timepiece's place when worn. This and the speaker frets are the only places in the car to show off the Baccara Rose.

Finally, the commissioning family also requested a unique Champagne Chest that opens with the push of a button. Inside, you'll find hand-blown crystal flutes, more intricate parquetry work, and champagne coolers made of black anodized aluminum and carbon fiber with a dark Mystery finish. The lid of the chest converts to a serving tray made of the same Black Sycamore wood with a stainless steel inlay. The champagne is special too. Created by Champagne de Lossy, this special vintage was created specifically for this car and arrives in a custom bottle matched to the color scheme of this Droptail.

So there you have it. The most complex Rolls-Royce Coachbuild creation so far. Every element is exceptional, and every penny (of which there will have been billions) was well-spent.

La Rose Noire Droptail will be making its public debut at Chart House on the lawns of Pebble Beach this week, where it will be joined by the Spectre.