Did Beyoncé and Jay-Z just order the world’s most expensive car? Why this custom-built Rolls-Royce Boat Tail is worth US$28 million
Behold the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail, a nautically themed tourer priced at a whopping US$28 million, making it the most expensive new car in history. The ultra-opulent limousine follows on from the US$13 million Sweptail from 2017, which is said to have encouraged Rolls-Royce to create its exclusive Coachbuild division – “the automotive equivalent of haute couture” – to cater to its wealthiest patrons.
However, unlike the one-off Sweptail, Rolls-Royce will make a series of three Boat Tails personalised for its customers. Shown here is the first of them. And here are seven facts about the new Rolls-Royce Boat Tail that help it justify its colossal price tag.
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Mystery clients
The first Rolls-Royce Boat Tail has been commissioned by a mystery man and his wife from the US. Rolls-Royce is notoriously tight-lipped about the details of its customers of exclusive builds – something we saw with the Sweptail, as well. However, according to The Telegraph, the couple is believed to be in the music industry and there are signs that suggest the most expensive new car in history might have been commissioned by Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z.
Channelling the best of the past
The bespoke limousine is inspired by classic J-Class yachts and the custom-built “Boat Tail” Rolls-Royces from the 1920s and 1930s. Back then, coachbuilders directly transplanted “the hull forms of sailing boats” onto rolling chassis built by Rolls-Royce. However, things are a lot more complicated now and the British luxury carmaker reportedly spent four years developing the ultra-decadent tourer and putting it through all the same dynamic testing as regular models. It is also the first model to be created by the automaker’s Coachbuild arm.
Classy chassis
The Boat Tail is based on the same basic platform as the Phantom and uses the company’s existing aluminium architecture. However, Rolls-Royce says that it’s not a regular model with a lot of bespoke extras and additional features, but a brand-new car. The carmaker took eight months to adapt the chassis to the proportions of the Boat Tail that measures 19 feet (5.8 metres). It also includes 1,813 new and totally bespoke parts.
Bespoke all the way
The aesthetics of the Boat Tail are completely bespoke, although it retains clear signs of Rolls-Royce’s design DNA. The exterior is finished in a special shade of blue – “the client’s favourite colour” – with embedded metallic and crystal flakes to catch the light, which is contrasted with a hand-painted Azur bonnet that transitions from blue to black. This two-tone paint scheme is mirrored inside the cabin as well. The traditional Rolls-Royce stainless-steel finish Pantheon grille has also been replaced by a painted grille.
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Luxury interior
The cabin is just as opulent and bespoke as the rest of the car. The interior is upholstered in blemish-free leather in a shade of blue with a “light metallic sheen” and contrasting black. The leather is sourced from the hides of “stress-free” Alpine cows in Bavaria.
The dashboard features black caleidolegno wood veneer, while the instrument dials are adorned with decorative guilloche patterns usually found in high-end watches. The Boat Tail is an open-top tourer, but it is supplied with a tonneau cover for “static transitory shelter” that appears to be manually operated.
His and hers watches
Rolls-Royce collaborated with Swiss watchmaker Bovet to create two bespoke reversible “his and hers” two-sided timepieces. Engineered, designed and developed in parallel with the Boat Tail, Rolls-Royce describes it as an “accomplishment never before realised in either industry”. Either of the watches can be taken off the owner’s wrist and inserted into a dedicated slot in the dashboard to serve as the Boat Tail clock. There’s also a special tray compartment to store the other watch when not in use.
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Hosting suite
This brings us to the highlight of the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail – the “hosting suite”. The tail of the cabriolet dramatically slopes downwards in a deliberate reminder of the rear deck of luxury yachts. At the press of a button, the aft-deck opens up butterfly-style to reveal the intricate hosting suite controlled by no less than five individual processors to make sure your carefully curated picnic options arrive as fresh and perfectly chilled as possible.
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This article originally appeared on LuxuryLaunches
- Following on from 2017’s Sweptail, this bespoke limo is inspired by J-Class yachts and custom-built ‘Boat Tail’ Rollers from the 1920s and 1930s
- The interior is said to be ‘Blue Ivy’ coloured and Swiss watchmaker Bovet has made a matching pair of watches that fit into a dock to double as the car’s clock