Rolls-Royce History
At the beginning of the twentieth century, two of the most innovative and capable minds of that time in the United Kingdom made a partnership with each other. These two men were Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. Henry Royce was a successful engineer who had a great deal of interest in automobiles. On the other hand, Charles Rolls was the owner of a first motor car dealership in the United Kingdom.
Soon they both joined hands and agreed to make a company under which they would manufacture and sell motor cars. Hence, the car manufacturing company ‘Rolls-Royce’ came into existence.
Just 3 years into the forming of this company, Rolls-Royce produced its first motor car in the year 1907. They named this car the “Silver Ghost”. It was extensively tested for over 14,000 miles. This beauty displayed such a level of comfort and reliability that critics were forced to name it “The Best Car in the World”!
In 1930, the company broke all world records by building a Rolls-Royce with the V12 engine in Phantom III. After a decade since 1930, the design and craftsmanship took another leap by introducing coach body in it. In 1950, the company was selected by the Royal family and since then the long standing relationship of both kicked off. Soon in the 1960s, the brand started appealing to big shots. Many singers, actors, and celebrities started choosing this brand as a symbol of their success.
Rolls-Royce Motor Limited was bought by a British Defence Company by the name “Vickers” in the year 1980. This company started producing Rolls-Royce cars alongside Bentley Motor Cars and that is how their new product was soon introduced on the London Stock Exchange in the year 1985. However, in 1990, this company had a great surprise when BMW Group offered to buy the rights of production of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. It was at this point that a new and exciting chapter of production began.
Rolls-Royce started production of various shapes and comfort levels as per BMW’s standards after the year 2003. From 1998 to 2003, Volkswagen had been producing Rolls-Royce cars due to some issues of ownership and licensing. This gave time to BMW to develop a new Rolls-Royce Headquarters along with a production facility for developing Phantom series on the Goodwood Estate.
The ‘Sweptail’
The world has innumerable successful and wealthy people who can claim that they ‘have it all’. Once this claim is made, such people then start looking for various things which would set them apart from all the others in their league. The one thing that appeals us all is to have something unique which no one else possesses.
In the same vein, a mystery shopper approached Rolls-Royce in 2013 to express a desire of building for him the car of his dreams. He convinced the car manufacturer to build a car specific to his idea. The person who requested this made-to-order car considers himself a “connoisseur and collector of distinctive, one-off items including super-yachts and private aircraft”.
‘Sweptail’ is the new coupe which was introduced by Rolls-Royce last month at the yearly Concorso de Leganza Villa d’este event in Italy. It took four years for the manufacturers to build this car and finally release it in the year 2017. This car is believed to be the most expensive car. Yachts being this mystery shopper’s passion, he wanted his car to look like a yacht as well.
The car is named Sweptail as it has a tapered ‘swept tail’ rear end. This rear swept tail end made the company’s Phantom series famous in the early days of 20th Century. The car possesses many of the iconic designs of coupes around the world. It borrows a mixture of looks from its previous designs like the round door lock of the 1925 Phantom I, the silhouette of the 1934 Phantom II Streamline Saloon and the swept tail designs of cars like the 1934 Gurney Nutting Phantom II Two Door Light Saloon.
No doubt it is equipped with many 21st century mechanical and electronic touches. The huge panoramic sunroof gives this car and driver a full-length view of the sky. It has the largest fitted front grill which is milled from a single piece of aluminum. The milling process was done before giving the grill a polished and a mirror look.
The body work of the car is as such that there is no visible boundary to the surfaces similar to the hull of the yacht. Similarly, the feeling of elegance in motion has been induced by the combination of bullet-tip center brake light and the lower bumper. Rolls-Royce believes that the exterior of the car especially the panoramic glass roof is one of the most complex one in the history of motor car exterior designing.
Since the car is designed in the 21st century, it carries the latest motor car features. The whole glass top of the car is actually next level version of the sunroofs found these days in modern cars. The interior of this beauty is all lined up with the generous qualities of polished Macassar Ebony and a special kind of wood commonly known as the open pore paleo wood.
There is an antique look analog clock which has been specially manufactured using machined titanium. The center console hides away a champagne chiller along with two crystal flutes. The car has also been equipped with a pair of carbon fiber attache-cases which have been specifically designed to fit the laptops of the buyer.
In short, in this time and era, whatever you can imagine you can have provided you have the capability and will to pursue your wildest imaginations and dreams. This car is a manifestation of just that. It is a design wonder and a one-of-a-kind vehicle. It not only inspires awe, it also breaks boundaries and enforces the idea that innovation in car designs can finally get out of the box!