Well, here it is — the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail, the most expensive new vehicle ever made. In this modern era of automotive homogeneity, the Boat Tail is about as coachbuilt as you can get, as it was a clean-sheat design from the chassis up, for only three clients. Each of those clients also had their car uniquely customized, so no two Boat Tails are exactly alike. Needless to say, it was the star of the show at yesterday’s 2021 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.
At the moment, Horatiu is in Italy, on the stunning Lake Como, to experience Villa d’Este first hand. It’s a hard job but someone’s gotta do it…
It’s easy to be cynical about a car like the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail. Any new car that costs $28 million from the factory is the definition of excess. It’s so incredibly superfluous and yet so incredibly endearing. The design team at Rolls that designed the Boat Tail did an incredible job, making it look incredibly special and expensive and somehow subtle and sophisticated. That’s a difficult balance to strike but Rolls did it.
Slim headlights, upright grille, sweeping rear end and stunning blue paint make it look like nothing else on the road. Surprisingly, it looks very different to even Rolls’ other cars. The interior is also fabulous, with a paint-matching blue interior and gorgeously trimmed wood throughout the entire cabin. It even has a breathtaking wood rear deck, like a yacht’s (the Boat Tail was inspired by J-Class yachts), which unfolds to feature a dining set and a champagne set. There’s even a parasol that pops out from the back.
The Rolls-Royce Boat Tail is one of those cars that’s hard to not love. Even the most cynical of enthusiasts, who would typically hate the utter absurdity of something as superfluous as the Boat Tail, have a hard time dismissing it. It’s absurdly opulent, totally over the top, and so expensive you need to a music/business mogul to buy one. And yet, its gorgeous, features some of the most impressive automotive craftsmanship in the industry, and is the closest thing to a truly coachbuilt car you can find today. How can you not love that?
