Rolls-Royce's Coachbuild division has unveiled a stunning two-seat roadster called the Arcadia Droptail.. Its value crossed the $30,000,000 mark.
The car was commissioned by a private person from Singapore. This is the third of four Droptails in the Rolls-Royce family.. Each of them is developed by Coachbuild's Bespoke department over several years. Customers spend tens of millions of dollars to design and commission their exclusive ideal vehicle.
Every Droptail shares the base platform and its V12 engine. There's also some of the dashboard and controls familiar to anyone who owns a Rolls-Royce from standard models, but everything else about the Arcadia is bespoke.
The work on this particular model lasted four and a half years.. According to Rolls-Royce head of coachbuilding Alex Innes, the plan was to create a car that would be striking in design, attracting attention with exquisite details and exclusivity.. And the creators from Rolls-Royce succeeded ( see. video below). All four Droptail examples are reminiscent of American roadsters and hot rods from the 1920s, a type of car you might recognize.
Alex Innes highlights design changes to the brand's famous Pantheon grille, which is shorter, wider and swept back for a more dynamic look. But framed by a pair of shallow, piercing LED headlights, the face still carries Rolls-Royce DNA, but in a cleaner, simpler and more modern form.
Even small details had to be taken into account. For Arcadia Droptail, they were looking for a wood veneer that would match the client's favorite table and coffee table.
“This was the catalyst for the rest of the specification. Next came the challenge of matching the color of the veneer with the rest of the interior – a task that was particularly challenging due to the huge variations in color and grain within a single log of wood,” noted Innes.
The result was amazing. It is no coincidence that the third Droptail was assembled away from the main production area in a secret room, protected by two sets of security doors, with which many of its Rolls-Royce employees are unfamiliar.
The paint and mirrored 22-inch wheels are pretty amazing, but it's the wood trim that really makes this Rolls-Royce unique.. Santos Straight Grain is a wood chosen by the customer due to its rich texture and cohesive grain pattern.. This gives the car a modern look. It has some of the finest wood that Rolls-Royce uses.
The developers say that in total the Arcadia Droptail contains 233 pieces of wood, of which 76 are applied to the rear deck, which is aerodynamically functional (creating a slight downforce to prevent lift at speed).. Here, open-pore veneer is laid at a 55-degree angle, a detail that is repeated with even more straight-grain Santos across the rear bulkhead of the two-seat saloon.
This is a kind of master class in precision engineering.. This finish with veneer and other materials is made for long-term use.. Rolls-Royce has assured that the wood will not be damaged by rain, temperature changes and tropical humidity. To achieve this, Rolls' Bespoke department has created a varnish that will protect the wood in one application for the life of the car.
To test this, Rolls-Royce subjected 18 different wood veneer samples to 1,000 hours of simulated global extreme weather conditions.. This involved spraying the wood with water, with drying periods in between, and then exposing it to heat and bright light. In total, according to Rolls-Royce, the wood parts and protective coating required more than 8,000 hours of development.
Developing the dashboard clock was an equally lengthy process. Unlike the previous two Droptail examples, La Rose Noire and Amethyst, the Arcadia does not have a removable clock, but the instrument panel does have a dial that is the most complex Rolls-Royce has ever created.. The assembly process lasted five months, preceded by two years of development.
The last element of the interior is the wooden plinth under the central armrest. It can be moved forward and backward electronically, revealing or hiding the car's infotainment system controls underneath.
The rear of the Arcadia Droptail is very impressive. This huge wooden area is extremely beautiful, reminiscent of the rear of the Riva Aquarama yacht.
Photo: Rolls-Royce