Luxury automaker Rolls-Royce has just unveiled the new Drop Tail. It is the brand’s first modern two-seat roadster and a nod to the coach-built drop-tops that brought Rolls-Royce reputation a century ago. The Rolls Royce Drop Tail has been developed over 4 years of collaboration between the automaker and four clients.
The first of four bespoke Drop Tails is dubbed ‘LA Rose Noire’ and gets a custom Audemars Piguet watch that is mounted to the dashboard using a clasp mechanism. Rolls-Royce says the Drop Tail represents the “absolute pinnacle” of its in-house coachbuilding capabilities, making it the most expensive car to go on sale.
Rolls-Royce Drop Tail: Exterior Design
While Rolls-Royce usually makes their coach-built specials on the Architecture of Luxury platform, the Drop Tail uses a bespoke chassis made from steel, aluminium and carbon fibre. It has a brand-new silhouette with its low coupe-like roofline inspired by ‘chop top’ hot rods. In profile, it looks sportier than any other Rolls-Royce with its flared wheel arches and carbon-fibre rear diffuser. The removable roof panel is made from carbon fibre as well, making it easier to remove it. The panel itself gets a large electrochromic glass section that can tint and untint at the press of a button.
The front end of the Drop Tail is the most familiar with its extra large grille and rectangular headlights. However, this is the first Rolls-Royce ever to get a swooped-back grille instead of a right-angled one. The marque says it reflects the car’s informal spirit.
Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce said that the swooping rear end did not make enough downforce. Instead of mounting a spoiler, the brand tweaked the rear deck’s design to produce the required downforce without an ungainly spoiler. This process itself took 20 iterations and 2 years of development time.
Read Also: Renault to Debut Hybrid Tech on Upcoming Models
Rolls-Royce Drop Tail: Interior
The designer’s brief for the Drop Tail’s interior was to create an “intimate” environment. The cabin follows a minimalist approach with only three buttons visible while the others are hidden away. The powered centre console can also be moved to hide the infotainment control dial. The interior uses two shades of red, ‘True Love Red’ paint and a darker shade dubbed ‘Mystery’.
An expansive wooden panel surrounds the seats, intended to reinforce the “romantic” atmosphere. The piece was built by a single craftsman who is said to have worked on the panel for over 9 months. Coachbuild design boss Alex Zines said it was the “most complicated, involved and prohibitive work of craft ever produced”. The panel represents falling rose petals and is made from Black Sycamore.
Rolls-Royce Drop Tail: Powertrain Details
Powering the Drop Tail is a 6.75-litre V12 twin-turbo petrol motor that has tuned to make 601 bhp with 840 Nm of peak torque. It is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. Rolls-Royce has stated that a V12 was used over an electric powertrain because the brand is celebrating the roadster and "the V12 is a powertrain we will be celebrating for the next couple of years”.
Rolls-Royce Drop Tail: Price
The automaker does not give specific pricing for its coach-built specials. However, all four Drop Tails cost more than the Boat Tail, which was priced at around £ 20 million or Rs 211 crore. It is already sold out.
Read Also: Mahindra XUV700 and XUV400 Recalled In India
