The Rolls-Royce Sweptail is a

one-off In the field of vehicles authorized to drive, a one-off vehicle is a vehicle that was manufactured only once. The production of unique vehicles is reduced to one unit in each case. The easiest cases to analyze are those of cars and motorcycles. Un ...

large luxury car made by

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is a British luxury automobile maker which has operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW AG since 2003 – as the exclusive manufacturer of ''Rolls-Royce''-branded motor cars. The company's administrative ...

Overview

The Sweptail is based on the

Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé The Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé is a luxury car manufactured by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars that debuted at the Geneva International Motor Show#2008, 2008 Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, on 6 March 2008. The platform is based o ...

and hand-built over four years. Inspired by

coachbuilding A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...

of the 1920s and 1930s, the car was commissioned in 2013, by a super-yacht and aircraft specialist. At the time of its May 2017 debut at the yearly

Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este () is a Concours d'Elegance event in Italy for classic car, classic and vintage cars. It takes place annually near the Villa d'Este (Cernobbio), Villa d'Este hotel in Cernobbio, on the western shore of Lake Como ...

, it was the most expensive new automobile in the world, costing around £10 million. The Sweptail is owned by Hong Kong-based customer Sam Li, son of billionaire real estate mogul Samuel Tak Lee.

Giles Taylor Giles Taylor is a British car designer. He is the current vice president of design and chief creative officer for the Chinese state-owned FAW Group’s Hongqi marque. Taylor worked as a chief designer for Rolls-Royce, Jaguar and as an exterior ...

, former director of design at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars described the vehicle as "the automotive equivalent of

Haute couture ''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...

". In 2019, it was overtaken as the most expensive new car by the

Bugatti La Voiture Noire The Bugatti Chiron is a mid-engine two-seater sports car designed and developed in Germany by Bugatti Engineering GmbH and manufactured in Molsheim, France, by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. The successor to the Bug ...

which sold for US$18.7 million.

Gallery

Rolls-Royce Sweptail.jpg Rolls Royce Sweptail rear.jpg Rolls-Royce Sweptail right side.jpg Rolls-Royce Sweptail interior.jpg

References

2010s cars Luxury vehicles Rolls-Royce Motor Cars vehicles Rear-wheel-drive vehicles {{modern-auto-stub