Behold, the splendid Rolls-Royce Droptail

There are Rolls-Royce motor cars, and there are Rolls-Royce motor cars. This is the latter, and possibly the priciest new car on sale today with a rumoured starting price north of $40 million in Singapore legal tender — before taxes, that is.

This is the Rolls-Royce Droptail, a birthed from the Goodwood outfit's über-exclusive by invite only Coachbuild division which produced the one-off Sweptail in 2017 and Boat Tail in 2021 — both of which were the most expensive street-legal vehicles during their respective launch dates.

In essence, Rolls-Royce's Coachbuild vehicles are the pinnacle of Rolls-Royce, the upper echelon of the brand's already exclusive Bespoke Collective which produced the 1-of-1 Singaporean commissioned Phantom Orchid.

Only four examples of the Rolls-Royce Droptail will be made, and it's the brand's first modern iteration of a roadster with seating for two and reverse-hinged "suicide" doors. But the Droptail is a massive deviation from the brand's traditional four-seat chauffeur-driven vehicles.

This isn't a Rolls-Royce that one gets driven in. This is a Rolls-Royce that one drives.

The Droptail's proportions mirror that of the early Rolls-Royce roadsters that were the inspiration for this coach-built magnum opus — built for the modern era. Both the Pantheon Grille and Spirit of Ecstasy are swept back toward the bonnet, giving the car a sportier facade as opposed to the vertical imperiousness of the Phantom, Ghost or the Cullinan.

The Droptail's silhouette is also shapelier, with deep creases running along the sides and a bold shoulder line that culminates in an integrated rear spoiler. All Rolls-Royce Droptails have a removable hard top roof (that cannot be stowed within the car) with electrochromic glass to tint the cabin if the driver deems it necessary.

The aft "deck" itself doubles as both an aerodynamic element and an aesthetic one, tailored-made with wood inlays catering to the specific tastes of the four Droptail customers. But customisation happens to be Rolls-Royce's strong suit, given their Coachbuild customers' penchant for creating unique one-off automobiles.

The La Rose Noire commission

Inspired by the Black Baccara rose with its deep red and dark shades, the Droptail La Rose Noire commission is finished in True Love red, a colour that was developed after 150 iterations before the final hue was decided upon and painted on with five layers of clear lacquer.

On the inside, over 1,603 triangular pieces of hand-stained Black Sycamore wood are layered in a complex pattern intended to emulate falling rose petals. The rest of the cabin is sheathed in two shades of leather, aptly called "Dark Red Mystery" and "True Love".

The Amethyst commission

Named and painted after the birthstone of the customer's son, the Droptail Amethyst commission is inspired by the owner's fondness of haute horlogerie and gemstones (which stems from the customer's own beginnings of owning a gemstone boutique).

The exterior is finished in "Globe Amaranth" soft purple hues with silver undertones and deep purple Amethyst paint. The carbon fibre components on the Amethyst commission are also finished in amethyst-tinted lacquer.

As a reflection of the owner's love of horology, the vanes in the Pantheon grille feature both brushed and polished surfaces, akin to a watch's hour markers and hands. Several elements on the exterior and interior of the car are also inlaid with Amethyst gemstones.

The base of the Spirit of Ecstasy is hewn from amethyst and the climate control dials feature an amethyst stone each. Even the markers of the analogue gauges are inlaid with the purple gemstones, like you'd find on the dial of a timepiece.

Underneath all that extravagance, the Droptail is built atop a bespoke monocoque chassis constructed of a mix of steel, aluminium and carbon fibre. Rolls-Royce hasn't revealed the exact performance metrics of the Droptail commissions.

But we do know that each of the four coach-built cars will be powered by a twin-turbocharged 6.6-litre V12 that has been tuned to produce 30 more horsepower and a peak torque of 840Nm.

We'd presume that the Droptail receives the Rolls-Royce Dawn's powertrain which is typically good for 570hp/780Nm, which could mean that the Droptail has a peak output of 600Nm/840Nm.

Both existing Droptail commissions feature their own unique timepieces set in the dashboard veneer — removable, should the (no doubt) affluent customer choose to have it on hand about their person.

Rolls-Royce is certainly no stranger to the horological world, having collaborated with Bovet to develop bespoke timepieces for the three Rolls-Royce Boat Tail commissions which reportedly sold for an estimated S$38 million each (the car, not the timepiece). Rather predictably, the Droptail commissions continue in that vein.

On the dash of the La Rose Noire commission, nestled in a powered clasp sits a customised Audemars Piguet that is matched to the La Rose Noire's colour scheme. Specifically, the watch in question is a 43mm Royal Oak Concept Split-Seconds Chronograph GMT — with flyback chronograph, split seconds, GMT and date functions.

The watch typically retails for CHF 170,000, or S$260,000 in local currency, and Audemars Piguet will only make a limited number of these Royal Oaks each year. It all sounds extravagant, but the second Droptail commission takes it one step further.

In the case of the Amethyst Droptail, the patron has seen fit to affix a Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Armillary Tourbillon into the dashboard - set in a white gold base-plate with a hand-carved guilloche motif.

Like the AP in the La Rose Noire, this particular Vacheron Constantin is piece unique, colour matched to the Amethyst with a skeletonised dial that showcases the purple mainplate of VC's calibre 1990 movement. The timepiece can also be removed and rotated to showcase the complex tourbillion movement through its sapphire caseback.

Now some of you might start wondering about the price of the timepiece. Similar VC Armillary Tourbillons have been listed for roughly CHF 500,000, which is more than you'd have to fork out for a brand-new BMW i7.

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This article was first published in CarBuyer.