On the road

A BESPOKE MOTOR CAR LIKE NO OTHER

Motoring news from Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Lotus; road testing the McLaren 570S

ROLLS-ROYCE HAS UNVEILED A ONE-OFF BESPOKE MODEL at the Concorso d’Eleganza at Villa d’Este in Lake Como, christened “Sweptail”, a nod to the swept-tail from certain Rolls-Royces from the 1920s that the client of this bespoke model adored so much. “Sweptail is the automotive equivalent of haute couture,” said Giles Taylor, director of design at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “It is a Rolls-Royce designed and hand-tailored to fit a specific customer. This customer came to the House of Rolls-Royce with an idea, shared in the creative process where we advised him on his cloth, and then we tailored that cloth to him. The Sweptail is a most personal, coachbuilt Rolls-Royce for a specific customer, every aspect of the material treatment of Sweptail exudes handcrafted quality and exacting attention to detail. In short, it is a Rolls-Royce – but like no other before.” With details like an uninterrupted glass roof, one of the most complex ever made, the car was rumoured to cost US$12.8 million, with the owner said to be one of the marque’s most valued customers.