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A series of three Bespoke-designed Phantoms and a new 'Aero Cowling' for the Dawn drop-head are the star cars on Rolls-Royce's Geneva Motor Show stand this year.
There's a standard-wheelbase Phantom, called 'The Gentleman's Tourer', commissioned by a R-R customer, as well as two long-wheelbase Phantoms which have been commissioned with completely one-off, artist-designed Galleries - which is the full-width expanse of toughened glass that forms the Roller's main fascia.
Starting with The Gentleman's Tourer, it harks back to the 1930s and the four-door, short-wheelbase Phantom II Continental Saloons, which were always designed to be driven for long distances by their owners - be that across Europe or the United States. The owner of the present-day Phantom is trying to replicate that spirit, with an exterior and interior designed for endurance rather than show. So the bodywork is finished in unique Iced Gunmetal with a satin silver bonnet, this looks supposed to evoke 'cutting-edge military technology' in the form of high-performance aircraft, while the 22-inch alloy wheel centres are also Iced Gunmetal.
Inside, Black, Selby Grey and Anthracite leathers form a bold, darker interior, with Spirit of Ecstasy graphics embossed into the door panels. There's a silver pinstripe across the Piano Black veneer and the crowning glory is a Cascade Steel Gallery for the dashboard that's made out of ruthenium, an extremely rare metal from the platinum group, of which just 20 tonnes per annum is mined worldwide - when, each year, mankind extracts 2,500 tonnes of gold from the Earth.
Moving on to the long-wheelbase Phantoms, these are called Whispered Muse and A Moment In Time. The first is by London-based designed Helen Amy Murray and the Rolls-Royce's Gallery features a design which 'reinterprets Charles Sykes' original drawings for the much-revered Spirit of Ecstasy'. Murray used silk and rose gold for much of the design, resulting in the first-ever rose gold Spirit of Ecstasy figurine at the prow of the Phantom, and the artist said of her design: "I was inspired by the ethereal quality of the illustrations of The Spirit of Ecstasy by Charles Sykes. They led me to incorporate the female form into my work; I wanted my Gallery commission to look soft and organic. The subtle spacing of lines brings the draped figure into perspective."
The Blue Crystal over Milori Sapphire Bespoke-finished Phantom LWB is A Moment In Time, which uses the Gallery to imagine what the Spirit of Ecstasy's shawl might look like if draped over the car at high speed. To that end, the Based Upon Collective in London worked on this one and, to create the interior look, pulled a sheet of silk through a tank of water, with the material weight and suspended to capture its movements on camera. From that, the fluid form was analysed by the Rolls-Royce Design team and Based Upon, worked into a wax sculpture until it looked right, and then machined from a solid billet of aluminium for the final in-car feature.
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Moving on from the Phantoms, the Dawn Aero Cowling is an extended tonneau cover that turns the grandest of open-top grand-tourers into a 'two-seater, roadster-style motor car'. The Aero Cowling encloses the rear-seat area of the Dawn with a hand-made carbon fibre and aluminium unit featuring two leather-clad cowls that rise from the leading edge of the tonneau cover - where the Dawn's hood is stored - to behind each of the front seats. The cowls are aerodynamically optimised to maximise occupant comfort and they feature leather-lined storage compartments for the stowing of personal effects.