The Second $28 Million Rolls-Royce Boat Tail Is Inspired By The Mother Of Pearl

Rolls-Royce presented the second example of the Boat Tail coachbuilt project, one day prior to its public unveiling at the 2022 Concorso d’Eleganza, Villa d’Este, on May 21, in Italy.

This Boat Tail was created for a special client as a homage to his father and family history, with a design inspired by the mother of pearl. Note that this is the last Boat Tail we get to see following the first one from 2021, since the owner of the third example requested to keep it confidential. While Rolls Royce hasn’t disclosed how much the second Boat Tail cost, all three are believed to be priced around the same $28 million mark.

The hand-built nature of the unique Rolls Royce convertible gives designers the freedom to explore greater customization options in collaboration with the customer. While the Phantom-derived aluminium platform, the 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12, and the aluminium body panels remain identical to the first Boat Tail, the second example has an entirely different specification.

Rolls-Royce didn’t reveal the identity of the client but said that he is an established patron of the arts with a “sizeable collection of classics and modern cars housed in a dedicated private museum”. The “mother of pearl” theme was chosen as a tribute to his revered father’s origins in the pearling industry.

The process started with a selection of four pearl shells from the client’s private collection, providing inspiration for the designers. As a result, the exterior shade is one of the most complex bespoke finishes ever created by Rolls-Royce. Us peasants would call it a beautiful light pink that changes its color depth and appearance depending on the lighting conditions. However, Rolls-Royce did a better job in describing the unique paint as “a shimmering blend of oyster and soft rose, with large white and bronze mica flakes adding a unique pearlescent quality that changes subtly under different light conditions”.

The Pantheon Grille surround and the bonnet of the Boat Tail are painted in a contrasting cognac shade, matching the interior. However, this is not your average cognac paint since it has been embedded with “bronze and gold coloured aluminium mica flakes” and covered by “a layer of crystal and iced matt clear coat”. Finally, what seems like carbon fiber for the lower part of the vehicle is “technical fiber” with a “rose gold woven thread”, matching the rose gold Spirit of Ecstasy.

Moving over at the back, the rear deck retains its butterfly design and the carbon-fiber stools of the original, but instead of the open-pore Caleidolegno veneer used in the first Boat Tail, this owner personally chose a warmer Royal Walnut veneer featuring “gold-plated pinstripes with a satin-brushed finish”. As time goes by, the veneer will mature, getting closer to the cognac color of the bonnet.

Inside the cabin we find a combination of cognac and oyster shades for the fine leather, with more of the Royal Walnut veneer and rose gold accents. The mother of pearl has been applied on switchgear, inside the instrument cluster and the timepiece mounted on the dashboard. The latter comes from the client’s own collection so we guess he won’t be selling the car in the near future.

Interestingly, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Rolls-Royce CEO, described the coachbuilding process as the “haute couture” of the automotive industry, just a few days after rival brand Mercedes-Maybach used the same term for the name of its most special S-Class yet. Still, Maybach has a long way to go before it comes close to the exclusive nature of the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail.