Rolls-Royce’s newest pinnacle of luxury is called the Sweptail

Carrying a stratospheric price tag—over €11 million—it is the culmination of four years of meticulous work. This one-off model offers a modern reinterpretation of the early twentieth-century Rolls-Royce and is rumoured to have been commissioned by a secretive, ultra-wealthy patron. The result? The most expensive car ever sold, a distinction that alone confers legendary status.

The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este is nothing short of a visual feast. As the premier event for historic and concept automobiles, it showcases the world’s most prestigious marques across eight traditional classes. In 2019, the concours celebrated its 90th edition—coinciding with BMW’s own 90th birthday. Under the theme “The Symphony of Engines,” the festival paid homage to the thunderous allure of high-performance machines, and it was within this storied setting, albeit in an earlier year, that the Sweptail made its debut.

Gyles Taylor, Head of Rolls-Royce Bespoke, recalls how the client—a discerning aficionado of the marque and collector of one-off creations from superyachts to private jets—oversaw every facet of design and refinement, leaving his personal imprint on each detail.

Styled as a two-seat coupé with yacht-like fairings, the Sweptail dispenses with rear seats, replacing them with a polished wooden deck for luggage. A full-length panoramic glass roof floods the cabin—clad entirely in ebony and hand-stitched leather—with natural light. The bespoke interior palettes are known as “Moccasin” and “Dark Space.”

Beneath the sweeping wood and leather surfaces, a dashboard clock forged from Macassar ebony and titanium serves as a masterstroke of craftsmanship. Even more ingenious are two concealed storage spaces: one within the door jamb, complete with custom leather pouches for laptops and other gadgets; the other nestled in the center console, the perfect hiding place for champagne and its crystal flutes.

Forget the Phantom I Round-Door by Jonckheere, the Phantom II Streamline Saloon by Park Ward, the Gurney-Nutting Phantom II Two-Door Light Saloon and the Park Ward 20/25 Limousine Coupé—the Sweptail transcends them all. It honors the past with one hand while gazing into the future with the other. Its front-end silhouette is defined by a grille surround machined from a single aluminum billet and hand-polished to a mirror finish. From nose to tail, the bodywork is reimagined, culminating in a fastback roofline that seamlessly extends into the rear deck for enhanced aerodynamics.

The Sweptail’s presence eclipses that of any modern Rolls-Royce. Its aluminum grille frame, buffed to a brilliant shine and bordered by brushed aluminum, stands as a testament to its hand-crafted, made-to-measure ethos.

“It was a dream that wasn’t driven by price,” explains Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO of Rolls-Royce, “…but by pure imagination!” Such unwavering ambition means the Sweptail was merely the opening act. Success, it seems, only whets the appetite for new horizons. The plan to create an ongoing series of equally groundbreaking, high-prestige vehicles for the select few with limitless means is no longer just a vision—it’s the blueprint for the future.