Past inspires modern EV luxury
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has announced details of its Project Nightingale, the first Coachbuild Collection that will be limited to 100 vehicles worldwide.
The two-seater, open-top model will have a fully electric drivetrain and draws inspiration from high-speed experimental EX Rolls-Royces of the 1920s.
It is named after Le Rossignol, French for “the nightingale” and the name of the designers’ and engineers’ house near Henry Royce’s winter home on the Cote d’Azur, France.
Only 100 units will be created for sale, each coach-built by hand at the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood in the UK.
The luxury marque says Coachbuild designers have used three principles to directly inform Project Nightingale. These are “Upright to flowing”, the Pantheon Grille’s vertical gesture transitioning into a long, graceful rear; “central fuselage”, defined by a single unbroken hull line running from front to rear; and “flying wings”, sculptural volumes that create tension across the overall form and pull the eye towards the rear.
Measuring 5.76 metres long, Project Nightingale has a “torpedo-shaped design” and is almost the same length as the marque’s flagship saloon, Phantom.
At the outermost edge of the wing are vertically orientated headlamp assemblies that are emphasised with polished stainless-steel bands that run the length of the car to the tail lamps.
The bonnet gives way to a raked windscreen, framed on each side by a stainless-steel form housing a quarterlight window.
Project Nightingale has 24-inch wheels, the largest fitted to a Rolls-Royce, and the surface includes subtle, machined stripes to create the impression of wire wheel spokes when moving at speed.
Other notable features include a Piano Boot, which opens sideways on a cantilever, and a single longitudinal brake lamp.
On the inside is a Starlight Breeze suite, an illumination comprising 10,500 individual “stars” that extends from the front of each door around the driver and companion’s seat.
The leather of the door card is overlaid as a raised section recalling a finely crafted saddle and this motif continues through the centre console in a leather-covered saddle armrest.
A concealed armrest compartment for personal items boasts polished individual aluminium cupholders, and a hidden shelf behind the seats incorporates space for hand luggage.
As Project Nightingale progresses through its global testing and development programme, Rolls-Royce says it will share further details of the car and its engineering.
Entry to the Coachbuild Collection programme is by invitation only and client deliveries are due to start from 2028.
Chris Brownridge, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars chief executive, says: “Some of the most discerning Rolls-Royce clients in the world asked us for our most ambitious work.
“We responded by bringing three things together that have never coexisted within our brand: the complete design freedom of coachbuilding, our powerful, near-silent all-electric powertrain, and a uniquely potent yet serene expression of open-top motoring – an experience that only this technology makes possible.”
