Rolls-Royce Droptail is the world's most expensive new car

Inspired by some of the finest models from the marque’s pre-war era, the Droptrail is billed by Rolls-Royce as the first roadster of its modern era. Sitting under the elegant tapering roadster bodywork is a highly bespoke monocoque comprised of aluminium, carbon and steel. It would have been cheaper to use the underpinnings of the discontinued Dawn, but then that wouldn’t be very Rolls-Royce.

Indeed, in spite of using a twin-turbo V12 and being an open-top, that’s where the similarities between the Droptail and Dawn end. For a start, the Droptail is a two-seat roadster with a shorter wheelbase. It also features a removable hard top, rather than a folding soft-top.

In terms of the design, there’s a definite imperiousness that it shares with the Phantom up front, only sleeker and more elegant. The whole thing is bespoke, including those lights, the pantheon grille and the composite lower valance. Present and correct are the rearward-opening suicide doors.

Moving rearward, there is very little to be seen from any other Rolls-Royce, especially in that tapering tush. Droptail indeed. We do spy vertical blade-like lights that could be shared in some way with the Spectre, but that’s it. In the middle… is that a spoiler we see? There’s certainly something of a wing sweeping across behind the rear deck, between where the buttresses flow down onto the rear haunches.

Behind the front seats, an artistic sculpted surfaces with the dominant panelling feature scattered red triangles, bleeding down into the centre. Rolls-Royce calls the cabin an ‘artwork’, with inspiration for the motif coming from the Black Baccara rose, the 533 triangles representing scattering petals. Underneath them, Black Sycamore wood triangle pieces, with each veneer coming from disparate logs with different ‘figure’ patterning. That curved form continues around into the door panel on both sides of the car. The trim features on the dash, while ‘true love’ red leather adorns the seats and the rest of the cabin.

This sumptuous cabin is topped off by a specially-commissioned clock, that is, a Royal Oak Concept Split-Seconds Chronograph GMT Large Date timepiece, featuring a 4408 movement. The commissioners demanded it be removable and wearable, but also seamlessly integrated into the car. We appreciate the analogue dials and hideaway infotainment too – timeless. 

Powering the Droptail? As above, the V12 lives on, with Rolls-Royce hesitant to have an EV form the basis of such coach builds just yet. A familiar 6.75 litres and two turbochargers work together to produce 600PS (441kW) and 841Nm (620lb ft), plowing this stunning ingot of oppulence to crack 62mph in five seconds, on the way to a 155mph limited top speed.