Rolls-Royce has unveiled Project Nightingale, its most ambitious car to date, and the first model in an entirely new tier of ownership called the Coachbuild Collection. It is fully electric, open-top, seats two people, and measures 5.76 metres from end to end, making it as long as the flagship Phantom saloon. Every one of its 100 production slots is already allocated.
The name traces back to the company's own history. Project Nightingale takes its name from Le Rossignol, French for "the nightingale," the house near Henry Royce's winter residence on the Côte d'Azur where his designers and engineers lived. That connection informs the car's colour and character throughout. The reveal example wears Côte d'Azur Blue, a pale solid blue with subtle red flakes, paired with a silver soft top and an interior in Charles Blue, Grace White, and Navy with Peony Pink accents.
The design department drew from a specific period. Project Nightingale draws inspiration from Rolls-Royce's red-badged experimental prototypes of the 1920s, particularly the 16EX and 17EX, considered among the rarest and most desirable motor cars in the company's history. The broader aesthetic is Streamline Moderne, the precision-driven branch of Art Deco that favours uninterrupted surface over ornament.
The front end benefits directly from the electric powertrain. With no large cooling intakes required, the area between the wings and the Pantheon Grille presents uninterrupted surfacing. The grille measures nearly one metre wide, with 24 vanes set within a stainless-steel surround. The Spirit of Ecstasy is recessed into the grille's upper section, its form flowing rearward into the bonnet as a single continuous gesture.
At the rear, the boot opens sideways, like the lid of a grand piano, with a vertical brake light mounted directly onto the boot lid and two slim vertical tail-lamps on the sides of the rear fascia. Rolls-Royce calls it the Piano Boot. The 24-inch wheels are inspired by yacht propellers viewed from beneath the waterline, forms designed to appear in continuous motion even when stationary.
Inside, the cabin wraps around its two occupants in soft pastel leather with open-pore blackwood trim arranged in a V-form. The centrepiece is the lighting. The Starlight Breeze ambient lighting system uses 10,500 LEDs to display patterns based on the sound waves of nightingale calls. Each light point differs in size, and the overall effect shifts as the car moves.
A motorised centre armrest moves back when the door opens to reveal a Spirit of Ecstasy rotary dial, with a further button allowing the armrest to slide deeper to uncover a storage area. Controls are deliberately minimal, reduced to five rotary dials in what appear to be precious metal finishes.
The roof uses sound-deadening composites layered with cashmere and fabric. Rolls-Royce considered building the car as a speedster without a roof at all, but concluded the soft top made it genuinely usable across more conditions.
The powertrain shares its platform with the Spectre, Rolls-Royce's first production EV launched in 2023. Full technical specifications, including power output and range, have not yet been disclosed. Testing will begin this summer ahead of first deliveries in 2028. Rolls-Royce claims the car is 99% production ready.
The Coachbuild Collection sits in a deliberate gap in the brand's lineup. It sits between the series-production one-offs, such as last year's Phantom Goldfinger, and the ultra-exclusive full Coachbuild models such as the three-off £20 million Boat Tail from 2021. Future Coachbuild Collection models will follow every two to three years, with varying production numbers each time.
Pricing has not been formally announced. Autocar reports the figure starting from around £7 million, with customisation costs pushing individual examples considerably higher. The clients are already chosen.
CEO Chris Brownridge described the brief plainly: "Some of the most discerning Rolls-Royce clients in the world asked us for our most ambitious work."
A car that long, that quiet, for two people only, sold before anyone outside of Goodwood had seen it. Rolls-Royce found its audience before it unveiled the car.
Sources: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars · Autocar · Top Gear · New Atlas · The EV Report · Wallpaper · Interesting Engineering · Destination Charged
