Key for the Coachbuild Collection is to create cars that won’t just sit in garages, which is why the first car is a convertible. Harnett said: “This is not a show car. This is a car to drive.”
The production version of Project Nightingale has been sold to clients in the US, Europe and Asia in both left- and right-hand-drive guises. The range of owners is “diverse”, said Harnett, who added that “they are the real, real Rolls-Royce enthusiasts”.
While 100 examples of the car will be made, Harnett said future Coachbuild Collection projects could have production runs of varying sizes, although the aim is to keep them exclusive.
Unique design
Project Nightingale’s name is derived from Le Rossignol – French for ‘the nightingale’ – which was the name of a house used by Rolls designers, situated near co-founder Henry Royce’s winter estate on the Côte d’Azur in southern France.
The project was led by Coachbuild designer Jacobo Dominguez Ojea, a BMW Group stalwart of more than two decades who has previously worked on the exteriors of cars including the current-generation BMW 3 Series and 8 Series Gran Coupé.
“We realised very early on in the project that this was a once-in-a-lifetime model for Rolls-Royce,” he said.
Talking about taking design inspiration from the 17EX Torpedo, especially its long boat tail, he said: “We found that fascinating. The proportions: it had a very small cabin and this long tail, but of course [for Project Nightingale] we wanted to do something clearly modern, very bold and pure in its shape.”
He added: “From a side view, you see the presence that it has. It’s unique. There’s nothing like it with these proportions. It’s the length of a Phantom that’s just for two people.”
Opting for a convertible also fitted the project’s aim of creating a car that is “not just to go from point A to point B, but the experience of driving this car is the destination in itself”, said Ojea. “This car is about the wind in your hair. It’s about the feeling of openness, to feel and hear what’s around you.”
