Rolls-Royce Arcadia Droptail, luxury without limits

How many things change in five years? If we think about 2019 today, it seems like another world: in the last five years the crisis, the war in Ukraine, inflation has arrived and the conflict in the Middle East has worsened to levels never seen before, just to mention the fact that many have changed our life.

FIVE YEARS OF LOVE IN DETAIL. Five years is also the time it took Rolls-Royce to build Arcadia, the third from one in a series of four from the Coachbuild Droptail project. Does five years seem like a long time to build a car, no matter how special it might be? Imagine that it took five months to assemble the watch alone, or that the wooden parts required 8,000 hours of work. It is therefore not surprising, given the reputation of the brand, that the price of this exclusive Rolls is close to 35 million euros: basically, like several Bugatti Chirons…

ENCLOSES THE BEAUTY OF THE WORLD. The name Arcadia refers to the region of ancient Greece, depicted in mythology as “Heaven on Earth”. The client who commissioned it wanted the car to represent a quiet space, a refuge from the wear and tear of daily routine. The designers therefore analyzed the design, sculpture and architecture of the client’s favorite places in the world, including modern tropical gardens of Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, or British “biomimetic” architecture. But beyond these hedonistic views, the client insisted on another fact: one of them had to be completely faithful to the first drawing, created in 2019.

LIKE A STAR, IT SHINES WITH ITS OWN LIGHT. Relaxation is detected directly from the external color, solid white infused with aluminum and glass particles which creates a glow when the light hits the bodywork as well as an illusion of depth in the painting. The carbon fiber used in the lower parts of the Droptail is painted silver. The customer was exactly he was fascinated by old Rolls-Roycesand it is mainly the vintage jewelry of the British brand that takes inspiration from them mask, wings of Spirit of Ecstasy and mirror polished alloy wheels.

VICTORY OF WOOD AND LEATHER. If on the outside the Arcadia Droptail celebrates the car’s shapes, on the inside the customer’s aesthetic is enhanced, with colors and materials that represent their personal taste. Wood was a key element and the client shared many examples of inspiration from architecture, housing and classic cars. The choice ultimately came down to Santos Straight Grain, due to its rich texture and the visual intrigue provided by the interlocking grain pattern. Due to its very thin grain, if this wood is not handled carefully, it splits easily during processing. To achieve the perfect design, the craftsmen at Rolls-Royce used 233 pieces of wood the whole car. Finally, the wood was covered special protective varnish which required extensive testing on samples before approval. In total, between the assembly and the protective coating, the processing of the wood alone required more than 8,000 hours of work. The inner skin has two specially developed shades, which take the customer’s name and are reserved for his use only. The main color is Bespoke White, a shade that reflects the color theme of the exterior, while the contrast is Bespoke Tan, made to match the wooden parts.

RECORD HOUR. The unique watch was incorporated in the Santos Straight Grain veneer band, made by the house’s designers and craftsmen, who created it. the hardest quadrant has never been made for Rolls-Royce: for its development it took more than two years and the meeting process took five months. The watch features a geometric design in raw steel with 119 parts, a non-random number considering that in 2023, the year the client saw his Arcadia for the first time, the brand turned 119.