Car Enthusiast - click here to access the home page


 


Rolls-Royce reveals latest Collection car. Image by Rolls-Royce.

Rolls-Royce reveals latest Collection car
Phantom Drophead Coupé Waterspeed pays tribute to Sir Malcolm Campbell.
<< earlier Rolls-Royce article     later Rolls-Royce article >>

 


News homepage -> Rolls-Royce news

What's the news?

If you watched that documentary on Channel 4 recently called Inside Rolls-Royce - and managed not to throw something through the TV every time that peevish Scottish bloke sent the poor jeweller away to keep working on his 'substandard' bit of dashboard trim - you'll know all about the Rolls-Royce Collection cars. And, following on from the jaw-dropping Celestial of 2013 that was featured in the show, here we have the Phantom Drophead Coupé Waterspeed Collection.

The new model gets its first showing this week at an exclusive preview event for press and customers on the site of the original Bluebird Motor Company (BMC) - now the Bluebird Restaurant - on the King's Road in London. BMC was a business that would fund Sir Malcolm Campbell's battle to wrest the water speed record from its American holders, thus providing the link to the Collection car's name.

It will then move on to the Concorso D'Eleganza at Villa D'Este on the shores of Italy's Lake Como for its first public unveiling. And the relevance here? Well, aside from the whole elegance theme, Campbell set his world record of 126.33mph on adjacent Lake Maggiore on September 1, 1937 - in the Bluebird K3, powered by a Rolls-Royce R engine.

Exterior

The exterior is Maggiore Blue, which connects both to the lake the record was set on and the Bluebird's colour scheme. There are nine layers of paint, which are then hand-sanded and finished with a powdered lacquer. Not only that, the colour even extends to the cylinder heads of the engine and the polished 11-spoke alloys. There's a hand-painted coachline with a Bluebird motif that takes four hours to apply by RR's master... er, coachline painter. And the Drophead's teak decking rear has been replaced with individually, hand panel-beaten steel that takes 70 hours of shaping, before an RR craftsperson hand-brushes the metal for more than ten hours. This is very exacting stuff.

Interior

The exterior hue is echoed within by accents on the dashboard and the two-tone steering wheel with Maggiore Blue details. The leather is named Windchill Grey, there are armrest tunnel caps with a new interpretation of the famous Bluebird motif in the doors (the armrests alone take eight hours to complete), Abachi wood - a timber made of a West African tropical tree, that has been utilised by Fender Japan to make limited edition guitars - debuts in a Rolls in the Waterspeed, and it is bookmatched (look it up) so that it looks like the wake left by a boat at speed.

Further reference to Campbell's craft is made via a new version of the famous 'power reserve' dial. The more you demand of the Phantom Drophead's V12, the more the dial moves back towards a yellow and blue zone - Campbell's K3 was said to be 'going into the blue' at maximum engine revs. There's also a bespoke front-lit clock featuring the Bluebird's infinity symbol and dials hewn from aluminium billet. Inside the glovebox is a hand-embroidered panel with the records Campbell set both at Maggiore and later on Coniston Water.

Anything else?

There will be just 35 Waterspeeds built, at a cost of £435,000 each - £82,000 more than the standard machine. Still, there are only two left to shift. It's powered by the same 6.75-litre V12 as well, with 459hp and 720Nm.



Matt Robinson - 14 May 2014

Earlier articles featuring 2014 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé

2014-04-04: Waterspeed special inspected by Sir Malcolm's family
2014-02-10: Rolls celebrates Campbell's record


2014 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe Waterspeed Collection. Image by Rolls-Royce.2014 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe Waterspeed Collection. Image by Rolls-Royce.2014 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe Waterspeed Collection. Image by Rolls-Royce.2014 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe Waterspeed Collection. Image by Rolls-Royce.2014 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe Waterspeed Collection. Image by Rolls-Royce.

2014 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe Waterspeed Collection. Image by Rolls-Royce.2014 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe Waterspeed Collection. Image by Rolls-Royce.   








www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com    - Rolls-Royce road tests
- Rolls-Royce news
- Phantom Drophead Coupé images






Rolls-Royce reveals new Arcadia Droptail. Image by Rolls-Royce.
Rolls-Royce reveals Arcadia Droptail
The one-off coachbuilt droptail model will be presented to its commissioning client in Singapore.
 
Rolls waves off the Wraith with Black Arrow. Image by Rolls-Royce.
Rolls-Royce Wraith Black Arrow
Final Wraith coupe edition pays homage to Thunderbolt land speed record car.
Rolls-Royce Spectre is company’s first EV. Image by Rolls-Royce.
Rolls-Royce Spectre EV revealed
First electric Rolls-Royce weighs nearly three tons but can very luxuriously hit 60mph in 4.4 seconds.

 
 215 Racing
 9ff
 A. Kahn Design
 Abarth
 Abt
 AC Cars
 AC Schnitzer
 Acura
 Aehra
 AIM
 Alfa Romeo
 Alpina
 Alpine
 Amari
 APS Sportec
 Arash
 Arden
 Ares
 Ariel
 Arrinera
 Artega
 Ascari
 Aston Martin
 Atalanta
 Atomik
 Audi
 Austin
 Auto Union
 Autodelta
 Autofarm
 Autosport
 AVA
 Avatar
 Axon
 Aznom
 BAC
 BAIC
 Bentley
 Bertone
 Bizzarrini
 Bloodhound
 Bluebird
 BMW
 Bosch
 Bowler
 Brabham
 Brabus
 Breckland
 Bridgestone
 Brilliance
 Bristol
 Bugatti
 Buick
 Burton
 BYD
 Cadillac
 Callaway
 Callum
 Caparo
 Capstone
 Carlsson
 Caterham
 CCG
 Chang'an
 Changfeng
 Chevrolet
 Chevron
 Chongfeng
 Chrysler
 Citroen
 Climax
 Connaught
 Cooper Tires
 Corvette
 Cummins
 Cupra
 Dacia
 Daewoo
 Daihatsu
 Daimler
 Dartz
 Datsun
 David Brown
 David Brown Automotive
 DDR
 De Tomaso
 Delta
 Detroit Electric
 Devon
 Dodge
 Donkervoort
 Drayson
 DS
 Eagle
 Eagle E-type
 EDAG
 edo competition
 Eterniti
 Everrati
 Evisol
 Exagon
 FAB Design

 
 Factory Five
 Faralli & Mazzanti
 Fenix
 Fenomenon
 Ferrari
 Fiat
 Fisker
 Ford
 G-Power
 Geely
 Gemballa
 General Motors
 Genesis
 Ginetta
 Giugiaro
 Glickenhaus
 GMC
 Goodwood
 Google
 Gordon Murray
 Gordon Murray Automotive
 Gordon Murray Design
 Gray Design
 Great Wall
 GTA
 GTM
 Gumpert
 Hamann
 Hartge
 HBH
 Heffner Performance
 Hennessey
 HERE
 HiPhi
 Holden
 Honda
 Hulme
 Hummer
 Hyundai
 I.D.E.A
 Icona
 IFR
 Infiniti
 Ionity
 Isis
 JAC
 Jaguar
 Jeep
 Jensen
 Jetstream
 JJAD
 Joss Developments
 Kahn
 Kamala
 Keating
 Kia
 Koenigsegg
 KTM
 Kumho
 Lada
 Lagonda
 Lamborghini
 Lancia
 Land Rover
 Lexus
 Liberty
 Lightning
 Lincoln
 Lister
 Loma Performance
 Lorinser
 Lotus
 LupiniPower
 Luxgen
 Mahindra
 Mansory
 Maserati
 Mastretta
 Maybach
 Mazda
 McLaren
 Mercedes
 Mercedes-AMG
 Mercedes-Benz
 Mercedes-Maybach
 Mercury
 Metrocab
 MG
 Michelin
 MINI
 Mitsubishi
 MMI
 Monte Carlo
 Mopar
 Morgan
 Mosler
 MTM
 Munro
 NAC MG
 Nichols Cars
 Nissan
 NLV

 
 Noble
 Novitec
 Opel
 Overfinch
 Pagani
 Perodua
 Peugeot
 Piaggio
 Pininfarina
 Polestar
 Pontiac
 Porsche
 Praga
 Preview
 Prodrive
 Project Runningblade
 Project Velocity
 Proton
 Protoscar
 Qoros
 Radical
 Range Rover
 Red Bull
 Renault
 Reva
 Rimac
 Rinspeed
 RoadRazer
 Rolls-Royce
 Ronn Motor Company
 Rover
 RUF
 Saab
 SAIC
 Saleen
 Saturn
 Scagliarini
 SCG
 Scion
 SDR Sportscars
 SEAT
 Sin
 Singer
 Skoda
 Smart
 Soleil
 Spada
 speedArt
 Sportec
 Spyker
 SRT
 Ssangyong
 SSC
 Startech
 STaSIS
 Subaru
 Suzuki
 Suzusho
 TAD
 Tamiya
 Tata
 Techart
 Tesla
 The Little Car Company
 THINK
 Thunder Power
 Tojeiro
 Tommy Kaira
 TomTom
 Toray
 Toyota
 Trabant
 TranStar
 Trident
 Tushek
 TVR
 UKCOTY
 Vanda Electrics
 Vauxhall
 Velozzi
 Vencer
 Venturi
 Veritas
 Vizualtech
 VL Automotive
 Volkswagen
 Volvo
 VUHL
 WCA
 WCotY
 Webasto
 Westfield
 Wiesmann
 Xenatec
 Yamaha
 Zagato
 Zarooq
 Zeekr
 Zenos
 Zenvo



 
 






External links:   | Irish Car Market News |

Internal links:   | Home | Privacy | Contact us | Archives | Old motor show reports | Follow Car Enthusiast on Twitter | Copyright 1999-2024 ©