Rolls-Royce Sweptail Is a One-Off, Throwback Beauty

Yachts and Rolls-Royces from the 1920s and 1930s inspired the design of the glass-roofed custom Sweptail.

Rolls-Royce isn’t exactly a high-volume manufacturer. In most parts of the world, you’re unlikely to see one of its vehicles on the road.

If you see the Rolls-Royce Sweptail while you’re out and about, consider yourself lucky. Rolls-Royce only made one of them — for an even luckier client.

The whole process started in 2013. The mysterious client has a penchant for rare and custom transportation, such as super-yachts and private aircraft, and wanted his bespoke Rolls-Royce to be no different. Vintage models from the 1920s and 1930s colored his vision. The finished car ended up incorporating styling cues from many of them, such as the larger-than-life scale and flamboyance of the 1925 Phantom I Round Door and the upswept rear (hence the name Sweptail) of the 1934 Phantom II Streamline Saloon by Park Ward.

Designers gave the Sweptail a solid aluminum, mirror-finish grille — the largest of any modern Rolls-Royce. That connects to a strip of brushed aluminum that frames the front end. Most of the Sweptail’s profile — including the wheels — looks similar to that of the Phantom Coupe, except, of course, for the dramatically raked back section. That’s a clear nod to the world of racing yachts. It’s all capped off with a large glass roof which Rolls-Royce calls “one of the largest and most complex ever seen on a motor car of any marque.”

Only the buyer and the passenger of their choice get to enjoy the two seats inside. Switchgear is minimal while polished Macassar Ebony veneer, open-pore Paldao, and light Moccasin and Dark Spice leathers are plentiful. A compartment in both doors can pop forward to provide the Sweptail’s owner easy access to his custom carbon fiber/leather attache case with aluminum and titanium hardware — the perfect match to the rest of his bespoke luggage.

CHECK OUT: What Forum Members Are Saying About This Beautiful One-off Rolls

The center console holds a hand-built, button-activated mechanism that presents the Sweptail’s owner with a chilled bottle of his favourite vintage champagne — from the year of his birth — and two crystal champagne flutes.

According to Rolls-Royce, “Behind the occupants, a feature named the Passarelle flows from the rear edge of the windscreen to resolve in a teardrop as it connects to the hat shelf to join all interior volumes. This element also includes the only visible presence of this singular motor car’s name as ‘Sweptail’ is discreetly debossed into the surface, exactly on the centre line.”

You can check out a gallery of Rolls-Royce Sweptail pictures below. As for seeing the car itself in the metal, good luck.

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Derek Shiekhi

Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.

After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.

While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.

Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.

In addition to writing for a variety of Internet Brands sites, including JK Forum and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Derek also contributes to other outlets. He started There Will Be Cars on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube to get even more automotive content out to fellow enthusiasts.

He can be reached at autoeditors@internetbrands.com.