During a late afternoon this past October in Goodwood, England, at an airfield that was formerly a staging ground for the Royal Air force during World War II, a massive hangar was shrouded in mystery and redolent with a sense of anticipation. The relatively small, international group allowed through security, including Robb Report, had already signed non-disclosure agreements and knew that photography was verboten.
It was as if the attendees had travelled back in time to the early 1940s and given clearance to learn of a new secret weapon. In many ways, that was precisely what was happening. On that day, however, as the interior’s darkness surrendered to moody atmospheric light, what was showcased had been developed to combat the homogeneity defining much of the current automotive market, while returning the motor car to the status of statement piece. It’s a charge that Rolls-Royce has been leading for the last 122 years. Now that the marque has declassified the model, its finally time to share what we witnessed—Rolls-Royce’s Project Nightingale concept.
Project Nightingale, Rolls-Royce’s all-electric convertible concept, will begin deliveries as a limited-edition production model in 2028.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Since the automaker ceased production of its popular Dawn model in 2023, its lineup has been missing a convertible. But this concept is not a reimagined resurrection of Goodwood’s best-selling roadster to date, as the all-electric two-seat droptop is approximately the same dimensions as the flagship Phantom, but very much its own take on the marque’s Architecture of Luxury spaceframe chassis. As for the power-train configuration and other engineering information, that will be disclosed by Rolls-Royce at a later date.
Nightingale also introduces Rolls-Royce’s Coachbuild Collection, a new line of limited-production models that, as with Project Nightingale, will be uniquely designed and developed for a select number of patrons. Highly valued clients already, each will have been personally invited by Rolls-Royce to be a prospective owner. In the case of Project Nightingale, that number is constrained by the fact that only 100 examples of the commanding convertible will be built. Although the price has not been made public, it has been announced that deliveries of the production version will commence in 2028.
Highly valued clients have been personally invited by Rolls-Royce to be prospective owners of the production version.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
“We have our series motor cars, so Phantom, Spectre, Ghost, and Cullinan. We then have private collections . . . that stimulates clients to build their commissions, but that’s within the series cars,” Chris Brown, global C.E.O. of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, explains to Robb Report. “Now we have the next story of the building, which is Coachbuild. At the top, it’s one of one, and underneath that, it’s where we show you what we can produce.” The latter is what Project Nightingale premieres.
The car’s most eye-catching feature is arguably its tapered posterior.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
The moniker harkens back to Henry Royce’s enclave in the French Riviera, specifically the residence where his designers would stay, which was known as Le Rossignol, translated as “nightingale.” According to the marque, the vehicle takes inspiration from what’s referred to in its press release as the “high-speed experimental ‘EX’ Rolls-Royces of the 1920s,” especially the singular 16EX and 17EX of the period. Homage is paid in Nightingale’s blue exterior paint scheme that contains red particulate, the latter color being used in the badging of the EX cars of yore—a tradition that carries through to this concept’s badging as well.
Project Nightingale, measuring 18.9 feet in length, features a prominent front end brandishing the famed Pantheon grille—a signature of Rolls—that spans nearly three feet in width and is bookended by extremely distinctive, vertical slivers of illumination that comprise the headlights. Anchoring the anterior is a carbon-fiber apron accented by chrome. As the press release states, “A single hull line runs continuously along Project Nightingale from front to rear, inspired by the line that separates a yacht’s hull from its superstructure.”
A total of 10,500 lights subtly but stunningly envelop the cabin.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
The car’s most eye-catching feature is arguably its tapered posterior. The body styling behind the occupants is reminiscent of last century’s striking nautical aesthetic incorporated into what have become coveted collector cars today, and which has been seen more recently in the appropriately named Rolls-Royce Boat Tail one-off from 2021. Not noticeable at first, but equally captivating, is what Rolls calls the Piano Boot—the cantilevered trunk lid that opens to the side like, well, the top of a piano. Further enhancing the vehicle’s already imposing yet compelling presence are 24-inch wheels—the biggest any Rolls has rolled on—showcasing a visual dynamic suggestive of jet turbines, or, as Rolls-Royce cites, “propellers of a yacht.”
The interior is dressed in upholstery of Charles Blue complemented by the colors Grace White, Deep Navy, and Peony Pink, as well trim of open-pore Blackwood.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Unlike the Dawn, which has room for four, the interior of Project Nightingale fits only two, but in baronial fashion. According to the marque, its designers listened to the actual songs of the model’s namesake bird and then made a creative interpretation of the sound waves. The result is the Starlight Breeze feature, which comprises 10,500 lights that subtly but stunningly envelop the cabin.
Initially hidden, the rotary controller—emblazoned with the Spirit of Ecstasy icon—is revealed when the armrest retracts upon entry. Activated by a button, the armrest slides further back to present a compartment for storing valuables, while a small luggage set will fit behind the occupants by way of another concealed space. The interior is dressed in upholstery of Charles Blue complemented by the colors Grace White, Deep Navy, and Peony Pink, as well trim of open-pore Blackwood. Capping it all off, literally, is a retractable soft-top roof comprised partially of cashmere.
Further enhancing the vehicle’s already imposing yet compelling presence are 24-inch wheels.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
The marque’s director of design, Domagoj Dukec, tells us that the goal was “a real car that is mind blowing.” Dukec adds that “it’s not just the shape you see; that’s one thing . . . we have to make sure, when you want to create a new business, that you design the experience behind,” mentioning too that the car “also has to be [a] brand shaper.”
To that end, the Coachbuild Collection will also include numerous opportunities for owners to partake in curated travel that ties into each model’s theme. To better facilitate this new line, Rolls-Royce is embarking on a major expansion at its headquarters in Goodwood. With an estimated cost of well over $405 million, it will include an approximately 430,500-square-foot building set to be finished in 2029.
The retractable soft-top roof is comprised partially of cashmere.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
In light of the new Coachbulid Collection, we asked Brown how Rolls-Royce balances embracing its legacy with looking ahead. “We are a luxury brand, and therefore it is very important that we respect our heritage. But that doesn’t mean we keep building things that talk to the heritage,” he tells us. “We also need to innovate and speak to the future as well. And I think Nightingale is a perfect example of that.”
Click here for more photos of Rolls-Royce’s Project Nightingale concept.
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Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Authors
Viju Mathew
Shifting gears from his degree in physical geography, Viju Mathew has spent the last decade covering most categories of the luxury market prior to becoming Robb Report’s automotive editor. Along with…
