Roll up for your personalised Roller

AUSTRALIAN Rolls-Royce customers and prospects have been getting an insight into the possibilities for personalising their new Phantom or upcoming 2010 Ghost, direct from the factory’s exclusive Bespoke accessorising service.

Those possibilities, it seems, are almost endless. One can even have one’s own shade of paint mixed from the potential 45,000 colours and types on offer, and even have it named in one’s honour.

Want to colour-match your leather upholstery with your favourite shade of nail polish? No problem, madam. Like your initials monogrammed into the headrests, in the same colour as your favourite suit? Certainly, sir.

According to Rolls-Royce Bespoke, the ideas are only limited by the customer’s imagination and (not often) budget – plus safety and durability boundaries.

Bespoke (meaning ‘made to order’) interior design manager Gavin Hartley told GoAuto on a recent visit from the UK to Australia, where he and colleague Thomas Jefferson presented ideas to about 80 customers at special Bespoke events in Sydney and Melbourne, that one overseas customer had even ordered hot pink leather upholstery.

“We are not a sort of taste police,” he said. “Taste is different – different customers, different parts of the world.

Far left: Rolls-Royce Bespoke interior design manager Gavin Hartley. Left: Bespoke product and sales manager Thomas Jefferson. Below: Some of Bespoke's personal touches.



“The whole point of us being here is not for us to load on to the customer our view of how the car should look. That’s there in the standard range. We enable the customer to go that little bit further, a little bit more personal.”

Adds Mr Jefferson, the Bespoke product and sales manager: “We are the arbiter of quality and craftsmanship, but the customer is the arbiter of style. Style is a very personal thing.”

Fortunately, according to the men from Bespoke, Rolls-Royce customers are mindful of Rolls-Royce’s reputation for quality and style.

“People buying a Rolls-Royce are buying it because they want a Rolls-Royce, and they are not wanting to create something that looks a mess,” said Mr Hartley.

“They want something that reflects their personality and is a genuine Rolls-Royce. That’s why they come to us.

“They can buy a car and go to any after-market place, but they come to us because they know we are the experts on the car. There is a degree of sensitivity and understand from our customers which we appreciate.”

Many of the Bespoke modifications are simple matters of leather shade, unique wood trim, paint colour or extra high-end features, such as a high-quality crystal champagne-flute set and icebox built into the floor of boot.

Other examples include a boot lined in yacht-style mahogany decking, leather in place of the floor carpets and specially-coloured hood lining for the folding roof of the Drophead convertible.

However, all requests are filtered through a process to make sure they meet Rolls-Royce’s own build-quality and safety standards.

“With leathers and paint, there’s testing that goes on, and with experience we know what we can and can’t do,” Mr Hartley said.

“Things are developed into materials over an extended time with a lot of test work to make sure it is going to stand the test of time.

“In certain cases we will say we won’t do things. For example, we have been asked to do certain paint finishes where we have chosen not to do it because we don’t think that the quality will be enough.

“So we are not going to do things that compromise our quality standards. But generally we do our utmost to meet the customer request.”

The Middle-East is the biggest market for Rolls-Royce Bespoke, followed by Japan, and the fast up-and-coming markets of China and Russia.

However, Bespoke is eyeing Australia as a potential for strong growth – hence the managers’ visit to this country to not only plant the seed of ideas in customers’ heads but also learn what sort of personalisation Australian buyers might fancy.

A Rolls-Royce Ute? No one has asked for one yet.

“The major reason for us coming here is that a lot of people are just unaware of this level of discussion with a car company,” Mr Hartley said.

“They are used to seeing an expensive tick list, if you like, but it is very uncommon to approach a car company and say ‘I’d like you to do this for me’, something that isn’t on any list.” Mr Hartley said that while Rolls-Royce’s traditional craftsmen played a big part in hand-making many Bespoke additions, modern technology also played a part, allowing Rolls-Royce to improve the breed.

One item that had been developed in conjunction with engineers from Rolls-Royce owner BMW was a new wood veneer using multiple layers of natural wood interlaced with sheet aluminium for greater strength and reduced weight, without compromising the satisfying woody “thunk” of real wood when knocked.

The veneer can be personalised with any number of patterned inlays, like the finest furniture.

“We have fantastic wood-working experts at Goodwood, and they get a little bit offended if you ask them to veneer plastic,” Mr Harley said.

Rolls-Royce customers apparently are unconcerned that certain personalisation – such as monogrammed upholstery – is unlikely to do much for the car on the second-hand market.

Such customers, say the Bespoke managers, are buying the car for themselves – not the next owner. And according to Australia Rolls-Royce distributor Trivett Classic, many owners never part with their cars, anyway, preferring to keep them in the family.

Trivett’s sales team have also been brushing up on their Bespoke knowledge during the visit of UK managers, ready to advise Aussie customers on the ultimate accessories service.

And if you need to ask how much it costs, you probably can’t afford it.