Rolls-Royce Project Nightingale Coachbuild
In 1928, at the height of the Jazz Age, Henry Royce clothed two Phantom chassis in lightweight aluminum torpedo bodies, each with the intent to crack 90 mph. Project Nightingale channels that same audacity: a fully electric, open two-seat convertible the length of a Phantom and the first model from Rolls-Royce's new Coachbuild Collection. Limited to 100 hand-built examples at Goodwood and offered by invitation only, it draws its design language from Streamline Moderne, favoring sheer, monolithic volumes over ornament. The Pantheon grille spans nearly 40 inches across, appearing carved from solid stainless steel with 24 deeply recessed vanes, while matching polished bands run the full body length from the vertical headlamps to the tail lamps. The 24-inch wheels, the largest ever fitted to a Rolls-Royce, take their directional design from yacht propellers viewed from beneath the waterline. Inside, 10,500 lights form the Starlight Breeze suite, their constellation pattern drawn from the soundwave forms of an actual nightingale's song. The soft-top roof layers cashmere, fabric, and high-performance composites over near-silence, pairing with the electric drivetrain so effectively that during early prototype drives, designers could hear birdsong clearly at speed with the roof down. It's fitting, then, that the name comes from Le Rossignol, French for "the nightingale" and the designers' house at Henry Royce's Côte d'Azur estate. Testing begins this summer. Deliveries start in 2028.
