Hand-built, the cars were commissioned and crafted with personal input of the different British rock and pop legends to reflect their illustrious careers.
From fashion and music to art and nature, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has drawn inspiration from every imaginable corner of the world to create its next one-of-a-kind vehicular wonder. This year, it is tempting fans of classic British music with a series of new Wraiths.
The carmaker has collaborated with 6 British rock and vocal legends – The Who frontman Roger Daltrey, Sir Ray Davies of The Kinks, Giles Martin, son of songwriter and producer Sir George Martin, Dame Shirley Bassey, Francis Rossi OBE of Status Quo and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones – for a collection of nine remarkable Wraith ‘Inspired by British Music’ cars.
Each hand-built, the cars were commissioned and crafted to uniquely reflect the illustrious careers of the different British rock and pop legends. Each were personally invited to the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, England, where the in-house designers worked closely with each name to conceive a deeply personal expression of their music legacies.
The result: a highly bespoke series of Wraith motor cars that are the ultimate collector’s item for the most ardent fans of each artist, with special features like a reproduction of The Who’s ‘Tommy’s’ album famous cover-art on one of the bonnets and Sir George Martin’s number one records embroidered onto the Wraith’s signature waterfall. There are also door-flights engraved with hand-written lyrics and more.
Roger Daltrey CBE – celebrating The Who
The Who’s lead singer and frontman, Roger Daltrey CBE, committed to creating two cars for the project. The first is inspired by his own personal music legacy, and features elegantly expressed pieces of iconography from The Who’s history. Design motifs on his The Who-inspired Wraith include the band’s famous ‘bullseye’ logo, adorning the face of the dashboard clock and stitched into the leather ‘waterfall’ between the two rear seats. The two copper door flights are engraved with famous lyrics from the band’s 1972 singles ‘Join Together’ and ‘I Can See for Miles’, from the 1967 album ‘The Who Sell Out’. (swipe left for more)
‘Tommy’ (1969)
The second of Roger Daltrey CBE’s cars has been created in collaboration with Mike McInnerney, the artist responsible for the famous album artwork of The Who’s seminal 1969 album ‘Tommy’. McInnerney has worked with Rolls-Royce’s surface finish experts to create an extraordinary expression of the rock opera’s iconic sleeve design – this truly unique car features the cover artwork of the album applied to the bonnet. Daltrey and McInnerney sought to express other elements of the album artwork throughout the car, with the Lyrical Copper exterior finished with a blue coachline of a bird in flight, a reference to the album sleeve.
Sir Ray Davies – The Kinks
Sir Ray Davies has created a tribute to The Kinks, one of the most influential British rock bands of all time. Inspired by his personal legacy and that of the band, Sir Ray has selected lyrics from ‘Shangri-la’ and ‘Drivin’’ – from The Kinks’ 1969 album ‘Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)’ to be expressed on the door-flights. To add an even more personal touch, Rolls-Royce’s designers and craftspeople digitised and engraved Sir Ray’s own hand-writing.
A tribute to Sir George Martin – ‘the fifth Beatle’
Songwriter and producer Giles Martin has created a tribute to his father, Sir George Martin, the famous record producer who was dubbed ‘the Fifth Beatle’ by Sir Paul McCartney. This tribute celebrates Sir George’s 30 number-one hit singles with design features that include embroidery of each song title in the rear cabin leather waterfall, and the producer’s signature stitched into the headrests. In celebration of the format with which Sir George made his mark upon the music world, the two copper door-flights feature an engraved quotation – “The recording is not what one hears, but what one must make others hear” – and the other, engraved details from the original handwritten arrangement for ‘Yesterday’ by The Beatles.
Dame Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey celebrates a musical legacy which has seen her become one of the most popular female vocalists of all time, with a Wraith ‘Inspired by British Music’ marking a glittering career that has resulted in 37 studio albums, 79 weeks combined in the UK top 10 charts, and three James Bond title songs. Dame Shirley Bassey has used her Rolls-Royce Wraith ‘Inspired by British Music’ to bring to life some of her fondest memories from more than six decades in the spotlight with hits like 'Big Spender', 'Diamonds Are Forever' and 'Goldfinger'.
Ronnie Wood - I Feel Like Playing
Renowned as much for his career with The Rolling Stones as his role with Faces, Ronnie Wood has commissioned a Wraith ‘Inspired by British Music’ to celebrate his solo career. Wood’s signature is stitched into the headrests, with lyrics from ‘I Gotta See’ – taken from his seventh solo studio album ‘I Feel Like Playing’ (2010) – engraved onto the copper door flights. The album’s artwork was created by Ronnie Wood himself, and he has mirrored his cover art in the embroidery adorning the leather waterfall in the rear of the car.
What’s more Rolls-Royce is donating a proportion of the value of each car to charities selected by each artist, including the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Log on to the official Rolls-Royce website here to learn more.