Rolls-Royce’s New One-of-a-Kind Phantom Shows Off the Marque’s First Laser-Etched Hood

Rolls-Royce’s latest one-of-a-kind creation comes with a marque first: a custom, laser-etched hood.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom Arabesque celebrates the architectural history of the Middle East and was built in collaboration with a customer at the Rolls-Royce Private Office in Dubai. The new Phantom is one-of-a-kind and the mashrabiya lattice work found in the region provided the motivation for the hood, or bonnet, as well as other elements of the car.

“Mashrabiya is one of the Middle East’s best-known and most enduring design languages,” Michelle Lusby, a Rolls-Royce designer, said in a statement. “For Phantom Arabesque, we were inspired not only by its beauty but also by the privacy, light and airflow it creates. Our aim was to interpret these qualities in ways that feel both culturally rooted and unmistakably Rolls-Royce.”

The laser-etching is patented, Rolls-Royce says, and it took five years to develop the intricate process that includes multiple layers of clear coat, which sit on top of a dark coat of paint. A lighter coat of paint is on top of all that, and the laser etches away the lighter paint to create the pattern with darker paint underneath. The laser makes etching to a depth as low as 145 microns. The resulting work of art is then sanded to create the finish, which, in the case of the Phantom Arabesque, is a mashrabiya design. That motif continues inside, with a bespoke centrepiece.

The Phantom is the ne plus ultra of luxury sedans, and probably ultra-luxury sedans, too, competing primarily with the Bentley Flying Spur. The Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII debuted in 2017, with the Series II model out in 2022. It is powered by a 6.75-litre V-12 engine making 563 horsepower, which is sent through an 8-speed ZF automatic transmission.

Rolls-Royce did not disclose the price of the Phantom Arabesque, but a good bet is that it was more than the base price of US$520,000, and perhaps even approaching seven figures. The marque also did not disclose the identity of the buyer, but said the Phantom Arabesque will take a “prominent place within their collection.”

This story was originally published on Robb Report USA.