SimplyAbuDhabi XII

A nd here’s a very good example. Whilst dining at the Goodwood Hotel, just adjacent to the Home of Rolls Royce, Mohammed EL-Arishy, Rolls Royce Motor Cars Dubai Brand Manager, caught sight of a selection of photographs of some of motor racing’s greatest drivers negotiating the historic Goodwood circuit. In an instant, his imagination was captured, after a little while longer, a consultation with the Bespoke team at Rolls Royce was underway. We let Mohammed take up the story, “I wanted to create a motor car that captures the unique atmosphere and history of the Goodwood Motor Circuit. The Home of Rolls-Royce’s connection to such an important centre of British motoring heritage is something that fascinates my customers,” he said, going on to add that, “The experience of working with Rolls- Royce’s world-class designers to create the beautifully executed Chicane Phantom Coupé was exhilarating. The creativity, vision, skill and attention-to-detail employed in the crafting of these one-off motor cars is unsurpassed in the super-luxury world.” The end result of Mohammed’s inspiration, and the cause of his enthusiasm for the Rolls Royce design team, is the fabulous, one-of-a-kind Chicane Phantom Coupé pictured here. It’s a completely unique, totally bespoke motor car that incorporates design cues and materials that evoke Goodwood’s rich motor sport history. The production Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé that this car started its life as shares most of its underpinnings with the saloon and convertible. But of the two, it’s the convertible it has more in common with. Its rear-hinged doors are the same, for example, as is the bodywork from the nose to the A-pillars. From the doors backwards, things are rather different. The aluminium panels are draped over a welded aluminium skeleton like other Phantoms, but, in the coupé the rear bodywork kicks up behind the driver’s seat from where a gracefully curved aluminium roof is formed forwards, meeting the steel header rail above the windscreen to create the car’s swooping lines. Otherwise, rather like the saloon, the Phantom Coupé is an imposing piece of design; there’s no denying its presence. At 5609mm long, it is only 225mm shorter than the saloon, and at 1592mm and 1987mm respectively, it gives very little away in height or width. Inside this highly individual Chicane Phantom Coupe, the traditional interior wood-finish makes way for carbon fibre, in homage to the materials used in the modern racing machines of today. This contemporary theme extends to the exterior of the car, where the bonnet and windscreen surround are finished 3 2 5 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I