Rolls-Royce Motor Cars presents Project Nightingale, a Coachbuild Collection

Named after Le Rossignol, French for ‘the nightingale’, and the name of the designers’ and engineers’ house near Henry Royce’s winter home on the Côte d’Azur, this extraordinary production concept is an open-top two-seat motor car that introduces a dramatic new expression of Rolls-Royce design.

“Some of the most discerning Rolls-Royce clients in the world asked us for our most ambitious work. We responded by bringing three things together that have never coexisted within our brand: the complete design freedom of coachbuilding, our powerful, near-silent all-electric powertrain, and a uniquely potent yet serene expression of open-top motoring – an experience that only this technology makes possible. Achieving this required the same audacious mindset that drove our co-founder, Sir Henry Royce, to create his radically different experimental ‘EX’ motor cars of the 1920s. Project Nightingale shares the spirit of those landmark projects and is the most extravagant expression of what Rolls-Royce is capable of today.”

Chris Brownridge

Chief Executive

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

“Project Nightingale is built on the design principles that define this marque at its most compelling – grand proportions, absolute surface discipline, and a clarity of line that rewards the closest attention. And yet, it takes them somewhere entirely new. For me, this landmark motor car feels both inevitable and completely unexpected, and it will shape everything that follows.”

Domagoj Dukec

Director of Design

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

Project Nightingale becomes an exercise in serene, open-air travel with the roof lowered. With it raised, the character transforms entirely, creating a commanding, coupé-like presence.

Within the roof itself, a unique sound-deadening material combines cashmere, fabric and high-performance composites. Paired with Rolls-Royce’s fully electric drivetrain, which generates virtually no mechanical noise, the marque’s acoustic engineers aim to achieve an exceptionally serene experience whether the soft top roof is raised or lowered, while still preserving the sounds that enhance the romance of driving – such as raindrops on canvas.

The near-silent sensation of driving even early Project Nightingale prototypes with the roof lowered is described by Rolls-Royce designers and engineers as akin to travelling by sailing yacht. The fully electric drivetrain generates virtually no mechanical noise, and wind noise is all but eliminated: what remains is the world itself – the sound of ocean waves breaking on the shore, the movement of air through trees, the particular silence of open countryside at speed, the chorus of birdsong.