Arcadia Droptail is a coach-built Rolls-Royce roadster for roads paved with diamonds and pearls

The Rolls-Royce Arcadia is a one-of-a-kind Droptail convertible named after a mythological Greek realm depicted as "Heaven on Earth", which is what the client wanted on the road with this unique commission. 

The car's design is said to be inspired by the client's favourite regions around the world, including the tropical sky gardens of Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. The first hand-drawn sketch of this Rolls-Royce Coachbuild motor car was done in 2019 and the final result is believed to be faithful to that initial vision of a one-off Droptail with dramatic body lines, ensconcing cabin and a low stance.

The exterior of the Arcadia Droptail is a duo-tone work of art. The white body colour is infused with aluminium and glass particles to create a shimmer under natural light, the lower body's carbon-fibre sections are painted in a special silver, while the sculptured grille and the 22-inch alloy wheels have been mirror-polished to reflective perfection. 

Santos Straight Grain is the open-pore hardwood used for the Arcadia's upscale "furniture". The client's preferences and expectations for the wood's texture, grain, colour and richness were met by Rolls-Royce artisans, who used 157 wood pieces for the cabin and 76 for the rear deck, matched the woodgrain at the same 55-degree angle, and also developed a custom lacquer (different from superyacht coating) to protect the veneers for the lifetime of the vehicle. 

The woodwork by Goodwood required high-tech engineering, too. For instance, the Arcadia Droptail's so-called shawl panel (a continuous wood section that runs from behind the seats to the door panels) is made up of 40 digitally-mapped sections for precise veneer placement, and Formula 1 carbon-layering techniques were used to give the dashboard, door linings and central cantilevered "plinth" armrest a stable and stiff base for their intricate wood applications.  

The lush leather interior features two Rolls-Royce Bespoke hues exclusive to this car and its owner — a white to go with the exterior colour, along with a tan to complement the lovely wood trim.

Also exclusive to this car is the dashboard clock, a piece of haute horlogerie (watchmaking high art) parked above the hazard button. The exquisite timepiece features a geometric guilloche pattern in raw metal with 119 facets, partly polished and partly brushed hands, delicate yet readable hour-markers, and ceramic-coated minute-markers. 

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This article was first published in Motorist.