Rolls-Royce Releases Cars By Music Legends
A SERIES of nine Rolls-Royce cars have been released created in collaboration with some of British music’s most revered rock and vocal artists.
The first four of these bespoke cars were unveiled on Wednesday at the Sanderson Hotel in Fitzroia, London by the artists who created them in partnership with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars; The Who frontman Roger Daltrey CBE, Sir Ray Davies of The Kinks, and Giles Martin, son of songwriter and producer Sir George Martin and a world-renowned producer and songwriter in his own right.
The Roger Daltrey-inspired car, pictured below, has been pictured outside Tommy’s holiday camp from Ken Russell’s film Tommy – which in the 1970 movie was shot at Fort Purbrook, one of several locations used in Portsmouth.
The Rolls-Royce Wraith, part of the Inspired by Music range. This one is inspired by Roger Daltrey of The Who!
All the stars were invited to the home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, to work with Rolls-Royce’s design experts.
The cars will be sold later in 2017, with a proportion of the value going to charities selected by each artist, including the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, chief executive officer at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: ‘The enduring allure of Rolls-Royce has been encouraged over the years by some of the world’s most famous and important music icons. ‘This collaboration – with some of Britain’s most celebrated musicians – promises to add to this legacy, creating truly unique collectors’ items which also support worthy charities.’
‘Tommy’ (1969)
This Roger Daltrey CBE’s car 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.
Each of the four headrests are stitched with unique design motifs from the album artwork, while the song ‘Pinball Wizard’ has inspired the embroidered design of the rear cabin leather waterfall, featuring a tone-on-tone depiction of a pinball machine with contrasting pinball and flippers. The copper door flights are engraved with lyrics from ‘Tommy Can You Hear Me’ and ‘Listening to You / See Me’. The car will be a notable, and truly individual collectors’ item when it is sold later in the year, to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust, of which Roger Daltrey CBE is a patron.
Roger Daltrey CBE commented: “It’s been immense fun working in collaboration with Rolls-Royce to create two cars which capture some of The Who’s iconography so beautifully. The ‘Tommy’ car is truly a work of art, and Mike McInnerney and Rolls-Royce’s designers have done a great job bringing to life themes from the album and its artwork. Both cars will raise vital funds and awareness for the Teenage Cancer Trust, and will be among the ultimate collectors’ pieces for any The Who aficionado.”
