Niels van Roij Design's newest project is this perfectly tailored Rolls-Royce Shooting Brake

Niels van Roij Design continues to maintain the art of coachbuilding with its most recent project, the transformation of a 1981 Rolls-Royce Corniche coupé into a one-off grand tourer shooting brake. The perfect project for the Netherlands-based studio, the Shooting Brake was developed in close collaboration with the car’s long-term owner – it has been in his family for over 40 years.

With the Corniche, the studio demonstrates that’s it not just about working with contemporary cars. Recent projects have included a pair of modern Ferraris recreated as homages to 60s racing specials, the Daytona Shooting Brake Homage and Breadvan Homage, along with an earlier Rolls-Royce-based shooting brake, the Silver Spectre, and the compact coachbuilt wonder that was the Fiat Panda 4x4 Piccolo Lusso.

The coachbuilding process starts with sketches and involves a ground-up restoration combined with hand-formed new bodywork and re-trimmed interiors, with unique elements and components making up the majority of each build.

The new Shooting Brake is dubbed ‘Henry II’ – for the first part of its life it was simply ‘Henry’ – and is now a full four-seater, with a lavishly trimmed load bay that can be extended with electrically folding rear seats. Rear of the B-pillar, the entire body has been redesigned, with a swooping roofline, long rear glass side windows and completely bespoke roof, C-pillars and boot.

The car’s form was initially sketched, then worked up in CAD, with 3D scanning and 3D printing used in conjunction with traditional panel beating to shape the new steel bodywork. Inside, trim, dashboard and seats have been meticulously hand-crafted, with the design incorporating many bespoke elements.

One of many special requests was the creation of an electrically operated integral bike carrier that is seamlessly concealed within the rear bumper and can house two triathlon bicycles when fully contended. Other new elements include rally instrumentation, a map pocket and specially made travel luggage.

‘Each coachbuild commission we undertake at Niels van Roij Design has a unique story behind it,’ says van Roij, ‘It is crucial we fully understand that story before carrying out any work. The story behind ‘Henry’ is especially intriguing as the car had been in the one family for more than four decades.’ The client wanted some upgrades that not only extended the life of the car, but which make it more practical and tailor made for everyday use without compromising the original design.

After stripping the original car down to bare metal several anomalies were uncovered, not least the different lengths of the side panels and the addition of tin filler to the original panels when the car was hand crafted at Mulliner Park Ward in London. Subsequent scans and measurements made it very clear that the requirement to carry two bicycles had to be arranged externally as there wasn’t space inside.

The powered rack could only be incorporated with careful planning and design, including shifting the position of the original fuel tank as well as allowing for the rear seats to fold down. ‘Our philosophy is that we don't design for our clients; we design with our clients, and that was very much the case with Corniche, where we collaborated very closely with the owner, who had a very clear vision of what he wanted,’ van Roij explains.

In addition to an interior of beige leather and tweed, the exterior of the Shooting Brake was finished in British Racing Green, just as it was when it originally came into the owner’s family. Other material elements were carefully restored and matched, such as the original wooden dashboard. The design team was tasked with matching the wood, despite four decades elapsing since the original car was built.

‘It is always a great pleasure to see each patron take delivery of their car,’ says van Roij, ‘Of course, having lived with the car during the restoration and bespoke build process for up to three or even four years, a little part of me wishes I could keep each one.’ Instead, the designer commissions himself a bespoke suit in celebration of every project with the same fabric and leather used in the car. ‘Like a bespoke car, a bespoke suit fits its owner perfectly and provides a lifetime of pleasure and service,’ he concludes.

NielsvanRoij.com, @NielsvanRoijDesign