Rolls-Royce’s $10 Million Coachbuilt EV Will Face 350 Weeks of TestingAutoblogPablo SalapantanTue, September 22, 2026 at 3:45 PM UTCAdd us on GoogleAutoblog and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article.Reviving CoachbuildingCoachbuilding used to be the most exclusive and luxurious aspect of the old-world automotive industry. The term coachbuilding began as a practice in which wealthy car buyers had a 100% custom-made, bespoke body built exactly to their tastes and desires.Modern car building has largely eradicated coachbuilding, but one of the leading experts in bespoke carmaking wants to bring it back in limited quantities. We're talking about Rolls-Royce, which has just announced an update regarding its latest coachbuilding project.Rolls-RoyceProject Nightingale Goes TestingAnnounced in April 2026, Rolls-Royce said it is embarking on a highly ambitious coachbuilding journey called Project Nightingale. The car is a very rare, two-seater, open-top grand touring EV. Project Nightingale is the first car to emerge from Rolls-Royce's Coachbuild Collection and will be limited to just 100 cars for the entire production run. Project Nightingale's name comes from the house where previous Rolls-Royce designers and engineers stayed in Henry Royce's winter home. The torpedo design pays homage to Rolls-Royce's red-badged "EX" experimental prototypes of the 1920s, specifically the 16EX and 17EX.AdvertisementAdvertisementNow Rolls-Royce is proud to announce that Project Nightingale is set to begin its rigorous testing program. The announcement details how the luxury automaker will dedicate 350 weeks of testing, during which the car will be driven across various conditions and surfaces, including trips to the Arctic Circle and the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. Rolls-Royce also says testing will subject the car to extreme temperature changes and altitudes of up to 9,022 feet.Rolls-RoyceStatic TestingBeyond on-road performance, Rolls-Royce is also testing the car's other components through static testing. The automaker says several Project Nightingale prototypes have already undergone a collective 1,430 hours of aerodynamic modeling and wind tunnel testing. Another key feature is the Piano Boot lid, a first-of-its-kind feature in any Rolls-Royce product. The Piano Boot opens sideways in a dramatic fashion, and the brand says it will be tested over 15,000 times to ensure it works the same way every time.Prices for the Project Nightingale series haven't been confirmed yet, but you can't just buy one on a whim; you must be invited by Rolls-Royce and be ready to pay an estimated $9.5 to $10 million.Rolls-RoyceThis story was originally published by Autoblog on Sep 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
