Rolls-Royce Apparition concept
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Rolls-Royce Apparition concept
2011 Jeremy Westerlund Rolls Royce Apparition has Clever design features abound, like the spare wheel secreted into the bodywork at the front like 1930s Rollers, an open cockpit for the driver and the twin rear windows that mirror the shape of the headlights.
It’s like something out of a science fiction film, and a heck of a lot more interesting than some of the so-called concept cars Rolls-Royce has show in the past five years.
There’s concepts, and then there’s concepts that turn into production cars. This is just a concept though and will only ever remain as one. It’s called the Rolls-Royce Apparition Concept and you are seeing correctly; the driver sits outside while passengers are enclosed in the back.
The creation was developed by Jeremy Westerlund while he was studying art, and his aim was to design something similar to how they did it in the old days; driver up front, exposed outside, while the passengers are cooped inside at the back – like a horse and carriage type arrangement.
In all fairness, it is quite interesting to behold. Although there are a lot of boxy, straight-cut shapes going on throughout the entire length of the car, the overall platform is stirring. It offers loads of ‘you can’t do that’, which is what concepts are meant to be all about.
Much of the car is based on the Rolls-Royce Phantom, in terms of initial design, carrying over a similar front end. From the windscreen things get a little different, as there is no windscreen. The bonnet just extends all the way over to the bootlid in one seamless stretch.
It also features mahogany-encrusted wheels, traditional Rolls-Royce front grille and a low and long presence which would measure over seven metres in length if developed. Jeremy Westerlund recently summed up the concept, saying that it’s:
“An ultra luxurious chauffeur driven limousine evoking the glamor and sophistication of chauffeur driven cars in the past that has since been lost.
“This vehicle is about being seen, but at the same time being invisible or an “Apparition” in the sense that you’re safely tucked away in its palatial and private interior.”
The model seen here is just a 1:4 scale version, and as mentioned, it is unlikely it will ever be turned into anything that could be bought from your local Rolls-Royce dealer.
To say that we see a lot of student car designs here at Autoblog would be a gross understatement. We see hundreds of 'em. Some are more interesting than others, but every once in a while, a design comes across our desks that takes our impression of what a car can look like and completely turns it on its head. This is one such example.
Dreamt up by one Jeremy Westerlund while studying at the Art Center school of design, the Rolls-Royce Apparition is a rolling trompe-l'œil that at once both reaches back into the automaker's history and extends into the future.
The design is based around the old motor carriages that had a chauffeur sitting up front, exposed to the elements, with the passengers coddled inside. Like most contemporary Rolls models, the front is utterly dominated by the prominent grille and hood ornament. It features unique touches like real mahogany inserts in the wheels, and the imposing overall shape is long and low: the designer took his cues from sailing yachts, and even though the model is built to 1:4 scale, it's still nearly six feet long. If such an extreme example of fantasy ever became reality, it would measure 279 inches overall – that's over 23 feet, or about four feet longer than the Phantom. See if you can wrap your head around it in our extensive high-resolution image gallery below.
Dreamt up by one Jeremy Westerlund while studying at the Art Center school of design, the Rolls-Royce Apparition is a rolling trompe-l'œil that at once both reaches back into the automaker's history and extends into the future.
The design is based around the old motor carriages that had a chauffeur sitting up front, exposed to the elements, with the passengers coddled inside. Like most contemporary Rolls models, the front is utterly dominated by the prominent grille and hood ornament. It features unique touches like real mahogany inserts in the wheels, and the imposing overall shape is long and low: the designer took his cues from sailing yachts, and even though the model is built to 1:4 scale, it's still nearly six feet long. If such an extreme example of fantasy ever became reality, it would measure 279 inches overall – that's over 23 feet, or about four feet longer than the Phantom. See if you can wrap your head around it in our extensive high-resolution image gallery below.
ON ROAD PRICE
priced at around $1250000
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