- Project Nightingale is an all-electric two-seat convertible limited to 100 examples worldwide.
- Rolls-Royce says global testing begins this summer, with client deliveries starting in 2028.
- The 5.76m coachbuilt model uses 24-inch wheels and a bespoke illuminated cabin.
Rolls-Royce has lifted the covers on Project Nightingale, an ultra-exclusive, all-electric open-top concept that signals the start of a new Coachbuild Collection, limited to just 100 units worldwide.
Set to enter a global testing and validation programme later this year, the two-seat convertible won’t reach clients until 2028. But make no mistake: this is no distant dream.
Rolls-Royce describes Nightingale as a “production concept”, with design largely locked in and only a handful of manufacturing techniques still under development.
A whisper, not a roar
At its core is the brand’s fully electric drivetrain, chosen not just for emissions but for silence.
Rolls-Royce is chasing what it calls a uniquely serene open-air driving experience, with minimal mechanical and wind noise.
CEO Chris Brownridge puts it plainly: “Project Nightingale is… the most extravagant expression of what Rolls-Royce is capable of today.”
That quietness even shaped the cabin concept.
Designers reportedly heard birdsong unusually clearly during early prototype drives, leading to the “Starlight Breeze” interior, featuring 10,500 tiny illuminated ‘stars’ inspired by soundwave patterns of a nightingale’s song.
Streamlined drama, 1920s attitude
Visually, Nightingale leans hard into Art Deco and Streamline Moderne cues, with a long bonnet, low windscreen and a tapering rear that nods to Rolls-Royce’s experimental ‘EX’ cars of the 1920s.
At 5.76m long (roughly Phantom-sized), it’s all presence, despite housing just two occupants.
Design chief Domagoj Dukec describes it as both inevitable and surprising: “It feels both inevitable and completely unexpected… and it will shape everything that follows.”
Details are predictably lavish. There’s a near-metre-wide Pantheon grille carved from stainless steel, 24-inch wheels (the largest ever fitted to a Rolls-Royce), and a “Piano Boot” rear deck that opens sideways in theatrical fashion.
Invitation only, naturally
Project Nightingale is, of course, highly curated, and access to the Coachbuild Collection is by invitation, with clients already participating in multi-year programmes that include design collaboration and private events.
Each car will be hand-built at Goodwood and individually specified, with exclusive colours and materials reserved solely for this project.
Rolls-Royce hasn’t disclosed power figures or performance yet, but that almost feels beside the point. Nightingale is chasing atmosphere.
And if early impressions hold, it might just be the quietest statement piece money can buy.
