I’ve always had a fascination with space, especially with a dad who does astral photography in his free time, and it’s always cool to see cars that take extraterrestrial inspiration whether it be an economy car’s design or an ultra-luxury car with trim made from moon rocks. The latest in the latter category is the one-off Rolls-Royce Spectre Lunaflair.
Rolls-Royce’s head of bespoke design Martina Starke says the Lunaflair explores “the ethereal beauty of a lunar halo,” the customer’s commission was directly influenced by a previous creation from the Rolls-Royce Bespoke division. Last year Rolls-Royce unveiled the Phantom Syntopia, a collaboration with couture fashion designer Iris van Herpen. The Syntopia had a dark iridescent paint with color-shifting pigment, and it inspired the Lunaflair’s owner to ask Rolls-Royce for a “light and luminous” version of the paint.
The result is an unnamed holographic paint that will never be used on another Rolls-Royce, at least not one ordered by anyone but its owner. Its rainbow effect is unlike anything that Rolls has come up with before, and it took a year to develop. Here’s how the company describes its lunar inspiration and how it was created:
The commission takes its inspiration and name from the optical phenomenon of a lunar halo, which appears as a colourful circle of light around the moon. It is caused by moonlight passing through ice crystals in high-altitude cirrus clouds, which act as microscopic prisms: the light refracts creating a spellbinding technicolour ring effect, similar to light passing through a diamond.
Capturing this phenomenon in a Bespoke paint finish required more than one year of experimentation. The paint chemistry, application timings, and base coat were extensively trialled in order to meet the client’s concept. The final finish is achieved by applying seven layers of lacquer, including a specially formulated pearlescent coat, infused with fine flakes of magnesium fluoride and aluminium. This creates a deep metallic effect under low light that bursts into rainbow technicolour in bright sunshine.
Nicely complementing the rainbow finish is a Navy Blue interior with accents of Arctic White and Peony Pink. The owner correctly chose to spec the Starlight doors that have 4,796 individually hand-placed fiber-optic stars in the panels, though it’s disappointing the Starlight headliner is a standard one, instead of doing some sort of wild stitched moon or specific galaxy recreation like other bespoke Rolls have done.
Talking about the collaboration with the client and their appreciation for other peoples’ custom Rolls-Royces, Starke said “we are constantly astounded by the diversity of ideas that inform our clients’ Bespoke concepts, which frequently draw inspiration from materials, finishes and themes they see in other commissions… This symbiotic relationship and cross-pollination of ideas is fostering a ‘virtuous circle’ of innovation and creativity, which is incredibly important to our team of Bespoke designers, as we focus on delivering unparalleled value to those who entrust us with their vision.”
Rolls-Royce hasn’t said who the Lunaflair’s owner is or where the car will reside, but the Spectre is left-hand drive and has the required U.S. side marker lights, so it’s likely going to somewhere in North America.
