The new Rolls-Royce Spectre is expected to be the most opulent electric car money can buy. Here’s how Drive team would specify cars of their own, admiring from the sidelines.
Customisation is in vogue at the moment, but choice can be seriously confusing. In our configurator challenge, we let the Drive team loose on a manufacturer’s website to create their ideal combination for a certain model.
This week’s challenge stars the Rolls-Royce Spectre, the first electric car from the UK’s million-dollar luxury-car specialist.
Tell us what your ideal Rolls-Royce Spectre would look like in the comments below (build yours here), and the cars you’d like us to configure next.
MORE: 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre electric car revealed
James Ward, Director of Content
I’ll say from the outset that if we were really shopping for a Rolls, I’d be far happier in a Corniche or Camargue than the Spectre. That’s not to take anything away from the new car, I’m sure it is magnificent, but for me the spirit of the Spirit is better (and more tastefully) enjoyed as a classic.
That said, and seeing as we’re here, I’ve tried to give my Spectre some traditional elements that blend with modern style.
On the outside, the Salamanca Blue body and contrasting silver bonnet, boot and full turret are paired with a seashell Coachline pinstripe and 23-inch Wing Spoke polished alloy wheels. I’ve added the illuminated grille and Spirit of Ecstasy for a bit of futuristic bling though.
Step in, and the Seashell colour continues, balanced by Grace White and richly offset with the primary upholstery in Mandarin.
Open-pore wood trim and a dark starlight headliner keep things interesting, and opulent.
It’s not the wildest spec out there, but I’m more ‘Audi’ than ‘Saudi’ when it comes to defining a car like the Spectre anyway.
Kez Casey, Production Editor
No configurator challenge has caused me quite as much pain as this one. I’ve built about 20 different cars over the last week, finessing and obsessing over details. Which colour should my seatbelt buckles be? Which of the seemingly limitless colour combos should the door pocket inner and outer be, and should they match or contrast the armrest and waterfall panel?
All serious questions, and eventually I kept coming back to a tone-on-tone treatment that I eventually narrowed down to an exterior in Iguazu Blue on the main bodywork, offset with the available high-cut ‘aero’ two-tone divide in Midnight Sapphire. For a little brilliance, the coachline is set on the shoulder, in silver.
I’ve opted for the non-illuminated grille, but could not resist the illuminated Spirit of Ecstasy. The final touch outside is a set of 23-inch ‘wing spoke’ two-tone alloy wheels, which almost look rimless, with the spokes grabbing the edge of the tyres.
Inside is where the real fun begins, and you can make things pretty bold in here, but in keeping with my more reserved theme I’ve opted for hides in Grace White, Navy Blue and Charles Blue as an accent. Similarly the roof and carpets are Navy Blue and there is no possible way my Rolls-Royce wasn’t going to feature the gorgeous Shooting Star headliner and matching Starlight doors.
The instrument panel gets a Navy Blue upper surface, but Grace White on the lower edge, with a streak of Royal Walnut veneer and a Dynamic Bespoke timepiece, for a decidedly nautical look and feel. The final flourishes see a Charles Blue steering wheel inner matched to both the key insert and umbrella (offset by Grace White piping) and instruments in Lapis Blue.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, in the end I decided on Charles Blue seatbelt buckles too.
Susannah Guthrie, Senior Journalist
I know it’s probably not what our audience wants to hear, but my Spectre spec (Spec-tre, if you will) was inspired by Kim Kardashian. I love her all-grey Ghost and think it allows the car’s design to really shine.
My car’s exterior is finished in Tempest Grey and the interior is predominantly Cashmere Grey, which is a colour I would like to cover my entire life in. I figure if I’m rich enough to afford a Rolls-Royce then I’m rich enough to have light grey seats and have them cleaned as required.
For a bit of X-factor, I chose Royal Walnut veneer for the dashboard and Mocassin-coloured floor mats to disguise any dirt. And I will never not think the glass Spirit of Ecstasy is incredibly cool and wildly impractical.
Tom Fraser, Journalist
In stark contrast to the last Configurator Challenge instalment, the Rolls-Royce Spectre configurator contains an unimaginable amount of choice. If I were actually spending my own money on this car I would agonise over the specification.
I’ve gone for the gorgeous Imperial Jade exterior colour and have foregone the brushed bonnet. Ordinarily I would have opted for the silver bonnet but it doesn’t suit the green so well, at least in virtual reality. Instead, I’ve chosen gold pinstriping along the side to offset the green.
Inside the cabin I’ve selected a coffee-and-cream-type colour combination which, I think, perfectly pairs to the exterior. I’m most excited by the open-pore black woodgrain trim which not only looks incredible, but will feel great to the touch too.
Finally, those 23-inch wheels are oh-so-excessive but just look like the perfect accompaniment to this colour palette.
Ben Zachariah, Journalist
Once again, I have schooled my colleagues on the correct way to specify a car, and shown the universe that bestowing untold riches upon me wouldn’t be in vain. The Rolls-Royce Spectre is a big car, and it makes a big statement, which is why it’s important to go in the opposite direction with the car’s build.
This is a car for going to the opera in, which is why the Roller has been kept classy in tuxedo black, matched with art deco-style 23-inch part-polished alloy wheels. The illuminated crystal Spirit of Ecstasy is cute, but she deserves to shine in chrome, like the rest of the Spectre’s fantastic brightwork.
While the exterior is sleek and classy, it’s inside where you really want to impress your date. A combination of black and warm, rich tan ensures this Rolls-Royce will never fall out of style. Most of the areas that could be tainted by dirty hands or shoes are finished in black to aid resale value.
Every option box has been ticked, from ventilated massaging seats to the car’s party piece – its starlight doors and headliner. The dashboard is finished in Obsidian Ayous open-pore veneer, but it’s the car’s seatbelts – finished in Grenadine – that provides the Spectre’s cabin with a counterpoint of lush colour.
Alex Misoyannis, Journalist
If you’re spending about a million dollars on the road (with options) on a new car, why go for a ‘boring’ colour like black or blue, or hold back on the colour scheme?
My Spectre configuration is finished in the second-brightest colour on the palette, Magma Red – balanced with a black two-tone ‘aero’ roof design, the 23-inch machined wheels seen in the yellow launch photos, and the illuminated grille (but no illuminated Spirit of Ecstasy).
I’m a big fan of white interiors – and wearing denim jeans – so I’ve opted for this fetching combination of black seat centres, Arctic White seat uppers, and Phoenix Red seat accents and piping to keep the dirtiest parts of the seat in the darkest colour possible.
There’s white across the dashboard and door cards too – instead of wood inserts, as my colleagues have selected – with some choice red accents in various places. I’ve also optioned the ‘shooting star’ headliner and starlight doors for maximum ‘wow’ factor.
Because I can, the umbrella in the door is orange with teal blue edging.
Other option boxes ticked include ventilated massaging seats, illuminated ‘SPECTRE’ sill plates, rear privacy glass, lambswool floor mats, and a white leather key.
The final price? It’s hard to say, because the Rolls-Royce configurator doesn’t list pricing (but if you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it).
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