Meet the Rolls-Royce bespoke dept

Unless your name ends in Sugar, Cowell, or Dogg, you probably don't spend a lot of time buying Rolls-Royces. So you probably have no idea about its bespoke department - a division established in 2003 for one-off requests that occasionally builds its own concepts. Like the Ghost Six Senses revealed this week.

In its nine-year history the bespoke dept's modified more than 300 cars to its customers spec, which has spawned several features you'll see dangling from the current lineup. Long wheelbase models and a boot-mounted fridge both started as custom-made jobs before finding themselves on the pricelist as an option.

Demand in personal pimpification's shot up, too - last summer the chaps at Goodwood announced they'd be doubling the bespoke dept's workforce, bringing numbers up to over 50 specialists. So we thought it was about time to pop down to the West Sussex-based factory and gently probe the department's boss, Lars Klawitter.

Click forth for XXXL sumo wrestler Rollers, declined gun racks, horsehair inlays and the most expensive order the department's ever had...

"If a car's deemed to be "borderline", designers come in to help steer customers away from something that conflicts with the brand. But we still do radical, though we think carefully about the car's location - some bespoke work might not look appropriate in Surrey but in the Middle East, for example, it could really work."

"There have been several, but we try and compromise. We've turned down some major body modification requests on grounds of crash safety requirements, but one of the few outright rejections was building a gun rack inside the cabin for an American customer."

"We've had several, including the installation of a speedometer in the back seat for passengers and eagles stitched into the headrests. We've been asked to work with some challenging materials too, including alligator, ostrich and kangaroo skin for seats. Some of which have been turned down because import laws restrict us.

"People also specify materials based on a sentimental connection. A Chinese customer asked us to incorporate a tree from his garden. We obliged, but it was subject to safety and longevity testing beforehand. We've also put a horsehair inlay into a racing horse owner's dashboard and integrated knotted rope into another customer's wood veneer.

"Sometimes we have to speak with people not strictly associated with the automotive industry to deliver bespoke requests. The embroidered eagle detail on the headrests [pictured above] was beyond a conventional sewing machine, so we had a tattoo artist pen it as a template then finished the rest by hand."

"We can build anything to any spec... within reason. We can also reserve colours and trim, which secures certain materials and hues for an individual customer and guarantee that they're not used on another Rolls-Royce car."

"Most of our bespoke customers come from the Middle East - some dealers even put bespoke cars in the showroom. Though there's still a lot happening in the UK. China's bespoke market's growing as well, though we're seeing more of it on the Phantom, not the Ghost.

"A high percentage of the bespoke cars are built for self-drivers. Michael Fuchs [Son of Californian real estate magnate, Charles Fuchs - car pictured above] always drives his cars. The modifications undertaken for him are probably as close to the edge as we're willing to go."

"One of the biggest jobs we've had was for a retired sumo wrestler. Being a larger gentlemen he specified individual rear seats with a centre section cabinet that provides extra storage. He also loves fizzy soda, so we had to make sure all of the drinks holders could hold a large can."

Peninsula Hotels commissioned 14 Phantoms, all of which had an extended boot, relocated switchgear and gauges in the rear passenger cabin.

RR politely declined to give us a figure...

"Customers that come to us aren't fools - we come up with solutions that are good value. Though that doesn't mean cheap."