Whether you prefer the term “customized” or the word “bespoke”, the result is nothing short of another extraordinary benchmark in unique design set by the team of artisans and craftspeople at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex, England.
The most highly customized Rolls-Royce Phantom ever created for a U.S. buyer has reached its home in Elkhart, Indiana. The car joins the collection of Jack Boyd Smith, Jr., the owner of Gaska Tape Inc., a manufacturer of closed cell foams and pressure sensitive adhesive tapes. Smith is also the owner of the JBS Collection, a private collection of 60 vehicles kept in driving condition that have won acclaim at numerous prestigious concours events.
In 2017, Smith saw the new generation Phantom, Phantom VIII, at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It was wearing a Tailor Purple paint job and had an Arctic White interior, and immediately caught his eye. Smith had to have one.
Smith also wanted a custom Koa wood interior on the key accent points of his Phantom. The Koa tree grows only in Hawaii and is protected in Hawaiian State and National parks. The only Koa wood that can be harvested comes from private agricultural land. Harvesting may only happen if a tree or its branches have naturally fallen. Finding a unique and usable log was not easy. A Rolls-Royce Wood Specialist described the find as a ‘one in a million chance’.
The wood would be featured throughout the vehicle from the steering wheel to the Gallery to the seatbacks.
The Dove Grey color from the exterior carries over to the saddle leather on the interior. There, it is offset by Navy Blue highlights and piping. In the rear there are Serenity Seats with a fixed center console.
Between the seats is a custom fridge that features a pair of of crystal champagne flutes and decanter, engraved with the clients’ initials.
On the cabin roof is a bespoke version of the signature Rolls-Royce starlight headliner. For Smith’s vehicle, the 1,420 fiber-optic light star pattern depicts the constellation patters of the night sky above Cleveland, Ohio on the date of his birth.
“It is our honor to present Jack Boyd Smith, Jr. with his latest Rolls-Royce Phantom commission,” said Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “This Bespoke creation joins a collection of truly notable and historic motor cars. The Koa Phantom demonstrates the extraordinary skill of the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective – a precious and rare example of a naturally sourced material, Koa Wood, is masterfully incorporated into Phantom’s contemporary interior. It took more than three years for this commission to come to life and we are delighted that it will take an important place in The JBS Collection of Jack Boyd Smith, Jr.”
In addition to the car, Smith was delivered of his hamper, also made of Koa wood, which included a 12-piece stainless-steel cutlery set, Wedgwood porcelain plates, and hand-made wine glasses and decanters from the Ajka Crystal factory in Hungary.
In an interview today, Smith considered whether or not his new Phantom would someday be a collectable classic like the other cars in his collection. “It already is,” he responded.
