Rolls-Royce isn't a company known for making sub-par automobiles, but every once in a while, the British luxury marque will reveal something that is astonishing, even by its own standards. While we'd have no problem driving around in a Rolls-Royce Phantom, the rich and famous want something more, and that's where coachbuilt artworks like the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail come in. It's a gorgeous ode to opulence that only the world's most affluent can afford, which means that mere mortals like you and I will likely never see it in the metal, but thanks to the car making its public debut this past weekend, some had the opportunity to marvel at the Boat Tail's finer details in person.

The car's first-ever public appearance was this past weekend, October 2-3 at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, on the shores of the glamorous Lake Como in Italy. Unveiling the car here is something of a tradition now, as the first coachbuilt Rolls-Royce of the modern era, the Sweptail, was launched here too, back in 2017.

Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos took the opportunity to remind visitors that the brand is far from done with unique projects like this, saying that the company is "leading a modern coachbuilding movement that takes the wider luxury industry into an entirely different space, where hyper-personalization and contemporary patronage provide essentially limitless possibilities."

Rolls-Royce has created something truly special here, with both the bodywork and the interior designed to the client's specification, and the hope is that more of the bourgeoisie will open up their coffers to create their own unique masterpieces. Those coffers will have to be exceptionally deep, with the Boat Tail reported to have cost its owner(s) $28 million. And you don't stop with just the car either - this spectacular creation also comes with a timepiece that takes a whopping 3,000 hours to produce. We're not sure how the next coachbuilt Rolls could be even more astonishing, but we can't wait to see it try.