ART OF THE ESTATE

Rolls-Royce didn't make a Corniche shooting brake, but Niels van Roij Design has and Octane gets to drive it.

- ALEX Goy

ONE OF ONE has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Something made just for you, to fit your life, to your spec, so you can go about your day knowing there's nothing out there that'll match it.

There are plenty of people who'll offer you a car specced to the nines, but more often than not it'll be one of some. That, for Niels van Roij Design, won't do.

This 1981 Rolls-Royce Corniche shooting brake is the firm's latest completed work. It started life as a Corniche Coupé lovingly called Henry. Its current owner inherited it from their uncle and has fond memories of the car - it has been part of their life for decades – but they wanted to leave their mark on it and turn it into something a little different, and just as special. This isn't the work of a moment. The project took two-and-a-half years of consultation, planning, and some rather brutal cutting.

As with most things design, it all starts with a sketch... well, lots of sketches. Van Roij explains: 'Thousands and thousands of quick thumbnail sketches are made. You have the first ideations, which ask do we have a blackout A- or B-pillar or not? Do we have chrome? Or are we going to do something else? You want to explore even very radical ideas. That's what we always do for our clients. We show everything, including the things they sometimes say they don't want to see, just to verify. There's a lot of exploration. Through exploration comes plenty of 'no' but also a lot of 'yes', which leads to something with the client's personality in every crevice.