By: Dave Abrahams
Goodwood, West Sussex - Innovation is always fuelled by people who say, "To hell with how things have always been done - this is simply not good enough."
From John Gutenburg, who invented the printing press, to James Watt and his kettle-powered pump, to car salesman Charles Rolls and railway engineer Henry Royce, who decided in May 1904 that Royce's expensive Decauville motor car was "simply not good enough", to William Webb Ellis, who picked up the ball during a game of football at Rugby School in 1823 and ran with it, the common factor is a willingness to defy convention. Today we call it 'thinking outside the box'.
In that spirit Rolls-Royce has created a unique car to commemorate the 2015 Rugby World Cup, held for only the second time in England, birthplace of the game.
The 'Wraith - History of Rugby' show car is finished in white, as per the white shirts worn by the football players of Rugby School, a tradition continued today by the England rugby team.
Since 1871 the team shirt has also featured a red rose, originally hand-embroidered on to the material. This, too, comes from Rugby School's history. Legend has it that in 1567 Queen Elizabeth I granted permission to its founder to include the Red Rose of Lancaster, the emblem of her family, the Tudors, in the school crest.
BESPOKE TRIM
Thus the special Wraith has hand-painted coachlines in deep green, symbolising the playing fields of Rugby School, punctuated by an English Rose motif just ahead of each door.
There's an English Rose embroidered on to each head restraint, and embossed on each sill-plate; the dashboard is finished in piano black, its centre panel delicately inlaid with another English Rose.
The interior is trimmed in seashell and navy blue, with the signature red of the Tudor family emblem brought out on the dashboard accent panel, and the seat and door piping.
The Bespoke division has also partnered with Gilbert, the leading manufacturer of rugby balls - which also made the round football picked up by William Webb Ellis in 1823 - supplying it with enough of the same seashell and red leather to make a (very) limited number of rugby balls, each embroidered at Goodwood with the English Rose on one panel and the Rolls-Royce badge on another.