Justin Beiber made headlines a while back in the automotive realm with his brand new car. Normally, that wouldn’t be exactly headline news, because Justin Beiber can afford a number of cars. And he probably changes them all the time. In this instance though, his car was a one-off. And since the Rolls-Royce name was involved, naturally a lot of eyebrows were raised in the process.

In case you missed it, Beiber went over to the guys from West Coast Customs and asked them to build him a one-off Rolls-Royce Wraith. The design is definitely unique but does that make it also beautiful? It’s hard to answer such questions, since ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ but professionals in the field can offer a couple of answers as to how things turned out.

And Frank Stephenson wasn’t afraid to offer his thoughts on the matter. In case you didn’t know, Stephenson is a renowned car designer, having signed off on cars such as the original E53 X5 and then moving on to MINIs, Ferraris, Maseratis and even McLaren models. Motor Trend magazine has called him “one of most influential automotive designers of our time” so you know he has the experience to offer a valid point.

Talking about this custom Rolls, Frank didn’t hold back. Saying things like ‘Not easy on the eye’ might be considered a diplomatic way of disagreeing with. Nevertheless, as he points out, the effort is to be praised, as working with iconic designs is never easy. What’s obvious though, as Frank points out, is that car design these days is getting kind-of bland and it’s seeing people looking for a unique finish is only natural in every way.