Article Summary
- Rolls-Royce is hosting clients at a private Pacific-facing villa during Monterey Car Week 2026 instead of showing on a public stand.
- The Black Badge Cullinan Series II was hand-painted in collaboration with French artist Cyril Kongo, turning the SUV into a rolling art piece.
- The Black Badge Ghost "Golden Era" tribute pairs gold exterior and cabin detailing with an embroidered illustration of the V12's internal architecture.
Rolls-Royce is returning to Monterey Car Week with a private villa overlooking the Pacific and two customer commissions that show how far the automaker’s Bespoke division will go for the right client. The marque isn’t bringing a new production model to California this year. Instead, it’s using the week to hand over two one-of-one cars built for individual North American buyers, both revealed at the Villa rather than on a show stand. The setup fits Rolls-Royce’s pitch to Monterey’s collector crowd: less spectacle, more private theater.
A Pacific-Side Retreat Built For Deals, Not Crowds
The Villa returns as the center of Rolls-Royce’s Monterey program, described by the company as a home rather than a hospitality tent. Clients get direct access to designers, Bespoke specialists and Rolls-Royce North America leadership throughout the week, alongside private events and design consultations. It’s also where the two commissions below actually change hands, following what Rolls-Royce says were months to years of back-and-forth between each client and the artisans at Goodwood.
Nick Keen, President and CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars North America, framed the week as a showcase for what Bespoke can actually produce when a client has the budget and the patience for it.
Cullinan Series II Gets The Graffiti-Art Treatment
The first car is a Black Badge Cullinan Series II built with Cyril Kongo, a French artist known for moving graffiti into fine-art galleries. Rolls-Royce describes the exterior as hand-painted with dynamic colors and bespoke detailing, effectively treating the Cullinan’s bodywork as a canvas rather than a paint job. The interior continues the theme with custom color treatments and finishes pulled together by what the company calls its Bespoke Collective.
Rolls-Royce is positioning this one squarely at collectors who want a car that functions as an art object first, transportation second — a shift the brand says it’s seeing more of among newer clients.
Ghost “Golden Era” Is A Love Letter To The V12
The second commission, a Black Badge Ghost dubbed “Golden Era,” is a more literal tribute. It’s finished in Gold Crystal over black with gold-infused paint, a hand-painted “V12” coachline running the length of the car, gold bonnet wakelines and gold-painted bumper inserts. Inside, the V12 theme shows up as embroidered artwork on the seats, door pockets and rear center armrest — and, for the first time on a Rolls-Royce, an embroidered technical illustration of the V12’s internal architecture built into the rear interior panel.
The rest of the spec sheet reads like a checklist of everything Bespoke can throw at a single car: Technical Fiber veneer infused with microscopic gold flakes, engraved eyeball vents, a gold-inlaid ashtray, a Starlight Headliner with gold shooting stars, and a gold engine plaque honoring the current V12. Rolls-Royce says it’s a tribute to more than a century of V12 use at the brand, though the current Ghost’s twin-turbo 6.75-liter unit is a long way removed from the engines that started that streak.
Both cars are one-offs, so neither will show up on a dealer lot or carry a public price. What they do signal is where Rolls-Royce wants the Bespoke conversation to go: not options-list customization, but full-on commissioned art, delivered somewhere its regular customers will never see it — a private villa on a bluff, not a convention center floor.
