Rolls-Royce has treated us to a heavy dose of ultra exclusive, one-off models in recent weeks but even with the prestige attached to all of those models, none of them could’ve prepared us for what the British luxury automaker presented at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Lake Como. This right here is the Rolls-Royce Sweptail, a heavily modified Phantom that brings the company’s level of refinement in the realm of the absurd.

The story behind the Sweptail is as intriguing as the work Rolls-Royce put into giving it a true one-off quality. According to the company, somebody already owns the Sweptail. That man apparently got in the touch with the company and asked Rolls-Royce to build him a one-off model. The automaker obliged to the request, which itself was prefaced by the agreement that both parties wouldn’t discuss prices until after the car was built. This conversation reportedly happened back in 2013 and it took Rolls-Royce a whopping four years to put together the car, culminating in the exquisite beauty that was presented at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. It’s a legitimate, coach-built, one-off model too, one that is also unique for having a customer become so involved in the development of the car. And as far as the price tag of the car is concerned, Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Otvös didn’t reveal the actual figure, but he did tell Autocar that the Rolls-Royce Sweptail is “probably the most expensive new car ever.” As far as the rumor mill goes, that figure apparently adds up to an incredible £10 million, or just under $13 million based on current exchange rates. Take that for what it’s worth.

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Rolls-Royce really went all-out on this one

Suppose the Rolls-Royce Sweptail does cost $13 million, can you imagine how much it’s going to fetch if it turns into a collectible down the road? I mean for $13 million today, you’d be $500,000 short of buying a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Competizione that fetched $13.5 million at Pebble Beach last August 2016. That’s how insane the price tag for the Sweptail is.

Whether it justifies that price tag or not is another discussion entirely. To be fair, the kind of work Rolls-Royce put into this luxury sedan is unlike anything it has done in history. In fact, the Sweptail is reportedly the first model in Rolls-Royce history that was treated to heavy work on the exterior look of the car . Take a look at it you’ll see that it’s appearance is already a far departure from what the Phantom, the car it’s based on, looks like. It has a somewhat comical, wide-eyed front section that actually reminds me a Bentley more than a Rolls-Royce. More prominent though is the rear section of the car where a sweeping rear tail evokes memories of the luxury marque’s history in developing boats. And while we’re at it, the Sweptail has no rear seating area. IN its place, Rolls-Royce built a wood mid-shelf that features an illuminated glass lip, among other luxury goodies.

There’s no word on powertrain, but it does appear that Rolls-Royce retained the Phantom’s standard engine for the Sweptail. Not that it’s a disappointing aspect of the build because the Phantom already packs a massive 6.75-liter V-12 that produces 453 horsepower and 531 pound-feet of torque. All that power straight to the wheels through a ZF, eight-speed automatic transmission, allowing the car to hit 60 mph from an idle position in just 5.7 seconds before peaking at a top speed of 155 mph.

I still have a little trouble believing that the Sweptail could cost $13 million, but then again, who am I to question Rolls-Royce. It is funny though that to hear Giles Taylor, Rolls-Royce’s director of design, telling Autocar that the company “will probably never repeat the level of involvement we had with a customer for this car ever again.” It’s not because Rolls doesn’t want to, but the risk of misinterpretation, both for the company and the customer, is too big to even gamble on.

I guess that’s part of the appeal for the Rolls-Royce Sweptail now. It’s a one-off in more ways than one and it’s that status that will likely carry the model to collectible status. Look forward then to 2050 when the Sweptail fetches more than $100 million in an auction.