All language subtitles for Supercar.Superbuild.S02E05.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-RAWR_track4_[eng]

(light music)

- [Narrator] It's one of the most storied

and prestigious marks
in the automotive world.

- Rolls-Royce history
is of being the best.

- [Narrator] A name so impeccable,

it's commonly used to describe
the finest things in life.

- They're one of the only car makers

who does anything handmade anymore.

(light music)

- [Narrator] A distinctly
English form of perfection.

- If you think of Great Britain,
you think of Rolls-Royce.

(light music)

- [Narrator] For years,
Rolls-Royce has succeeded

by selling lavish chauffeur limousines.

But now, the company faces
a changing of the guard.

- The question becomes, will
Rolls-Royce be able to survive

as its customers get older?

(light music)

- [Narrator] The brand's answer

is to reach into their illustrious past

for a touch of sport.

- It's the ultimate gentleman's GT,

the most luxurious way to get from A to B.

(light music)

- [Narrator] It's a bold wager

on the next generation
of the ultra affluent.

(light music)

- Making a sporty Rolls-Royce,
that's something of a gamble.

(light music)

- [Narrator] An extremely
expensive and elegant bet

called the Wraith.

(car engine revving)
(upbeat music)

(light music)

It's a handcrafted masterpiece
featuring exotic wood,

sumptuous leather and a lustrious paint.

A grand touring machine built
to the highest standards,

yet capable of going from
north to 100 kilometers an hour

in close to 4.4 seconds.

And it's machine that
starts life at 245,000 euros

and seldom ends there.

The Rolls-Royce Wraith,

the most powerful machine

to ever be adorned with the Flying Lady

and a vehicle that aims to be driven.

- It's not the 1930s or '40s anymore.

The richest of the rich

don't necessarily always have drivers,

they don't necessarily
want to be chauffeur.

- Sporty and luxury

tend to be on opposite
ends of the spectrum.

You get one or the other.

- [Narrator] Extravagant limousines

have kept the brand in business,

but with their core buyers aging,

the company needs to
hook the next generation.

- The Wraith is a little bit of a risk

because it steps away from
traditional Rolls-Royce values.

(light music)

- [Narrator] A risk worth taking

to ensure the survival of
perhaps the most famous icon

in British motory.

(light music)

- Wraith walks a fine line there

that it still looks like a Rolls-Royce.

It's got the proportions,

it's got presence and the elegance,

it has all of the
handcrafted wood and leather.

All of the features,

everything you expect from a Rolls-Royce,

it just happens to go around
a corner a little better.

- [Narrator] Whether it's
going around a corner

or flying down a straightaway,

seeing any Rolls-Royce is an
extraordinarily uncommon event.

- A Rolls-Royce is a very
rare and precious thing.

When you look at our
sales figures last year,

it was just under 4,000 cars.

- [Narrator] 4,000 brand new
machines sold in 50 markets

on a planet with a population
of over 7 billion people.

- It's an occasion just to see one go by.

- [Narrator] That occasion
begins at The Goodwood Estate

in Southern England inside
the Rolls-Royce complex.

(light music)

- It's ultra modern,
environmentally friendly.

We're very fortunate to be
here in The Goodwood Estate.

The amazing thing about this place

is you wouldn't know it was here.

Unless you are physically
here, you can't see it.

(light music)

- [Narrator] You may not be able to see

the facility from the street,

but there's plenty that stands out.

- When you walk out into the line,

it doesn't feel like a lot's happening

because there's no machinery.

It's all people hands on
putting things together.

- [Narrator] The complex hearkens back

to a simpler time in a different era.

- We don't call it a factory.

We call this a manufacturing plant.

This is the home of Rolls-Royce.

- [Narrator] It's a
home where finished cars

don't come off the line in
seconds, but rather months.

The Wraith is so exquisite

that it takes 1500 men
and women over 450 hours

to lovingly handcraft a single machine.

(light music)

- The big difference in
the way Rolls-Royce is made

versus most other cars
is it comes down to time.

- When I tell people

we are running at near to full capacity,

when they see the plant
very gently moving along

without too much fuss or
noise, they don't believe me.

It's very unhurried. It's very considered.

- [Narrator] The modern production field

disguises a simple truth.

The pursuit of perfection

doesn't require a
mechanized assembly line.

- Automation doesn't give
you the dexterity you need

when you're working with natural products.

The wood, the leather, the
hand-finished coach line,

and that's what we pride ourselves on.

- [Narrator] Pride that is in part

due to the Goodwood location.

- We're based here in West Sussex.

We employ over 1600 people

and we are a British
manufacturing success.

- It's completely non-traditional

to build a motor car in the South,

but actually also,

we're not really a traditional
automated manufacturer.

- [Narrator] Non-traditional manufacturing

that's inextricably linked
to the United Kingdom itself.

- Rolls-Royce is a key part
of kind of British history.

- It's a massive thing for Britain.

I think it's bigger than
the automotive industry.

- As an English brand,

I think it means a lot to a
lot of people, which is lovely.

- There's just a sort of a
cultural appreciation in Britain

for things that are handcrafted
that are done the old way.

- [Narrator] National honor
echoes throughout the complex.

It's real, real honored to say

I work for Rolls-Royce motor cars.

- Yeah, it's an iconic company.

It's the pinnacle of
the automotive industry.

In that respect, I think
my family are really proud.

- My dad was so proud of
me when I got a job here,

and he just always says,

"Oh, your granddad would be proud of you."

That's a sort of...

I don't know, yeah, proud
to be British, isn't it?

(light music)

- [Narrator] Rolls-Royce has always been

a source of prestige,

but it hasn't always been successful.

- The Rolls-Royce mark through
history as ups and downs.

The very beginning was
the 4th of May, 1904

when the two great men, our
founding fathers, if you like,

Sir Henry Royce and Charles Rolls

first met at the Midland
Hotel in Manchester,

- [Narrator] Sir Henry
Royce and Charles Rolls

meet five months

after the Wright brothers
take their very first flight.

It's a time when society
is radically changing.

Yet the horse and carriage

is still the dominant
form of transportation.

- Sir Henry Royce had had great success

but had very much come from nothing.

And Charles Rolls, who
was born to aristocracy,

but was very much an adventurer.

- [Narrator] Rolls is a thrill seeker

who becomes one of the first men

to fly across the English channel.

- There's very much a
meeting of great minds

and they discussed their desire

to build the world's best motor car.

- [Narrator] The men forge an agreement

to create a new car company.

Each and every machine will
carry the name Rolls-Royce.

- It was an intriguing meeting.
It's completely recorded.

We know what they have for dinner.

It's extraordinary as in
many things with Rolls-Royce.

The history is extremely well-documented.

(light music)

- [Narrator] From the very
beginning, price never matters.

- For Sir Henry Royce,

it was very much about quality
first and price second.

(light music)

- [Narrator] Both men believe

that there will always be customers

willing to pay a premium
for the very best,

and they're right.

(light music)

- [Andrew] So it was a
very early dawn of motor.

(light music)

- [Narrator] Like many first
generation technologies,

early automobiles are extremely expensive.

Rolls-Royce motor cars are
even more extravagantly priced.

- In the early days of the automobile

and Rolls-Royce was one of the earliest,

who could afford cars?

(light music)

- [Narrator] The company's
initial success comes in 1906.

- [Andrew] Perhaps the most famous car

that was the Silver Ghost.

- [Narrator] The Silver Ghost is built

to showcase the brand's
engineering prowess.

The machine is named for
its silver-plated body work,

but stands out due to its performance.

The car runs from London to
Glasgow 27 times in one year

and sets a world record
for non-stop motoring.

Eventually, the same machine will go on

to cover nearly 15,000 miles without fail

in an era when driving a
few hundred is challenging.

- And really set the
benchmark for Rolls-Royce

in terms of quality of engineering.

- Now, in the very early days,

gentleman racers raced
Rolls-Royce motorcars.

And then they became luxury cars,

they became chauffeur limousines,

and that's how it was for decades.

(light music)

- [Narrator] The astonishing cost

helps the company become a global brand

before anyone even knows
what going global means.

(light music)

- The Maharaja car, India,

perhaps the great
businessmen in the states.

The senior government official in Russia.

It's extraordinary that
this company in England

in those very early days

were shipping cars all over the world.

- [Narrator] Success outside the UK

sends the Flying Lady soaring.

However, by the latter
part of the 20th century,

she has trouble staying aloft.

- The how Rolls-Royce exists
now and is owed to the fact,

they actually ran outta
money and went bankrupt.

(light music)

- [Narrator] In 1971, it gets so bad

that the British government steps in

and nationalizes the company.

- There was nothing at all
for decade after decade.

And of course,

it's a British thing to
do is to step up a nip,

not talk about your problems.

- During that period and
moving through the '80s

and then into the '90s,

the company was suffering
from lack of investment.

- So Rolls-Royce was really
reaching the end there.

They didn't have the money

to keep doing what they were doing,

but they didn't have the
money to build an all new car.

(light music)

- It certainly was likely

that Rolls was on the brink of extinction.

We would've never known
until the day afterwards.

- [Narrator] As the
century draws to a close,

a brand that's synonymous with wealth,

power and fame is about to perish.

Until a single piece
of paper changes hands.

(light music)

In the early '90s,
Rolls-Royce is in peril.

The brand has survived two world wars,

bankruptcy and government nationalization.

Yet once again, it stands on
the edge of the precipice.

- Unimaginable. That's the thing.

This might not have existed

would've been a little bit scary.

- I think the last 20 years
of the automotive industry

have proven over and over again,

brands that we couldn't
conceive of living without

have gone.

- [Narrator] By the mid '90s,
the unthinkable happens.

Rolls-Royce is put up for sale.

- It's enormous turning point
in the history of Rolls-Royce.

- [Narrator] In 1998,

BMW acquires the mark
for 340 million pounds.

All they get in return is a name.

- What BMW had bought was
effectively a piece of paper.

There was no manufacturing
plant, there was no workforce,

no dealing network, no design.

It was perhaps the greatest
picture in automotive history.

(light music)

- [Narrator] The expedition begins

with a 65 million pound investment

for a new manufacturing
complex in Southern England.

- We were starting from scratch.

There wasn't a a direct
Rolls-Royce labor pool

ready to come in and start working.

- [Narrator] The factory's
strategic location near the sea

offers a unique artisanal advantage.

- One of the reasons
we're based in Goodwood

was a strong link with the
boat building industry.

- We're right next to the sea.
What do we make around here?

We make boats, yachts, superb interiors.

- [Narrator] A strong
concentration of craftsmanship

is vital when you are
rebuilding an icon of England

from the ground up.

- There were a hundred years of history

and a hundred years of expectation
sitting on BMW to create,

to rebuild, to rebirth, if you like,

the renaissance of this
incredible company.

- To BMW's credit, they really committed.

- [Narrator] The commitment is costly.

Over the next decade, BMW
injects over 1.4 billion euros.

The result, it's the first
brand new Rolls-Royce in years,

the Phantom.

- When Phantom was first coming out,

there hadn't been much of any
sort of new model initiative

on Rolls-Royce for many years.

- [Narrator] Introduced in 2003,

the Phantom is an opulent
limousine built for chauffeurs,

the pilot and passengers to appreciate.

- Rolls-Royce is a survivor.

Rolls-Royce is one of these brands

that has never strayed away
from its core competency.

- [Narrator] The Phantom
successfully reignites Rolls-Royce,

but after a decade in production,

the brand demographics grow older.

(light music)

- To attract new customers,

we must also stretch the brand a little.

- [Narrator] The remedy is a new machine

built for a different audience.

- It is an idea that's been
dormant for a long time

at Rolls-Royce.

The idea of a sporty Rolls-Royce.

- [Narrator] Those
sporty, youthful customers

won't buy a Wraith,

but rather commission
it like a work of art.

- We offer our customers

the ability to personalize their cars,

to work with us, to inspire us.

- [Narrator] The level of
customization is unmatched

in all of motoring.

- Part of the the
essence of of Rolls-Royce

is that it's individual.

Now, my printer can turn out an exact copy

of a Salvador Dalí painting,

but it's not the same
thing as the real thing.

- 98% of our cars come out of this factory

with some element of bespoke on them.

So the chances of getting
two cars that are identical

is very, very slim indeed, very slim.

- [Narrator] Deciding how
to configure your Wraith

is time consuming.

(light music)

- There's a number of decisions to make

and we don't rush our customers.

Often, it's a very personal decision.

(light music)

- [Narrator] A world of choice

awaits inside the customer studio

where a team of designers help customers

navigate the complex maze
of endless possibilities.

- We're here to sit with a customer

in quite a relaxed
fashion here in Goodwood

and to just understand

one of their aspirations for their car.

- We would show them a
range of different finishes

and different colors and
then put them together

so we can kind of decide

whether they like certain combinations.

- [Narrator] It's a very colorful world.

Rolls-Royce offers over
44,000 standard paint colors.

However, should you still
want for something else,

they can custom match
any hue in the rainbow.

(light music)

- Some customers will have a
huge amount of deliberation

on which color because it's
a massive sort of commitment.

Some colors may work in the Middle East

but won't work in Europe,

so it's kind of a bit
of a conversation point

with the customer.

(light music)

- [Narrator] The room's colorful demeanor

is perhaps only bested

by the nearly limitless
interior appointments

(light music)

- Rolls-Royce leather

is not something you just
buy from any tannery.

This is the nicest leather

you could possibly put in this car.

- [Narrator] The fabulous leather

is often complimented with
splendidly fine woods.

Rolls-Royce offers over
20,000 different veneers

and many find their way
into custom cabinetry,

seldom found in other automobiles.

- [Michael] We've got a
sketch of a humidor here,

which is integrated into the
center console of the Wraith.

(light music)

- [Narrator] Once approved,

the sketches head to the wood shop

where artisans handcraft
first rate interiors

using a mixture of old world knowhow

and state-of-the-art tech.

- We're here in the
Rolls-Royce woodworking shop.

It's a really special area in
Goodwood, a real crafty area.

It's got a romance to it.

- [Narrator] It's a wood-based romance

that's highly unusual in
the automotive industry.

- They're one of only two
companies in the world

that has their own wood shop in-house.

- [Martin] The guys that work in here

live and breathe wood parts.

It's a passion.
- This is an Ikea table

where you've got a bit
of veneer on the top

that looks very nice,

but the rest of it's all cheap.

You're buying a piece of furniture.

- [Narrator] Inside the humidor,

stacks of pristine wood
veneer leaves, sit,

ready to be transformed into
whatever one can imagine.

- Every piece of wood that we produce

starts with veneer that
comes from this room.

- [Narrator] The humidor
constant moisture level

keeps the wood malleable for artisans.

- They're from all over the world.

Tropical veneers, veneers from
North America, from Europe,

so quite a sourcing activities

needed to get hold of this stuff.

- [Narrator] From start to finish,

a single wood set takes
over six weeks to produce.

Each year they make over
81,000 handcrafted parts.

- We're just outside of the humidor now,

and basically this area

is where we prepare the
veneer through the next phase.

- [Narrator] This is where the
brand's famous book matching

comes to life.

A process where craftsmen mirror the grain

on both sides of the vehicle.

- Joe then has to
effectively match that veneer

down that center line in the car.

It is a real skill that the
guys have to develop over time

to get a good feel for the veneer,

to make sure that they
get that perfect pattern

through the car.

- [Narrator] When the
book matching is complete,

veneers are taped together

and sent to a laser cutting machine.

- After Joe's prepared the veneer,

effectively we've got the surface area

to cut the specific geometries out from.

(machine revving)
(light music)

- [Narrator] Finished panels
look like solid wood pieces,

but they're actually built up

of over 30 layers of different materials

due to safety regulations.

- The fact that you can't
have solid wood in a car,

God forbid there's an incident in a car

rather than the material breaking

and causing damage to the
occupants, it deforms.

There's a lot of challenges to overcome

with getting some of these
materials in the cars,

which makes the craftsmanship
even more impressive.

- [Narrator] In another
part of the wood shop,

the remaining layers are assembled,

- So what Tony's doing here is,

is selecting the individual
layers of that substrate part

that will be pressed
together in our press.

We've got glue sheets,
we've got aluminum layers.

There's a lot of complexity in this job.

- [Narrator] During each loading cycle,

the timing must be absolutely perfect.

(light music)

- It will have to load
it in a specific order

to make sure that the length of time

that the part is in the tool

doesn't exceed a certain amount of time,

which would set the glue too early.

- [Narrator] The press
laminates each panel

using 220 tons of force.

That's roughly two times
the weight of a blue whale.

When the substrate is finished,

it's time to glue the veneer on.

(light music)

- What Paul's doing here
is getting the veneer ready

to be pressed onto the substrate part

that you would recognize.

He'll apply a glue layer to the substrate,

put the veneer onto it,

and then we'll use the membrane
press to apply pressure

and heat to make sure that the face veneer

sticks to the substrate part.

So the heat is applied from the lower bed,

but effectively the membrane
is pulled down over the part

and that's the top pressure
that's applied onto the part

to set the adhesive.

Between the pressure and the
temperatures around 70 degrees

and about one bar of pressure,

and those parts will stay in
there for about 30 minutes.

- [Narrator] Then a talented crafts person

trims the excess material.

- As you see, he's trimming
the excess material off,

taking great care to make sure

it's not damaging the A surface

and is working with the part
then to get that final shape.

- [Andrew] If there are
any repairs to make,

artisans will cut small slivers

from the remaining veneer sheets

and delicately glue them into place.

- What Dan's using here is
your everyday appliance.

In terms of the iron,
it's not anything magical.

It's the perfect tool that the guys use

to apply the heat to set the glue.

We're in the final stages here.

What we're doing is
giving the final sanding

to the parts ready for
the lack of process.

- [Narrator] During the sanding process,

they take mere microns off
to prep it for lacquering.

Finally, the pieces and panels

are sent to the lacquering department

where they add less than two
millimeters of clear coat.

- The finest woods.

Everything in here has to
be top tier and perfect.

'Cause if it's not, what's the point?

- [Narrator] Being the best

has been the hallmark of
Rolls-Royce for over 110 years.

Yet in today's computerized society,

the artisanal talents

required to do it are fading away fast.

The key is ensuring those
irreplaceable skills live on.

(light music)

Rolls-Royce has been hand building

remarkable automobiles since 1904.

- Rolls-Royce is one of these companies

that's been laser focused on its mission,

which is we want to make the best car.

- [Narrator] The single-minded,

some might even say obsessive approach

to luxury car crafting is both
time consuming and expensive.

- At no time, now or in the past,

has Rolls-Royce said, "Eh,
just make it cheaper."

Doesn't exist.

- If you own a Rolls-Royce,
you have really made it.

- [Narrator] Owning a rolls
is a marker of success,

and building it requires a workforce

with an unusual set of skills.

- So that challenge is
maintaining the real detail

and craftsmanship within our product.

- [Narrator] To keep that expertise going,

the brand creates an
apprenticeship program.

Each year they offer 17 young adults

the opportunity to learn the art

of traditional coach building.

- I see younger people coming
through, I try and help them.

It is really good.

- [Narrator] Each apprenticeship
can last up to four years

and combines on-the-job
training with classroom study.

- They're the future,

so you then you need to
relay the information

that they need to help
them for their future.

For the future of Rolls-Royce as well.

(light music)

- [Narrator] It is an
exceptional way to give back

and to ensure the continuation
of a certain way of life.

- Me, when I was an apprentice,
I didn't know nothing.

I'd come straight from school.

I wouldn't be where I was now

if it wasn't for all these
guys working around me,

passing all their knowledge onto me.

- You can just see how the expertise

have been passed on from generations,

and actually see these people doing things

that we would've done years and years ago.

- Tradition and the reverence for the past

and for the craftsmen who really created

as much art as they did machine,

and Rolls-Royce keeps that spirit alive.

- [Narrator] Sewing team
leader Alice Strachan

is a prime example of how using the past

to bet on the future pays off.

- I met a couple of guys

that were doing their
apprenticeship there.

They were learning to do upholstery

and they said, "Well, you should try it."

And I thought, "Well,
what have I got to lose?"

- [Narrator] The apprenticeship
leads to a permanent job

in the leather sewing department.

- Yeah, I have grown here.

I, yeah, I started from
learning each process.

Now, I can look at a product

and think, "Oh, that's not good enough."

'Cause I know in seat
build or seat covering

that actually that's
gonna be really visible.

- [Narrator] Alice's
rise through the ranks

results in a once in a lifetime memory.

- The VIP was coming to the factory

and would I be able to introduce them?

And I thought, "Oh, who could that be?"

It was something to
meet the prime minister.

Not many people have that opportunity.

And then to actually shake his hand

and introduce him to a thousand people,

it was an experience.

Afterwards, everyone was coming up to me

telling me what a great job I'd done,

and I was just thinking,
"Oh, I'm glad it's over."

Oh, my little heart was beating,

but it was fantastic. (chuckling)

(light music)

- [Narrator] The leather department's goal

is to make every second spent
inside the cabin feel special.

- We're at the beginning of the process

where we start to make that
really special interior

made out of the best leather in the world.

So this is pre-inspection.

And I think what you'd notice immediately

is just the color range that we offer.

And these are the standard colors.

You've got some great colors.

We've got arctic white, a real contrast,

really popular in the Middle
East areas, really fantastic.

But then some of the more classics,

ardent red, you know,
really strong deep color,

but again, really shows
some of the contrast

that you can pick out.

- [Narrator] The first step in the process

is looking over the hides.

- And we inspect each hide
with a 10% stretch to that hide

so we can really see any natural
marks or any included marks

through the leather production process.

- [Narrator] They spread the leather out

on an air cutting table

and digitally lay out
templates for all the panels.

- Many places do this with a camera

and an automated process.

They lay the hide down on the table.

Well, our view is the
best camera you can buy

is the human eye.

There's more pixels to the
human eye than any other camera.

- [Narrator] It takes 17 days and 18 hides

to make just one Wraith interior.

- We've selected all the
panels, cut them, prepared them,

and then some further skill is added.

This is where the sewing team

provide their real craftsmanship,

their touch to bring those panels together

in the most exacting
the most precise manner.

(light music)

- A lot of our expertise
are within tailoring,

so we'll apply techniques

that you very much see a
lot in fashion, actually.

Each associate and I have come
from a tailoring background

or from a furnishing background,

and they've come here
and they use their skills

from other other areas.

- No rush to get, like, you
know, the product through.

We have to make sure that
each one comes out perfect.

- [Narrator] The leather
shop is the opposite

of today's high-tech,
highly automated culture.

The level of detail and hand work

required to bring an interior to life

is remarkably similar to how Charles Rolls

and Sir Henry Royce would've done it.

- With our forefathers,

really come in here and
recognize the processes.

And I think, yes, I really do.

And that's because the craftsmanship,

the basic processes that we are using

are bringing the materials together

in pretty much the same way.

So this kit is now ready to go upstairs

to the seat production area

for them to finish off the magic.

- [Narrator] Upstairs, the trim department

assembles interior pieces one by one.

(light music)

Metal frames are wired,
cushions are covered,

and seats are tested to
ensure they work flawlessly.

When the seats are finished,

they're sent downstairs

along with the rest of
the interior elements

to the final assembly hall

where a tightly knit team

continues the quest for perfection.

- You seem to know everyone.
It's quite weird, really.

It's almost like you're
working in a small company

'cause everyone's so close together.

- [Narrator] It's a small company feeling

born out of small batch production.

- It takes about 18 hours in total

for the car to go from
the start to the finish,

which for us is just over a day

because we run a two-shift operation.

- [Narrator] Painted frames enter the line

at the rate of around one an hour,

but they're seldom rushed.

- We allow ourselves a bit
more time and a bit calmer pace

to prevent us actually having those issues

where we particularly damage a parts

gonna take six weeks to make.

But each of the operators

has over 50 minutes worth
of work to remember.

So you're not doing it every 60 seconds,

but they've got an hour's
worth of things to remember,

which for this car will be
different to the car behind it.

- [Narrator] The Wraith
line features 18 stations.

- The first thing really

is putting all of the
undergarments into the car.

(light music)

- [Narrator] First,

they install a custom-tailored
wiring harness.

- [Simon] There's kilometers of wire

that when you individually
pull in the parts,

we are talking highways worth
of wiring going into the car.

- [Narrator] While there's
a hefty amount of wire

inside the Wraith, there isn't
a lot inside the factory,

nor is there any semblance of automation.

- With the cycle times the
number of cars we've build a day,

having a conveyor belt isn't what we need,

we're not about automation.

You won't see in this
product process any robots.

- It's almost like you're
not really working on a car.

It's totally different.
It's not high production.

- It's a very manual process.

Yeah, we deliberately keep
the factory fairly quiet.

There's no music playing.

(light music)

- [Narrator] It takes a peaceful place

to build what many consider

to be the quietest automobile on the road.

- That moment when the doors click shut

and then the auto closed calls them too,

and there's that moment
of complete silence,

and I don't know of many cars

that you get that kind of atmosphere.

- [Narrator] An extreme amount
of sound deadening material

creates the silence sensation.

- When you're inside, a cutoff
from the rest of the world,

it's a lovely environment.

And to get that,

we put a lot of different types

of sound insolation in the car.

Different weights of sound insolation

will stop different types of noise.

(light music)

- [Narrator] The instrument
panel comes next.

Though, unlike most cars here,
it's installed in two stages.

The first is the mechanical
guts of the system.

Then they put in the top-notch
handcrafted materials.

- So this is the next stage

of building up the instrument panels.

In the car behind us,

we've now got the leather
and the wood being fitted.

- [Narrator] The leather and
wood not only draw your eye,

but also hide a tremendous
amount of electrical componentry.

(light music)

- One of the things you really notice

is how hidden everything is.

And again, that's a decision
that's been made on purpose.

And the car should be uncluttered

and the technology
should only be available

when you want it available.

- Rolls also has little touches

that make it a very endearing card.

You have this big infotainment screen.

If you just don't wanna look at it,

you press one button and a
wood veneer screen comes down

and covers it up,

and the whole driving experience changes.

(light music)

- [Narrator] It is a driving
experience unlike any other,

partly due to luxury,
partly due to Formula 1.

(light music)

At the Rolls-Royce complex
in Goodwood, England,

artisans have spent hundreds of hours

ensuring only the finest
pieces go into a new Wraith.

Yet hidden beneath the lavish materials

is a highly sophisticated machine.

- When you sit inside a Rolls-Royce,

you're seeing handcrafted
wood and the finest leather

that's been hand-stitched
and all these things.

And all the computers
and things are hidden.

- [Narrator] Some of those computers

run the eight-speed transmission.

A gearbox that holds a surprise

can actually think on its own.

- Rather than have the gearbox

purely just keeping up
with the speed of the car,

it's also reading the road ahead

so it knows the corners that are coming up

and it knows what gear to set the car for.

- [Narrator] The satellite
GPS connected transmission

is an industry first

and based on BMW's Formula 1 technology.

- If you're coming down a straight road

and there's a perpendicular
junction in the road,

if you have your turn signal going,

the car knows you're
gonna make a left turn.

So it makes sure it holds the correct gear

rather than maybe going into a higher gear

that it would otherwise

have for that straight piece of growth.

- [Narrator] The
transmission is preassembled

in the drivetrain subassembly area

where two workers bolt
the Wraith's running gear

to the massive 6.6 liter
twin turbo V12 engine.

- This is our 6.6 liter twin
turbo V12 that powers Wraith.

It's an impressive engine

and it's actually quite
a tight fit as well.

- We have very tight tolerances

and when the engine actually
goes to the engine bay,

you are looking about three
quarters of an inch either side.

- [Narrator] Every hour,
a completed drive train

is sent to an eagerly awaiting Wraith.

- Whole marriage process

using 16 fixings taken about
six and a half minutes.

- [Narrator] The installation

of the most powerful Rolls-Royce engine

is both smooth and easy,

just like driving the machine.

- A Wraith has a driving experience

that's just unlike anything else.

The way the engine delivers power,

the way the ride quality feels,
the way the steering field.

- So the car feels a
little more responsive,

but it still has that,

the flying carpet feel that
you're driving on a cloud.

And that it's absolutely silent inside

and there's no distractions
from the outside world.

- It's a very low automation line.

But on the flip side of that,

we do have a lot of nuts
and bolts and screws

that actually really are
very critical to the car.

- [Narrator] Some of those nuts

are used to install the high
tech air suspension system.

- There's two elements for that.

One is the sensing,

so something that can understand
what the wheels are doing.

And then the other part

is actually the air suspension
units which are in the body.

- [Narrator] The air suspension

reacts almost instantaneously.

It makes adjustments 60 times a second.

- So if you were to take
yourself from the passenger seat

on the left rear side

and jump across to the right hand side,

the car's already sorted itself out,

but by the time your
backside hits the seat.

(light music)

- [Narrator] While occupants are isolated

from the majority of
the high tech systems,

there's one star that stands out.

- Okay, this is the creation

of our Wraith Starlight Headliner.

So this is one of the sort
of a real popular feature

for our customers in the car.

It gives them that starlight
twinkle effect in their roof.

- [Narrator] It takes
1,340 fiber optic cables

to replicate the night
sky, and over 14 hours.

- You must be very upgrade and patient

because these holes are very, very tiny

and you are using drill bits
like it's 0.8 millimeters,

so it's very, very special.

- They are delicate, very delicate.

If you bend them too far, they're break.

You've gotta be careful cutting
them so that you don't...

When you're cutting them,
you don't cut the leather.

Headline's the last thing you want to do.

- [Narrator] All that twinkle adds up.

The bespoke Starlight option

adds over 11,000 euros
to the sticker price.

- This is one of those things
that if anyone else did it,

it would be a kitschy gimmick.

When Rolls-Royce does it,
it's fabulous, it is so cool.

Especially, the fact
that you can determine

what stars are over your head.

Come on. That is the
coolest thing in the world.

- [Narrator] They swing
the seats into place

before bolting on the Wraith's
rear hinged coach doors.

- A lot of people call 'em suicide doors,

which is not brand appropriate.

- The doors are a piece of jewelry, right?

It's totally unnecessary.

You could have a regular door
that opened in a regular way,

but you could also have
a regular car, right?

(light music)

- [Narrator] Custom Canadel wood panels

feature the largest veneer
in the automotive industry.

- They're substantial doors.

One of the first things people
do when they get in the car

is reach to close it.

You don't have to do that.
They're all power closed,

- And I love the fact that
they have a little button

that you can press that swings the door in

so you don't have to
reach out and grab it,

because that would just
require too much work

than you should possibly
ever exert in a Rolls-Royce.

- [Narrator] As the interior takes shape,

a crafts person installs the
signature steering wheel.

- I love Rolls-Royce steering wheels.

They're simple and thin-rimmed.

There's something super elegant

about this thin steering
wheel with knobs on the back.

The tactile sensations in
Rolls-Royce are fantastic.

- In your regular old automotive factory,

the idea is to build as many
cars that day as possible.

Rolls-Royce is the
exact opposite approach.

- [Narrator] As the machine enters

its final phase of construction,

in a small room,

a craftsman assembles the
elaborate customer keybox by hand.

When the box is finished,

it's sent to a very
special station on the line

where they install the Spirit of Ecstasy.

- And so we put the Emily on here,

which everyone loves to see, obviously.

The Spirit of Ecstasy goes on the front.

- You know, it's actually
looks quite simple,

but you have to know a few bits

because it's so easy to damage.

I said, even to my wife, every
single Royce last five years,

and I always has my Emily.

So that's really, that's
a very good feeling.

- Something else that
really good happens here.

The first time the cars ever driven,

which is another thing
that we love to be part of.

The first time you hear a roary engine.

- [Narrator] After a
new Wraith is fired up,

it's time to test it out.

A process that is six times longer

than it takes to build the machine.

- Take it into wheel alignment

where we'll just check all the alignment

and geometry for suspension.

Next down the vehicles move forward

into a driver assistance systems check.

After that, we move the vehicle

into a pre-roll and road inspection.

Then we put our cars into a rolling road

in a full driver simulation,

making sure that the
functionality of the car there,

ABS braking, kick down of
the gearbox is as we expect.

There is a lot of responsibility there

because if we were to send
something onto our customer

that didn't meet or
exceed their expectations,

then you've lost the Rolls-Royce brand.

It's all about perfection.

(light music)

- [Narrator] The pursuit of perfection

is evident everywhere you looked

inside the Goodwood complex,

but there's one man who
has no margin for error.

Coachline painter, Mark Court.

- Coachline means I put a
highlight line on most cars,

as you can see from the
one that's with us now.

It's being in a right mindset

When you walk in in the morning,

you've gotta be in a
certain mindset to do this.

You've gotta be able to
switch off from everything.

Just go into your own little
world and just do this.

- [Narrator] It takes Mark three hours

to apply a custom coachline.

It's done entirely by hands

and runs the full six
meters of the machine.

- This is not really a
thing that a robot can do.

If you look closely enough,

you will see his hand on
this slight inconsistencies

that you can look with your
fingers rather than your eyes.

What you see is what you get.

There is no clear coat put over these.

This paint is what is it
actually adheres to the car.

And believe me, you cannot
get it off after five days,

they can still wash, wax,
polish and it'll still be there.

Each one's different.

Each one is done with a
little bit of passion.

I take pride in every
one of these that I do.

- You're paying a lot
of money for an expert,

master craftsman to hand paint
these stripes on your car.

You want to note that
they were done by hand.

This wasn't a machine

that came through and sprayed it quickly.

This man spent hours hand painting.

- [Narrator] It's taken
over 200 craftspeople

more than three months.

But finally, the keys to
a brand new Rolls-Royce

are ready to be handed over.

- When we've completed our process,

I wonder where it will
go, who's gonna be in it,

who will see it and go, "Wow."

- From the time that you walk up to it,

when you start it up, I
mean, for crying aloud,

it's got a power available
gauge instead of attack.

The way the Spirit of
Ecstasy pops out of the dash,

every part of the car is about wow.

- [Narrator] The wows and
wonder are a direct result

of the nearly limitless
artisanal handcrafting

that goes into each machine.

- There's like a club
of like two automakers

that do this kind of stuff.

You get a level of craftsmanship
that's just unparalleled.

These are people who are lifers

who have been grown up in
the company from beginning

to just make these materials

as beautiful and as nice as possible.

- You are proud to be
part of that process.

You know, if I go to
London and I see a car,

I say to my partner,

"You know, I could have been part of that.

I could have made some of
those seats, you know?"

- So I'm very proud to work here.

I think it is incredible
that we produce vehicles here

that go all around the world.

- [Narrator] No matter
where a Rolls-Royce goes,

it usually gets noticed.

- My father's an engineer,

and my father and my brother
are both car boys as well,

so if I can bring the latest car home,

they want to have a look.
- It's one of those cars

that you love to share the experience,

but people wanna know everything about it.

They wanna know how much it costs,

how much power it has, all these things,

but really, all they wanna
do is spend time with it.

- [Narrator] It's an experience
that's been lovingly imbued

using traditional methods
rarely seen in modern cars.

- Rolls-Royce is the
very natural extension

of this British idea of custom tailoring

and of old world tradition

and of respecting
tradition and fine craft.

(light music)

- [Carlos] From its
silhouette to its badging,

you know you're looking
at something impressive.

- To see one and to actually
experience one is very rare.

- You roll onto that accelerator,
it's like this gentle,

quiet wave of torque is
just urging you along,

but in the softest way possible
and it feels really good.

- [Narrator] Seeing one is extremely rare.

Owning one is even more exclusive.

And for over 110 years,

the Flying Lady has
stood for the very best.

(light music)

- The Wraith was an admission

that, "Hey, there are people
who have the financial means

to drive these cars, who want
to drive them themselves."

- What it's done for our brand
in real terms is massive.

So five years ago,

our age demographic was 53
years old average, it's now 45.

- [Narrator] It's one of the
most luxurious automobiles

that money can buy.

Built from a brand that nearly faded away.

And a machine that could only come

from the most famous
icon in British motory.

The Rolls-Royce Wraith.

- Any Rolls-Royce has a precious jewel

in the automotive ocean.

It's exceptional, it is unique.

And if we look through the cars

that have been built through history

and more than three quarters
are still here today.

Exceptional.

It is very much about
taking those cars forward

for future generations.

(ascending music)