There was a time when custom coachbuilding was ubiquitous. It’s now gaining popularity again, at least among the exceedingly wealthy who can afford such extravagance. But a decade ago, the practice was just starting to return to the fore. That’s when the Hyperion was built.
Commissioned from Pininfarina by a well-endowed collector named Roland Hall, the Hyperion was based on the Phantom Drophead Coupe that had just come out, but fitted with entirely original bodywork that did away in the process with the rear seats to make it a two-seat roadster.
The Hyperion was unveiled at Pebble Beach in 2008, capturing imaginations contemplating the dawn of a new era of coachbuilding. We don’t know how much Hall paid for the project, but the next year he sold it for a reported £4 million, equivalent to about $5 million at today’s rates, or upwards of $6.5 million at the time.
You’d figure it would be worth at least that much on the market today, especially considering the nearly $13 million just paid for the Rolls-Royce Sweptail unveiled at Villa d’Este. But Dubai-based Al Ain Class Motors has it listed for €2 million (~$2.3m/£1.75m), and has for several years already. Yet apparently nobody’s taken it.
Now don’t get us wrong: two million is a lot of money. More than this writer will ever see, to be sure. But in the context of the $13-million Sweptail, it seems like a relative bargain… one at which we’re surprised nobody has jumped already.
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