COACHBUILD

Car design revolution

Niels van Roij Design work is the automotive equivalent of Haute Couture. It is a in-house designed car and hand-tailored to fit a specific customer. Our customers come to the studio with an idea, shared in the creative process where we advise him on his cloth, and then we tailor that cloth to him. You might say we cut the cloth for the suit of clothes that he will be judged by. Crucially, new cars opens up new possibilities for coachbuilding. We have freedom to construct almost any body shape our patrons can imagine, constrained only by fundamental design and engineering requirements. This means that Niels van Roij Design and its patrons can now look beyond bespoke and build the car itself, to commission. In this way, it is perfectly aligned with a lifestyle in which the client’s investments in luxury, from property, clothing and jewellery to works of art, yachts or private aircraft are personal, individual and unique.

Coachbuilding has survived

Henry Ford introduced the rolling assembly line in 1913 and brought automobile ownership within reach of the masses. He also put in motion the eventual decline of coachbuilding, a trade that is thought to date back to the Romans and which produced some of the most spectacular automobiles of the 20th century. Coachbuilders delivered a few handmade bolides produced by irreplaceable craftsmen using ancient tools and techniques, while mass production harnessed unskilled labor and mechanized automation to deliver millions of identical vehicles at an affordable price. One form of production flourished while the other diminished until, in the postwar period, it was practiced by only a few specialized design houses—and most of those are gone today. But customers can still commission their car at our studio.

Coachbuild car

Thanks to new technologies and materials, coachbuilding has never really gone away. The desire to own a car that is completely singular and not made on an assembly line is the goal of many of our clients. There’s something magical about things that are made by hand, whether it’s a leather handbag or a boat or a piece of pottery or a car. Handmade things are not plentiful these days. Niels van Roij Design customers tend to be looking for one-off vehicles that evoke the past as well as the future but are never replicas. In our arena of modern coachbuilding, our designers can classic themes with 21st-century standards of technology, performance, and safety. In 2016 Niels van Roij Design was commissioned to create a one-off wagon version of a Tesla Model S, a project that led van Roij to make custom coachbuilding his full-time job.

coachbuild coachbuilding Tesla Shooting Brake Niels van Roij Design bespoke coachbuilt one-off car design Model SB workship WIP body work
Tailor Made Beyond customisation
Range Rover bespoke coachbuilt Adventum Coupe Niels van Roij Design one-off coachbuilding coachbuild coachbuilt rendering designer designing sketch interior dashboard
Range Rover bespoke coachbuilt Adventum Coupe Niels van Roij Design one-off interior treadplate
Rolls-Royce Wraith coachbuild coachbuilding Silver Spectre Shooting Brake Niels van Roij bespoke coachbuilt one-off exterior
Breadvan Hommage V12 sportscar coachbuilding coachbuilt Niels van Roij Design interior headliner alcantara leather black
one-off coachbuilding targa project by Niels van Roij Design detail craftmanship workshop V12 designer car designer suit alloy wheels red paint

FEATURED PROJECTS

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Are you curious about the possibilities of coachbuilding by Niels van Roij Design for you? Let’s discuss all unique options for your tailor made dream car! Just like your bespoke suit, house and garden, your car deserves your excellent taste. Through coachbuidling by Niels van Roij Design it is possible to co-create your own dream car with us