Rolls-Royce Sweptail: what it's like to drive a bespoke one-off

Goff admits he’s lucky to be trusted with driving Sweptail: “It’s a massive privilege. I’ve driven some lovely cars over the last five or six years working for Rolls-Royce, but to be able to say you’re driving a one-off, bespoke coachbuild is fantastic.

“This car is the result of four years work between the customer and the Rolls-Royce design team – and they’ve trusted me to drive it at the home of Rolls-Royce.”

While the short Goodwood hillclimb, complete with unforgiving run-off in places, meant that Goff only had limited mileage in the car, he says it handles impressively.

“It feels very much like a Rolls-Royce,” he says. “It’s a big car – a big car – but when you’re behind the wheel it actually feels lightweight and nimble.

“Some parts of the hillclimb are quite tight and twisty, but it handles them with ease, which is a testament to the engineers at Rolls-Royce.”

Even when parked in Goodwood’s ‘first look’ paddock, there was a crowd gathered around Sweptail for much of the weekend. That attention remained even when Goff was driving Sweptail from the paddock to the start of the hillclimb – he had six minders to help him work the big machine through the crowds. Goff says he can understand the reaction.

“The car’s had a lot of press, and it’s a stunning car, an absolute masterpiece,” he says. “It’s a piece of art. Everyone’s reaction is ‘wow’ – you can’t see a fully coachbuilt car like this anywhere else.”

Once Goodwood is over, it’s back to the day job for Goff: trying to win the BTCC’s Independents’ Championship. Goff was involved in a huge qualifying accident in the last event at Croft, in which several drivers were injured. While Goff escaped unhurt and was able to race, the qualifying issues wrecked his race, leaving him 18 points behind Tom Ingram in the Independents’ title race.

“With how close the BTCC is, it’s hard to make up ground when you have issues in qualifying,” he says. “Thankfully we didn’t lose too much ground in the title race.”