A Great Rolls-Royce For A Great Cause

Knotty Nawadhinsukh Words by Knotty Nawadhinsukh

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars officially unveiled the latest model to their range, the Rolls-Royce SRH. This truly unique one-off was meticulously built and handcrafted as ever by the world-famous luxury automobile manufacturer’s Bespoke Manufacturing team, which is usually reserved for their most discerning of clients and took over 400 man-hours to complete.

In this instance, the “client” happened to be the St. Richard’s Hospital Pediatric Day Surgery Unit (hence the “SRH” designation) which is located at Rolls-Royce’s hometown in Chichester. The SRH is Rolls-Royce’s gesture of giving back to their local community. It is a fully operable car exclusively for use by young patients who can drive themselves to the operating theatre, thus lessening their stress toward their surgeries. The corridors of the hospital will have appropriate traffic signs and directions, giving children the full experience of driving the car.

The SRH is not a “toy” as such as it is ladened with the usual refinements as expected from Rolls-Royce’s craftsmanship. These included a two-tone paint-scheme of Andalusian White and Salamanca Blue, a two-tone steering wheel, with the seats and self-righting wheel that centres perfectly and are colour-matched to the St James Red coachline that were hand-applied, along with paddle controls. Not forgetting of course the Spirit of Ecstasy on the “bonnet” as the finishing touch. The powertrain is a “quiet as a Rolls-Royce” 24 volt gel battery, giving an impressive top speed of 10MPH (or  can be “detuned” with a speed setting down to a gentler 4MPH).

The official hand-over was made, led by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös with the Bespoke Manufacturing Team at their Goodwood Studio in front of Marianne Griffiths, Chief Executive, of Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and the staffs at St. Richard’s. Also included in the proceedings were the families of patients, Molly Matthews and Hari Rajyaguru who both were given the first test drives right on the production floor.

Well done, Rolls-Royce.