Rolls Royce is taking a selection of their bespoke motor cars on a summer tour of some of Europe’s swankiest leisure destinations

Photo: BMW Group PressClub.

If you're part of the crowd that uses the word summer as a verb and need an extra thing or two to do as you lounge about in some of Europe’s most swanky leisure destinations this season, you just might have a chance to include Rolls Royce spotting as one of your ways of passing the time. But you'd better move quickly.

According to an announcement issued yesterday by the BMW Group, the current owner of the elite British luxury brand, Rolls Royce Motor Cars will be bringing a selection of its bespoke vehicles to selected enclaves along the European coastline to give “the wealthy and influential” a chance to experience them.

Getting a little tired of that old woody wagon you’ve been using to cart your surfboards around? Then Rolls Royce has a fresh idea just for you. If you’ll be visiting Cannes in the South of France, you’ll have a chance to see a unique surfboard handcrafted by British marquetarians mounted atop a bespoke Rolls Royce Ghost, generously loaned back by the owner—sorry, I mean "patron of the brand"—for Rolls Royce to display.

Gee. I guess it was too much to ask for Rolls Royce to pony up an example on their own.

In case “marquetarian” is too hoity-toity a word for your spell checker to recognize—as it was for mine—that’s a hand craftsman who specializes in finishing elegant objects with exotic veneers of premium woods and other fine material. The surfboard mounted on the loaned Rolls Royce Ghost is crafted on a base of sustainably sourced Paulownia timber, and incorporates American Walnut, Ripple Sycamore, Figured Anigre and Birch veneers as well as 24 carat gold leaf.

So it’s not the board for your everyday California surfin’ safari, that’s for sure.

But you’d better get your plane ticket quick if you want to catch this Ghost and its surfboard in Cannes. According to the August 10 announcement from the BMW Group, the Cannes visit is already in progress and ends tomorrow.

In addition to Cannes, Rolls Royce from August 15 through September 2 will have seven bespoke Rolls Royce models on display on the exclusive La Reserva Golf Course in Sotogrande on the Andalusian Coastline, where driving and chauffer experiences will be available—but just not in the Cullinan, which will be available for “static viewings only.”

Ahem. Have you any Grey Poupon?

So how much will one of these bespoke motor cars from Rolls Royce set you back? Well, if you have to ask, then maybe....

Just kidding.

According to Car and Driver, you can put a 2018 Rolls Royce Ghost in your garage for $308,000. A mere $9,000 more gets you behind the wheel of a Rolls Royce Wraith, said to be a "sportier" version of the Rolls Royce Ghost. A 2018 Rolls Royce Phantom starts at $420,325. Hmmm. Wonder what that last $325 pays for? And if you want the 2018 Rolls Royce Dawn convertible, it's $343,875.

Apparently, with the above mentioned "static viewings only" status for the summer tours, the Cullinan is kind of a big deal. Car and Driver lists the price as "unavailable." But according to USA Today, the Rolls Royce "super luxury SUV" isn't the most expensive model in the Rolls Royce lineup. The 2018 Cullinan starts at  $325,000.

Anyone in the mood to go muddin'?