Lunaz unveils electric Rolls-Royce for luxury hotels
Lunaz, the Silverstone-based electric conversions specialist, has shown off its latest creation — an all-electric restoration of a 1960 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II that once belonged to Sophia Loren.
That would make this car special enough, but there’s far more to it than that. This Silver Cloud II is the first of Lunaz’s hotel programme cars — restored classics, with modern fixtures and fittings and electric drive, so that they can be used to chauffeur special guests in and out of city centre locations which, increasingly, have restrictions on combustion engines.
So, for this Silver Cloud II, the original 6.3-litre V8 has been taken out (and carefully preserved so that it can be reunited with the car in the future if needed) and replaced by Lunaz’s electric motors and batteries. While the company hasn’t issued specific details about this car’s performance, a previous Silver Cloud conversion by Lunaz boasted an 80kWh battery and a range of around 500km.
The car’s exterior styling is unchanged, but it’s very different under the skin. Aside from the new electric powertrain, Lunaz has carefully restored and renewed the car’s interior, with new sage-green leather to go with the original walnut dashboard. In the back, there are reshaped seats — which are also now heated — and a full infotainment system compatible with Apple Car Play and Android Auto and USB charging points. Even the carpets are modern — they’re made from recovered and recycled ocean plastics supplied by Sedna.
The driver, meanwhile, gets a parking camera system, a six-inch full-colour display, and an electric parking brake.
The idea behind the hotel programme — of which this Rolls is the first car to be built — is that luxury hotels can fit the cars out with their own liveries (this one features Shale over Rich Gold, with matching wheel centres) and modern interior amenities. Lunaz can provide extra luggage-carrying capability if needed, and there’s a chauffeur-training programme, too.
“Every Rolls-Royce elevated by Lunaz has its own unique and fascinating story to tell, but few can match this exceptional Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, which was built in 1960 and first owned by the famous actress synonymous with elegance and style, Sophia Loren. In elevating this beautiful, historically important classic to fully electric power, we’ve remained absolutely faithful to its original spirit and purpose: to use the most advanced technology available to convey passengers in perfect serenity, privacy and comfort. Through this car and other vehicles built through the Lunaz Hotel Programme, we’re enabling the world’s leading hotel and residence operators to add a new dimension to their guests’ experience,” said David Lorenz, founder of Lunaz.
The hotel programme has already seen more commissions for classic Rolls-Royce and Bentley models. One hotel has ordered a converted long-wheelbase Range Rover to drive its clients off into the countryside.
How much would one of these cost? It depends very much on the options one chooses — and Lunaz can offer everything from bespoke paint to a full interior redesign — but previous Silver Cloud conversions have cost around STG£350,000. The larger Phantom model, with its 120kWh battery, costs more like STG£500,000. One of Lunaz’s Range Rover conversions has a starting price of around STG£245,000.