Rolls-Royce Opens This $9.5 Million Car’s Trunk 15,000 Times Before You Get It

Rolls-Royce is taking no chances with the trunk of its $9.5 million Nightingale. Before owners even get their cars, the automaker plans to open and close the unusual side-hinged trunk 15,000 times. At that rate, the mechanism gets roughly two lifetimes of use before the car reaches its owner.

The Nightingale is a fully electric two-seat roadster and the first model in Rolls-Royce’s Coachbuild Collection series.

It measures a massive 226.8 inches long and features a dramatic boat-tail rear with what Rolls-Royce calls a “piano boot,” which opens sideways like a grand piano lid. The car also gets a small cashmere roof designed to let raindrop sounds into the cabin while keeping out most of the electric powertrain noise.

Rolls-Royce puts the Nightingale through much more than trunk testing. The company plans 350 weeks of testing across Mediterranean roads, Arctic conditions, North African deserts, and mountain roads reaching 2,750 meters (9,020 feet). The car also carries a 155 mph speed limiter, although most owners will probably never get close to testing it themselves.

The Rolls Royce Nightingale project is limited to just 100 cars, with each one estimated to cost around $9.5 million before personalization. At that price, Rolls-Royce wants every little detail to work exactly as intended, even if the trunk gets far more exercise at the factory than it ever does in the hands of its owner.