When South African swimming star Charlene Wittstock marries His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco next Saturday (July 2), their official wedding car will be this unique, handmade, hybrid Lexus LS600h landaulet with a one-piece, transparent polycarbonate roof.
The conversion took Belgian coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet more than 2000 hours, with a lot of help from Lexus engineers based in Brussels, starting with computer-aided design calculation, simulations and 3D modelling.
A modern car relies on its roof for much of its torsional rigidity, so the topless Lexus had to be reinforced with lots of Kevlar and carbon fibre honeycomb - but these composite materials have to be cured at very high temperatures, literally “cooked” on to the bare chassis in a huge oven.
This meant most of the car had to be dismantled first, with about 20 000 mechanical parts, electric components, and interior features and upholstery stripped out. Naturally, the curing oven also wrecked the paint finish so, before it was re-assembled, the Lexus was resprayed by hand in this elegant dark blue livery, using a specially made, water-based paint.
The transparent roof - a single piece with no reinforcement or pillars - was a huge challenge to design and to make. Duchatelet finally turned to a French company that specialises in supplying similar components to the aerospace industry, such as helicopter windscreens and fighter jet canopies.
First they made a template in carbon-fibre honeycomb to make sure it would work, and ensure a perfect fit, with tolerances of less than 1mm all round. Then a huge sheet of 8mm polycarbonate was heated and shaped by robotic tools to form the canopy, which weighs only 26kg complete with the two trim sections where it's mounted on the body above the boot lid and across the B pillars.
Fitting the roof, re-assembly and finishing took a team of 10 specialists more than two weeks, working with Lexus engineers to make sure all the car's systems worked properly - but the end result is a carriage fit for a princess.
On the day of the wedding the LS 600h landaulet will be used by the royal couple to tour the principality after the ceremony, mostly in fully electric mode, with zero tailpipe emissions. After the celebrations the car will be displayed at the media centre and later in the Monaco oceanographic museum.