On the morning of 1 September 1937, at the height of the battle between the United States and Great Britain to be the fastest nation on water, British speed record pioneer Sir Malcolm Campbell headed out onto the calm blue waters of Lake Maggiore on the Swiss-Italian frontier.

Pointing the nose of his Bluebird K3 hydroplane boat south, powered by Rolls-Royce's R-engine, he established a new water-speed record of 126.32mph. The following day he went one better, piloting his craft to 129.5mph, emphatically breaking the United States' five-year stranglehold on the world water-speed record. Campbell's momentous achievement captured the world's attention and reaffirmed Rolls-Royce R-engines' record-breaking superiority after triumphs on land and in the air.

Celebrating this incredible act of British ‘Derring-Do', Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Bespoke department has created the Waterspeed Collection, 35 specially designed Phantom Drophead Coupés. Echoing the cutting-edge technology employed in the construction of the K3, only the finest contemporary materials have been used to furnish the Waterspeed Collection. Brushed steel perfectly complements an exclusively developed Maggiore Blue colour scheme. Perfectly book-matched open-grain Abachi wood veneer evokes the sense of a boat effortlessly gliding through water at pace, whilst the exterior coachline and laser etchings inside the car bring Campbell's ‘Bluebird' motif back to life.

"Sir Malcolm Campbell's successful pursuit of world-speed records on land and water were the result of his commitment to the most exacting standards of British design and engineering excellence," comments Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. "Such attributes are hallmarks of every Rolls-Royce motor car, ensuring the marque's position at the pinnacle of super-luxury manufacturing. This special Collection serves to display the breadth of Bespoke personalisation available to every Rolls-Royce customer.