Last year was a record year for many car makers – not the least of which was Rolls-Royce.

This month the 113-year-old British brand reported that 2016 was its third consecutive record year for US sales and its second-best year ever globally.

The brand sold roughly 1400 cars in the Americas, up 12 per cent year over year, and hit 4011 cars sold globally, up 6 per cent for the same period.

Customised luxury

Rolls's new $448,232 Dawn convertible led the charge, accounting for half of total sales. But the robust bespoke program Rolls-Royce runs also bolstered sales: 20 per cent of all Rolls-Royce cars are heavily bespoked, according to Pedro Mota, the head of Rolls-Royce Americas – and that's on top of the usual customisation most owners order.

Twenty per cent is the typical uptick price due to customisation.

It makes sense. With an owner base that seeks a luxury that surpasses material acquisition, providing a complete bespoke process on a car is one of the few ways to elicit real emotion from potential buyers.

A timeless legacy of design

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, the chief executive officer of Rolls-Royce, is rather poetic about it: "In commissioning these extraordinary objects in close collaboration with our designers, they create a timeless legacy often profoundly inspired by the most important moments in [our owners'] lives."  

Led by the launch of the Black Badge Bespoke Series, which is a special limited-edition variant of the Ghost and Wraith, the company has produced hundreds of totally unique cars. Most of them in 2016 went to owners in North America and the Middle East.

Here are five of the best.

1. The Michael 'Fux Blue' Rolls-Royce Pebble Beach Dawn

Everyone in the car world knows Michael Fux (pronounced "fyooks"). The avid car collector made his fortune selling mattresses and orders a new Rolls-Royce what seems like once a year.

Many are displayed at Pebble Beach during the Concours d'Elegance and then go on tour to other ritzy locales to show off the craftsmanship. 

The 2017 Rolls-Royce Dawn that Fux used is the carmaker's first new droptop in decades.

It has space for four, a generous trunk, and a silky-smooth transmission. Top speed is 250 kph. The 6.6-litre V12 engine will hit 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds.

2. The Rolls-Royce Ghost inspired by the greats

This special-commission bespoke Ghost was ordered by a prominent Rolls-Royce dealer in the Middle East.

It is meant to celebrate the great composers in the history of classical music.

The standard-issue Ghost comes with a twin-turbo 6.6-litre V12 engine that gets 563 horsepower. It has an eight-speed transmission that hits 96 km/h in 4.9 seconds.

By comparison, that speed is as fast as a Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet and a Bentley Mulsanne Speed. Top speed is 257 km/h.

3. The Rolls-Royce 'Blue Magpie' Phantom Drophead Coupé

This Phantom Drophead Coupé was commissioned by a wealthy man in Taiwan.

It is one of the very last current-generation Phantoms built and incorporates several bespoke features that have regional significance for Taiwan. (For instance, the type of bird referenced in the name lives only in Taiwan.)

Powered by the same 6.75-litre V12 engine as the Phantom Coupé but with a shorter wheelbase, the Phantom Drophead Coupé feels slightly sportier to drive than its hard-top sibling, with a low centre of gravity and slightly rear-biased weight.

4. The Peace and Glory Rolls-Royce Phantom

A Vietnamese entrepreneur commissioned one of the final seventh-generation Phantom Extended Wheelbase sedans.

The car was made to show the extraordinary embroidery and wood detailing that Rolls-Royce artisans create at the factory in Goodwood. 

The four-door, four-seat sedan is considered the signature Rolls-Royce car: The wheel proportions, the rear coach doors, Pantheon grille, and Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament are all essential to the Phantom DNA.

What's more, the Phantom has a British classic 2:1 wheel-to-body height ratio with a long wheelbase and hood, short front overhangs, and deep C-pillars at the rear. That look is distinctly and historically Rolls-Royce.

It's a powerful look that matches the Phantom's 6.75-litre, 453-horsepower V12 engine and massive, eight-speed automatic transmission.

5. Rolls-Royce Phantom Zenith Collection

The Phantom is in its final year of production, so as part of the send-off, Rolls invited select patrons of the model to commission 25 examples of each variant (convertible, coupe, sedan).

The cars are meant to celebrate how Rolls-Royce owners use their own cars on a daily basis.

It's likely that each car in the collection will become one of the most significant collectable Rolls-Royce cars in history.

There is also a new central fascia drawer that holds a memento signifying each car's status as one of the very last Phantoms made.

Bonus: The Rolls-Royce 'Dusk Until Dawn' at Porto Cervo

Last summer Rolls-Royce opened a summer studio space in the resort town of Porto Cervo, Italy.

So of course the bespoke team wanted to make unique examples of both the Wraith and Dawn to commemorate the pop-up.

For the design of the Dawn, the natural colours of the Costa Smeralda in northern Italy provided inspiration.

The region is famous as a beach holiday destination for Europe's wealthiest travellers. Fittingly, the exterior of the car comes in emerald green; the interior is seashell.

The Wraith part of the duo is inspired by dusk, so it is finished in subtle two-tone paintwork on the exterior but has a bold interior – purple with purple silk accents and powder blue detailing meant to evoke the Sardinia sky.