Niels van Roij

About Niels van Roij

Niels van Roij Design focuses on car design for coachbuilding: the development of exceptional, hand-built cars based on existing chassis. Niels van Roij Design’s work responds to an ever-growing demand for automotive personalization and exclusivity, that comes from all over the world. Niels van Roij Design takes great pride in their reputation as an automotive design style centre of the highest proficiency, among the few able to carry out the entire cycle of creation and construction of an exclusive coachbuilt car. The car design studio is known for their Tesla-based shooting brake Model SB, Adventum Coupe made on Range Rover chassis, Silver Spectre Shooting Brake based on Rolls-Royce underpinnings and their recently unveiled Breadvan Hommage based on Italian V12 chassis.

Niels van Roij is also co-founder of Heritage Customs, a company that specializes in breeding the new Land Rover Defender. Heritage Customs creates unique vehicles on the Land Rover Defender, called Valiance by the company. Heritage Customs offers Architecture as a service: car architecture. Heritage Customs cars can feature one-off paints, custom rims, unique machined exterior and interior jewelry, Magic Metal (copper, rust, bronze, and other metals applied to a variety of surfaces), and custom-crafted custom interiors.

Niels van Roij designed, among other cars, a one-off Shooting Brake (exclusive estate car) based on the Tesla Model S. Unique design elements are the one-off paint with the colour of the owner's company logo subtly incorporated, a green glove compartment and a specially handmade chrome frame around the windows: all design ideas coming from personal conversations with the owner.

Adventum Coupe was also designed by Van Roij: a Range Rover-based coupe conversion with a teak floor front to back, matching umbrellas and many more so-called easter eggs. Niels van Roij recently presented the provocative Breadvan Hommage, an ode to a radical 1962 sports car and also Silver Specter Shooting Brake designed on Rolls-Royce chassis. Niels van Roij is continuously working on bespoke cars based on top class sports cars and luxury cars.

The new design for the London Taxi, the London icon of car manufacturer Karsan, also came from Van Roij. For this, the Dutchman spoke to London Cabbies and incorporated special finds into the interior and exterior to give both drivers and passengers the experience of a lifetime. The project was designed around Inclusive Design principles, with extensive research being executed into the interaction between the passengers and the taxi. For example, workshops were conducted with disabled people, mothers with children, the blind and the elderly. Trends and innovation were of great importance for this project and improving the taxi through Inclusive Design was a continuous drive for Van Roij. The question: how to design a taxi - without stigmatizing certain target groups - that can be used by everyone - disabled or not.

In addition to his car design activities, Van Roij writes articles for the trade press and publishes on strategic automotive design. He is also a visiting tutor for various academies and universities worldwide. His work is exhibited internationally, including at the London Transport Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Van Roij was part of the 10 Downing Street Design Summit with British Members Of Parliament and will give the Automotive Design Masterclass.