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Between 1971 and 1995 Rolls Royce produced the Corniche, a
two-door, rear wheel drive vehicle with options in coupe or convertible.
The exterior was designed by John Blatchley, and assembled
in London’s Mulliner Park Ward. The Corniche was also sold as a Bentley,
however in 1984 that model was renamed the Continental.
There was a prototype as early as 1939 with the Corniche
nameplate, but with the onset of the 2nd World War it was never
produced. The name comes from the French term for a coastal road.
The original Corniche was subjected to 15,000 miles in
endurance testing across continental Europe. Unfortunately, as it was awaiting
shipment back to England it was blown up by a bomb.
The Corniche uses the V8 engine standard of Rolls Royce’s,
and featured a three speed automatic transmission.
It was given a slight restyling in 1977, with a change made
to the steering, rubber bumpers, alloy, oil cooler, and aluminium radiator. In
1979 there were further modifications, to the rear independent suspension; in
1981 it was discontinued as the Silver Spirit was launched.
Some of the most famous owners of the Rolls Royce Corniche
were: Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Elton John, Dean Martin, Liberace, Tom
Johns, Frank Sinatra, Zsa Zsa Gabor, David Attenborough, Aristotle Onassis,
Dick Emery, Engelbert Humperdinck, Adnan Khashoggi, and James May.
In all there were 1,090 Corniche Saloons, 3,239 Cornich
Convertibles, 69 Bentley Corniche Saloons, and 77 Bentley Corniche Convertibles
produced.
That wasn’t the end of the Corniche name, though. Between
1986 and 1989 the Corniche II was produced. It may have featured anti-lock
brakes by 1988, but air bags would have to wait. There were also changed made
to the interior, newly designed seats and instrumentation underwent a redesign.
1,234 were produced.
The Corniche III was produced between 1989 and 1993. This
is when airbags were introduced, as well as color coded bumpers, alloy wheels
and a far more advanced suspension system. The dashboard was also revised.
It was reworked again, though, in 1992 and renamed the
Corniche IV. By this time, it was a four speed automatic transmission, and
adaptive suspension was introduced. There were no visual differences, aside
from the rear window being changed to glass instead of plastic. There were 25
cars built, finished in Ming Blue and released as a 21st anniversary
limited edition.
In the summer of 95 25 Corniche S models were built, a
turbocharged version of the Corniche.
That seemed to be the end of the Corniche altogether,
however in January of 2000 the Corniche V was introduced. When it was released
it was the most expensive Rolls Royce available, with a starting price tag of
$359,900. It was only produced until 2001, as Volkswagen AG took over Bentley,
and BMW became the sole owner of Rolls Royce.
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