1975 Rolls-Royce Corniche

The Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and the Bentley T-Series adopted unitary construction which necessitated the reorganization of in-house coachbuilder H J Mulliner, Park Ward to enable it to produce new designs on the Shadow floorpan. Harkening back to the firm's glamourous Grands Routiers of pre-war days, these final coach-built models were limited to just two - a two-door coupe or similar convertible, the former arriving in March of 1966 and the latter following in September of 1967. The car was named after the roads along the Côte d'Azur in France, and the first Rolls-Royce to wear the Corniche name was a 1939 prototype based on the Bentley Mk. V, but never produced due to the onset of World War II.

The Corniche shared only a few front panels with the standard four-door saloon, but otherwise, the new bodyshells were unique, with a distinctive dipping upper wing line with parallel crease, and revised, more rounded posterior. During construction, the bodyshells were shuttled between the Crewe factory and Mulliner Park Ward's Willesden plant, a process that took 20 weeks for the saloon and slightly longer for the more complex convertible. By 1982, the coupé had ceased production but convertibles continued to be built until the mid-1990s.

In keeping with the traditions of British coachbuilding, these hand-built cars utilized only the finest materials including Wilton carpeting, Connolly hides, and burr walnut veneers. These painstaking attention to detail and the highest levels of quality resulted in a price of approximately 50 percent higher than that of the standard Silver Shadow. The high price tag kept them exclusive, however, demand for these more glamorous alternatives was strong, resulting in them receiving their own model name in March of 1971 - the Corniche.

The wheelbase measured 119.75 inches until 1974, when it grew to 120 inches, lengthening again in 1979 to 120.5 inches.

The model proved very successful for Rolls-Royce and was periodically revised and updated throughout its lifespan that stretched well into the 1990s. The final convertible models were being delivered in 1995. The Coupe version of the Corniche and its Bentley stablemate was discontinued in March of 1981 following the introduction of the Silver Spirit. The Rolls-Royce Corniche Saloons were built from 1971 to 1980 with 1,090 examples built, and 3,239 examples of the Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertibles were built through 1995 along with four generations of styling and mechanical updates. Sixty-nine examples of the Bentley Corniche Saloons and 77 Bentley Corniche Convertibles were also built during this time. 1,234 examples of the Corniche II were produced from 1986 through 1989, 452 of the Corniche III (1989 through 1992), and 244 of the Corniche IV (1992 through 1995). Of the final 244 built, 25 were Corniche S models which used a turbocharger to increase horsepower further.

1977
The Corniche was given a mild restyling in mid-1977, gaining alloy and rubber bumpers, an aluminum radiator, a rack-and-pinion steering, bi-level air-conditioning system, and an oil cooler. The carburetors were replaced by a Bosch KE/K-Jetronic fuel injection with the engine now producing 237 horsepower at just over 4,000 RPM.

1979
In March of 1979, the Corniche gained an independent rear suspension.

1985
The Corniche received cosmetic and interior changes.

Corniche II
The Rolls-Royce Corniche used the 'II' name for the United States market from 1986 and other markets from 1988.

Corniche III
Rolls-Royce introduced its third iteration of the Corniche at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1989, complete with new alloy wheels, a revised dashboard, updated console and seats, color-coded bumpers, airbags, MK-Motronic fuel injection, and an updated version of the suspension system. The wheelbase measured 120.5-inches, the engine was the 6.75-liter OHV 'L410I' V8, and the transmission was the three-speed automatic.

Corniche IV
In January of 1992, the Corniche IV was introduced to the public at the North American International Auto Show. The Corniche was now over two decades old and production had moved to Crewe in preparation for the 1994 closure of Mulliner Park Ward. Although there were no visual differences between the III and IV, except for a glass rear window replacing the previous plastic unit, mechanical changes included an adaptive suspension and the previous three-speed GM400 unit being replaced by a four-speed GM4L80 automatic transmission. Both driver and passenger now had airbags and a CFC-free air conditioning system was standard.

21st anniversary Corniche
In October of 1992, Rolls-Royce introduced a 21st-anniversary Corniche and 25 examples were built, all finished in Ming Blue with a cream hood with a silver plaque on the dash.

1993
The Corniche received an increase in power by twenty percent in August of 1993.

By Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2020