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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 6.7-liter V8 engine installed in the Rolls-Royce Corniche produced around ten percent more power than the standard model and had an aluminum-silicon alloy block and aluminum cylinder heads with cast iron wet cylinder liners. The fuel system used twin SU carburetors which were later replaced with Bosch fuel injection from 1980 onwards. The top speed was in excess of 120 mph and the acceleration was equally impressive. The engine was backed by a three-speed Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 sourced from General Motors, and stopping power was provided by four-wheel disc brakes, with ventilated discs added for 1972. The suspension was independent with coil springs and a hydraulic self-leveling system that was used by Citroen but without pneumatic springs. Originally, the hydraulic system was used in the front and back, but later models had a rear-wheel only setup.

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.

1988

The Corniche II received anti-lock brakes, and examples built later in the year had a new reverse warning lens type and pattern around the rear license plate. Additionally, the instrumentation was redesigned and the seats were given a new design.

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 Dan Vaughan

The Rolls-Royce styling department designed a beautiful, elegantly shaped two-door coupe derivative of the Silver Shadow, which was engineered and produced by Mulliner Park Ward. When launched in March 1996 it was priced at 9,849 pounds, nearly 3,300 pounds more than the standard four-door saloon. This was followed 18 months later by a convertible version priced at 11,511 pounds. Both of these Mulliner Park Ward models were relaunched as the Corniche in 1971 with technical improvements.

The Corniche underwent extensive development over the years although it remained little changed outwardly. It benefited from the improvements introduced on the Silver Shadow II and in 1988 cosmetic changes were sufficient for it to be designated Corniche II.

1990 saw the arrival of the Corniche III with alloy wheels and MK Motronic engine management system. The Corniche IV of 1992 again retained the look of its predecessors, but adaptive suspension and four-speed automatic transmission had been introduced. The final incarnation was the Corniche IV Anniversary model, the Corniche S, of which only 25 were made.

by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

by Rolls-Royce

First introduced in 1966, the name 'Park Ward two-door' was first given to the trailblazing Convertible, eventually renamed the 'Corniche'. The Corniche was a dramatic departure for Rolls-Royce from the standard steel Silver clouds to the newer and smaller Silver Shadow platforms.

The new generation of two-door vehicles was squinty-eyed with sloping inset grilles that brought instant success to the Rolls. Produced between 1971 and 1996, the Corniche was Rolls-Royce's coupe and convertible version of the Silver Shadow. Assembled and finished in London at Mulliner Park Ward as the continuation of the 1965 Silver Shadow coupe and 1967 drophead, the model featured the Corniche name was applied in 1971. Sold as a Bentley, that model was renamed and known as the Continental in 1984. Due to the onset of World War II, the first car to wear the Corniche name, a 1939 prototype based on the Bentley Mark V, was never produced.

The coupe Corniche was discontinued in 1982. Utilizing the standard Rolls-Royce V8 engine, the Corniche had an aluminum-silicon alloy block and aluminum cylinder heads with cast iron wet cylinder liners. While the bore was 4.1 inches, the stroke was 3.9 inches to achieve a total of 6.8 L. Introduced in 1975, twin SU carburetors were originally fitted with a single Solex 4-barrel carburetor. Until 1980 export models retained the twin SU's when Bosch fuel injection was added.

Standard was a 3-speed automatic transmission which was a Turbo Hydramatic 400 that was sourced from GE. Augmented with a hydraulic self-leveling system, a four-wheel independent suspension with coil springs was originally on all four, but later in the rear wheels only. For 1972, four-wheel disc brakes were specified, with ventilated discs.

Originally using a 119.75 wheelbase, in 1974 this was extended to 120 inches and 120.5 in 1979.

For 1986 the Corniche II was revised slightly with the replacement of alloy and rubber bumpers instead of chrome ones. An oil cooler was added to the new model, while an aluminum radiator was substituted. Airbags were not available in the model, but ant-lock brakes became standard. New style rims were added, along with a new reverse warning lens type and pattern around the rear license plate. Other updates included newly-designed seats and a redesigned dash. All Corniche II's were convertibles, and the Bentley model lost its closed coupe option in 1982.

In 1989 the Corniche III debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show as a following to the Corniche line. The major change for this generation was the addition of airbags as a standard feature. The bumpers were now displayed in a fitting body color paint job, rather than black. A more updated advanced suspension system was fitted in the new Corniche II. Once again, the dashboard was updated this time along with the console.

In 1993 the Corniche IV was introduced and production was moved to Crewe following the shutdown of Mulliner Park Ward. Upgrading from the old plastic rear window, the new Corniche featured a brand new glass rear window. No manual latching was required anymore, and the CFC-free air conditioning was specified, along with driver and passenger airbags.

The final 25 Corniche models in 1995 were named the Corniche S and were all Turbocharged.

In January 2000, the fifth generation of Corniche vehicles debuted. With a base price of $359,900, this new model was the most expensive vehicle offered by the company at this time. A total of 4347 of these models were produced. This new generation marked the first step into the new century for Rolls-Royce.

The Corniche V featured front and rear styling that showed a design developed from the mainstream model Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph. The new model was set onto the platform used for Bentley Azure, with a wheelbase of 3.061 mm. The unique identity of the drophead coupe was accentuated by a swaging from the top of the front wing to the bottom of the rear wing.

Completely set apart from the mainstream model, the new Corniche was powered by the well-proven 6.75 liter V8-engine with origins dating back to the fifties of the previous century. Introduced in 1959 with the introduction of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, Rolls-Royce Phantom V, and the Bentley S2, the engine had been kept up to date by careful development. The engine provided enormous torque that provided 738Nm at 2,1000rpm. The V8 engine was much heavier than the aluminum V12-engine. The Corniche weighed an astounding 2,735kg, which was 400 kg more than the basic four-door model with its V12-engine.

The last model developed at the Crewe factory, the Rolls-Royce Corniche was designed in the true Rolls-Royce philosophy with an interior that was luxurious and comfortable, a hallmark of the marque.

by Jessican Donaldson