Lot details
- Only 15,700 km from new
- The last of the handmade Rolls-Royces
- Rare, 384 examples in left-hand drive
In 1939, a Rolls-Royce prototype based on the Bentley MkV with the name Corniche covered 24,000 km of testing but was bombed in the port of Dieppe by German aircraft in 1940, while waiting to reach England. At the Geneva Motor Show in March 1971, a convertible "Corniche" was presented for the first time. It was in fact a convertible version of the Silver Shadow whose name would come from the famous steep road that goes from Lavandou to Cavalaire, in the town of Canadel in the Var, where Henry Royce owned a holiday home. Henry Royce's precarious health forced him to occupy this house half the time for its climate, supported by a team of engineers, technicians, and testers, who drove at breakneck speed on this perilous ledge.
This 5th generation Corniche is powered by the 320bhp 6750cc V8 Turbo, which appeared in 2000 and was hand built at the Crewe factory, based on the Bentley Azure, although it sports the lines of the Silver Seraph. It was sold new in Switzerland, and it is a single owner car that has covered only 15,700 km from new. Two invoices from 2020, from Autohaus, indicate a service and the replacement of the steering rack following a leak.
