"The origins of the Corniche came from the continuation of the 1965 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow fixedhead coupé and 1967 drophead coupé, constructed by the famed coachbuilder Mulliner Park Ward in London. The car was named after the stunning roads along the Côte d'Azur in France and was an elegant two-door design available with either a coupé or convertible body. By 1982, the coupé had ceased production but convertibles continued to be built until 1996. The first Rolls-Royce to wear the Corniche name was a 1939 prototype based on the Bentley Mk. V, although this was never produced due to the onset of World War II. The car used the standard Rolls-Royce 6750cc V8 engine as fitted to the Silver Shadow and had an aluminium-silicon alloy block and aluminium cylinder heads with cast iron wet cylinder liners. The fuel system was in the form of twin SU carburettors which were later replaced with Bosch fuel injection from 1980 onwards.
This Corniche was originally delivered to Honeysuckle Fashions of Leeds in April 1984 and was retained by them for almost 10 years to the day, before being sold to a private individual in Yorkshire in April 1994 at 51,000 miles. The car has had just five owners during in its 39 year life, all of whom have clearly cherished it, as shown by the by the record of 21 service stamps, mostly by Rolls-Royce main agents. Our vendor purchased the car in 2020 and set about a very thorough re-commissioning process, to ensure the car was in good mechanical order, with invoices totalling around £12,500 from Fearon Rolls-Royce and Bentley specialists. Works included a major service, replacement of various pipes and hoses and ensuring all the electrics worked. The result is a car which our vendor reports to drive like a dream and will be driven over 250 miles to the sale. The car presents well in what the vendor believes to be Merlot Red. The Magnolia hide interior presents very nicely too, as does the Magnolia soft top and tonneau cover, which were both replaced in 2021."