The origins of the Corniche came from the continuation of the 1965 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow fixedhead coupe and 1967 drophead coupe, constructed by the famed coachbuilder Mulliner Park Ward in London. The car was named after the stunning roads along the Cote d'Azur in France and was an elegant two-door design available with either a coupe or convertible body. By 1982, the coupe 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 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 very pretty, left hand drive, Rolls Royce Corniche Convertible (1987 model) was supplied new to Rolls-Royce Motors International SA, Lausanne, Switzerland on the 2nd October 1986 arriving in December of the same year. According to the copies of the chassis cards the car was originally retained by them for training and as a press car before being sold and registered in Switzerland. The vendor tells us that he purchased it from the only private owner when he lived in Switzerland. When he returned to the UK, he brought it with him and registered it on the first of April 2018. In July this year he sent the car to marque specialists The Chelsea Workshop with instructions to go through the car repair as necessary, carry out a C Schedule Service and carry out a MoT test, the end bill came to over £6,000. Finished in this beautiful colour combination of silver and dark blue hood, dark blue leather interior and fitted with a Nardi wooden steering wheel. This Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertible is supplied with a V5 registration document, an MoT test certificate which expires in July 2026 and a file containing the RREC Chassis cards, some old MoT certificates, the handbook pack and a copy of the Chelsea Workshop invoice. As from the end of next year the car will be forty years old and would be eligible to change the taxation class to Historic making it not requiring a MoT every year and the cost of road tax becomes zero. Consigned by John Tomlin

Lot details
Year: 1986
Make: Rolls-Royce
Model: Corniche Convertible
Registration: D711 NEX
Chassis No: SCAZD0000HCX20010
Odometer: 95,608 km

* European left hand drive car
* Beautiful colour combination
* Will be 40 years old at end of next year