1971 ROLLS-ROYCE Corniche I/ II/ III/ IV 6.75L V8 3AT RWD (218 HP)

Vehicle Overview

The Rolls Royce Corniche drew its name from the 1939 prototype Corniche, while the French word would translate into a coastal road along the face of a cliff.

The Rolls Royce Corniche was a 2-door, rear-wheel-drive luxury car, available as a coupe or a convertible, based on the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.

As the Silver Shadow featured monocoque construction, there was no separate chassis to be given to the coachbuilders, thus Rolls had to produce a completely new model.

The Corniche was developed by the Mulliner Park Ward, a British coachbuilder. It was launched in 1966 and was later relaunched as the Corniche in 1971 with some technical improvements.

Under the hood, the Corniche featured a Rolls Royce V8 engine with twin SU carburetors, mated with a 3-speed automatic transmission as standard, carried-over from GM. The unit was a 6.75-liter V8 engine that could produce 218 hp, with a maximum top speed of 210 km/h.

Starting with the 1979 model, the Corniche has featured a 4-wheel independent suspension with a hydraulic self-leveling system. Four-wheel disc brakes were standard and in 1972 Rolls introduced ventilated discs.

The Corniche was also sold as a Bentley, namely the Bentley Continental in 1984.

In 1981 when the Rolls Royce Silver Spirit went on sale, both Corniche and Continental were discontinued, after a total production of 1,090 units.