Rolls-Royce Corniche: the Riviera touch

By Graeme Hurst

| 20 Mar 2026

Classic & Sports Car – Rolls-Royce Corniche: the Riviera touch

Opulent (op-pew-lent) adj – showily rich and observant.

It’s derived from the Latin opulens – coined, no doubt, by the Romans to describe the sybaritic lifestyles of their wealthy elite.

There have probably been umpteen more appropriate definitions since the fall of Rome, but these days the adjective could be substituted with the word Corniche (korr-nee-sh) n – the ultimate statement in luxury, excess and quality.

With its iconic, pantheon-like grille, gracious styling and sumptuous appointments, the Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible is surely the automotive embodiment of opulence.

The Rolls-Royce Corniche is the perfect partner for a dash along the Riviera

Just the mention of its name evokes an image of wafting majestically through Beverly Hills en route to a red-carpet arrival at the Oscars, or of a balmy summer evening cruise along the Croisette in Cannes as you head for dinner in Monaco with a beautiful date at your side.

This is the esoteric world that, in 1971, Rolls-Royce knew the globe’s new money aspired to join, and which it was prepared to pay for – and pay handsomely.

From the moment you grasp a Corniche’s elegantly sculpted doorhandle, you understand why: the firm, precise feel of the button is the first taste of a masterclass of superlative, hand-crafted quality.

Open the door and you’re overwhelmed by the trappings of luxury: acres of cosseting leather and rich timber finishes make entry more akin to boarding an ocean liner.

Arrange yourself in the amply padded chair (the term ‘seat’ feels insufficient here) and you instantly feel part of a rarefied yet familiar world – as if you’ve settled into your favourite leather wingback at your exclusive London club.

The grille surround on later Rolls-Royce Corniches is deeper, to cover the bigger radiator

As you revel in the comfort, your eyes start to feast on the array of instruments and jewel-like switchgear – all presented in a slab of polished burr walnut with a lustre so deep you could almost plunge your hand into it.

But not before you take in the commanding view across the expansive bonnet, fronted by that grille and the evocative Spirit of Ecstasy.

The internationally recognised symbol of prestige imparts a sense of speed even at a standstill – more so as it slices through the horizon to announce your arrival.

The decadent experience lends a rather refined and regal air, one at which Rolls-Royce has always excelled – even more so when you’re in a Corniche convertible.

The firm associated with luxury travel since the dawn of motoring had been aware of the demand for a two-door soft-top since launching the Silver Shadow in 1965.

The monocoque saloon had been a step-change in engineering and marketing for a marque built on coachbuilt cars for chauffeur-driven old money.

The Rolls-Royce Corniche’s 6.75-litre V8 evolved from the 6.2 of 1965

Rolls-Royce might have changed tack to take the brand into a younger, more diverse clientele, but its bosses knew its most exclusive customers would hanker after the prestige of a coachbuilt version, just as they had with the Silver Cloud.

Development of a two-door began before the Shadow was even completed, with styling by Bill Allen in boss John Blatchley’s absence.

“He was instructed to come up with a design and left to do it,” recalls Martin Bourne, who worked alongside Allen at the time.

“Six weeks later his wax model was complete, and the design went straight into production.”

Mechanically the car was identical to the Shadow, but it sported a subtle ‘Coke-bottle’ hip line – Allen’s nod to the make’s coachbuilding legacy and the two-door’s sportier role.

Production was handled by HJ Mulliner, Park Ward (then part of Rolls-Royce) in Willesden, and the Park Ward two-door, as it became known, was launched at the 1966 Geneva show (with the convertible available a year later) at a price of £9849 – nearly 50% more than a Shadow.

‘MD David Plastow convinced the receiver that the company’s car division was in rude health, and the Corniche’s launch on the Riviera went ahead’

While the two-door hit the mark, sales were flagging somewhat by the ’70s.

Rolls-Royce’s new management felt the model needed a boost, choosing to relaunch the Park Ward two-door with a name that personified its image: Corniche.

“It was one of those evocative names associated with the company for a long time and there’s just something special about it,” explains Martin.

The rebranding was also an opportunity to capitalise on mechanical improvements that had been quietly developed to overcome criticisms of the PW’s ponderous cornering ability and soft ride – qualities that came from pandering to the comfort-driven American market.

The old crossply tyres were replaced by modern radials (previously considered too harsh for a Royce), and the Vibrashock suspension mountings gave way to more compliant Metalastik rubber-type items to dissipate any harshness from the modern tyres.

The Rolls-Royce Corniche’s typeface was inspired by a famous magazine

There were other tweaks, including the addition of a rear anti-roll bar, but the most noticeable change was the adoption of a beefier, 6.75-litre version of Crewe’s all-alloy V8 engine (first developed for the Cloud II) with improved torque.

And although the team at Pyms Lane still refused to disclose engine output figures, the Corniche did sport a rev counter as standard that was both a break from tradition – which deemed the workings of the engine as rather vulgar – and a recognition of the model’s sportier pretensions.

The Corniche looked a little more grand, too, with a deeper radiator shell (to mask a bigger rad), canted forwards by 3° for a sportier appearance.

The final addition was the distinctive boot badge – inspired, ironically, by the font of a popular middle-class magazine.

“I’d seen it in a copy of Reader’s Digest,” recalls Martin, who is chuffed that the Optima typeface remained throughout the car’s life.

“It was certainly a lot better than my Cloud III badge, which was regarded as something you might find on a fridge,” he muses.

This Rolls-Royce Corniche’s evocative Spirit of Ecstasy

The Corniche’s launch was nearly scuppered when the spiralling development costs of Rolls-Royce’s RB211 jet engine dragged the firm into receivership in February 1971.

Fortunately its managing director, David Plastow, was able to convince the receiver that the company’s car division was in rude health, and the new model’s much-publicised debut on the French Riviera went ahead, with a plane-load of journalists greeted by nine Corniches at Nice airport.

It was the perfect setting for putting the Royce through its paces on the famous Route de la Corniche, with the backdrop of sun-drenched scenery around Monaco, the millionaire’s playground.

And the superlatives quickly rolled in as the press experienced the Corniche’s improved road manners.

‘In spite of the great weight of such a car, it can be handled in a truly sporting fashion,’ reported Autosport’s John Bolster, who was also impressed with its performance: ‘The car cruises with restful ease at 100mph… and will reach a genuine 120mph quickly.’

Autocar later reported a 0-60mph time of just under 10 secs – not bad for a car tipping the scales at more than 5000lb.

The Rolls-Royce Corniche’s dashboard was revised from 1976, when the split-level air-con developed for the Camargue was added

With the Corniche boasting a raft of creature comforts, from electric seats to air conditioning and cruise control, the motoring press was also unanimous in its praise for its mantle as the world’s most luxurious car, as Autocar went on to note in 1974: ‘The Corniche sets very high standards at the top end of the luxury market and is well deserving of the considerable esteem in which it is held.’

All of that came, inevitably, with a whopping price-tag: £12,829 (plus another £681 if you fancied lowering the top).

In 1971 that would have bought you five Jaguar XJ6s or a dozen Ford Cortinas, yet price was hardly a deterrent.

If anything, it fuelled demand as Crewe’s order books bulged and the Corniche rapidly came to be seen as the last word in conspicuous consumption.

With a waiting list stretching to four years, the market was soon rife with ‘pre-owned’ Corniches being chalked up for almost double the original list price.

Production was hamstrung by a labour-intensive construction (the horsehair-lined hood alone took four days to make), yet Rolls-Royce saw demand as part of the appeal.

The Rolls-Royce Corniche’s build quality becomes apparent when you press the door button

The Corniche’s success was also due to a lack of rivals, especially dropheads: Mercedes-Benz had stopped building the 280SE 3.5, Aston Martin’s new V8 wouldn’t lose its roof for another seven years and Jensen’s Interceptor soft-top only appeared in ’74.

Even then those last two weren’t full four-seaters, and neither had the Corniche’s kudos.

As the ’70s rolled on, Rolls-Royce continued to improve the Corniche (and the Shadow), the most noticeable changes being the adoption of Burman rack-and-pinion power steering and less attractive, impact-absorbing rubber bumpers in 1976.

The developments were driven by Federal safety requirements, although the addition of a front spoiler was more to sharpen up high-speed stability.

The dashboard layout was revised, too, with a more symmetrical layout for the instruments, while the interior became even more refined with the adoption of split-level air-con.

Developed at vast expense for the Pininfarina-styled Camargue – “just a Corniche in an expensive Italian suit,” according to Martin – the system allowed occupants to enjoy cool air on their faces while keeping their feet warm.

The Rolls-Royce Corniche’s accommodating rear seats

Further refinements followed in 1979 when the Corniche received the rear suspension developed for the Silver Spirit, with gas struts and revised trailing arms.

Body-coloured bumpers followed in ’86 (when it became the Corniche II), while ABS came three years later, along with Bosch fuel injection.

By the early ’90s the Corniche IV boasted active suspension and airbags – and all for a mere £159,997.

Driving a Corniche is a tour of the senses that’s akin to savouring a five-course meal in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

It starts when you indulge in the fit and finish of the interior, and experience its wonderful engineering.

Take the famous, chrome-on-brass ‘organ stop’ switches – such an olde-worlde touch, yet their action is beautifully smooth and precise.

The same goes for the chrome air vents or the glovebox: depress the lid’s small button and the compartment folds down with all the damped refinement of an Art Deco cocktail cabinet.

Time for a tipple? The Rolls-Royce Corniche hides a drinks cabinet

The paddle for the electric seats is rewarding, too – just a light but firm touch and the seat slides silently at your command.

Selecting Drive with the wand-like column shift is an equally tactile and near-mute experience, until you dab the accelerator and feel the Corniche ‘proceed’ as the car’s nose lifts slightly to fine-tune the majestic stance.

The large, thin-rimmed steering wheel has a superior feel, and you find yourself adopting the twenty-to-four position in place of the more lowly ten-to-two.

At moderate speeds the engine is barely audible, but press on and there is a trace of a V8 beat as the car takes on an urgent but refined pace with surprising ease.

Yet it’s the fabulously smooth ride that most impresses.

Where other luxury cars merely ride adequately well, the Corniche glides along with a serene detachment, its self-levelling suspension soaking up the bumps so effectively that you could be excused for glancing in the rear-view mirror to see if they were really there.

The Rolls-Royce Corniche is in its element on the Riviera

If you hit a patch of rough Tarmac there’s a trace of scuttle shake, but it’s no more than a murmur to remind you of the car’s saloon origins.

It’s a trait worth living with, because it’s in convertible form that the Corniche is at its most extravagant: the lack of a roof enhances the speed and the grandeur of its flowing lines.

Those gracious but timeless curves kept the Corniche in production (in convertible form only from 1980) until 1995, when it finally gave way to the ostentatious Bentley Azure – later sold as a Rolls-Royce Corniche, too.

The model’s impressive run is ironic when you consider that designer Bill Allen had reservations after making the final touches to his wax rendition.

“I remember Bill commenting that it would never sell,” recalls Martin, “because it looked terribly old-fashioned.”

How the humble stylist would be proved wrong: today, the Corniche’s gracious shape remains an icon of automotive opulence that’s yet to be bettered.

Images: Tony Baker

Thanks to: Autodrome Cannes

This was first in our October 2007 magazine; all information was correct at the date of original publication

Factfile

Rolls-Royce Corniche

Sold/number built 1971-’95/6417 (including 140 Bentley versions)
Construction steel monocoque, steel and aluminium panels
Engine all-alloy, ohv 6750cc V8, twin SU carburettors (Bosch electronic fuel injection from ’89)
Max power/torque not disclosed
Transmission three-speed automatic, RWD
Suspension independent, at front by unequal-length wishbones rear semi-trailing arms, height-controlled gas struts; coil springs, anti-roll bar f/r
Steering power-assisted rack and pinion
Brakes powered discs
Length 17ft ½in (5193mm)
Width 5ft 11in (1803mm)
Height 4ft 11¾in (1517mm)
Wheelbase 9ft 11¾in (3041mm)
Weight 5180lb (2350kg)
0-60mph 9.6 secs
Top speed 120mph
Mpg 11.8
Price new £73,168 (’83)