Vehicle Description
West Coast Classics are proud to present an absolutely stunning and
exceptional example of this last generation of Crewe hand built
Rolls Royce's, the Corniche V, one of only 374 built between the
final 2000-2002 production years, with Bentley having already
having become a subsidiary of VW from Vickers in 1998 and with
Rolls-Royce about to become solely owned by BMW in late 2002. This
is a truly superb Rolls Royce by any standards, and one which was
still being hand built at the legendary Rolls Royce / Bentley
legendary Crewe factory, and by far the most expensive vehicle
offered by Rolls-Royce in it's day, with a base price of over
$359K.This particular pristine example is superbly striking in its
original and very rare and unique factory 'Sunrise Pearl Metallic'
color with a beautiful matching and very striking convertible top
and a gorgeous 'Tan with Claret Piping' leather interior with
matching 'Claret' carpeting and trunk and dash. This is an
obviously always garaged and covered example since new with a clean
CARFAX report showing extensive preventive maintenance and
scheduled service history over the years, primarily at 'British
Motor Car Distributors' of San Francisco, CA in the early years and
in recent years at 'Desert European Motorcars' of Rancho Mirage,
CA. It was obviously owned by only very careful and meticulous
drivers since new - never abused!The Corniche historically was
originally Rolls Royce's coupe and convertible versions of the
Silver Shadow saloon and which was originally produced between 1971
and 1996. The model was assembled in Crewe and finished in London
at the renown Rolls Royce coachbuilders 'Mulliner Park Ward' as a
continuation of their 1965 Silver Shadow coupe and 1967 drophead,
with the Corniche name applied in 1971. The Corniche coupe was
discontinued in 1982. Total production of the coupes (1971-82) was
only 1,108 and of the convertibles (1971-87) was only 3,239. The
car as reworked in 1986 as the Corniche II (with 1,226 produced),
in late 1989 as the Corniche III (with 452 produced) and in 1993 as
the Corniche IV (with only 244 produced) when production was moved
to Crewe after the closure of Mulliner Park Ward and the final form
in 2000 was as the Corniche V after which production ceased in
2001.For the Corniche V styling cues were taken from the Rolls
Royce Silver Seraph sedan, but it shares little mechanically with
that BMW engined car. Instead, the Corniche's body was set onto the
older platform used for the similarly-styled Bentley Azure making
it the first and only Rolls-Royce developed from a Bentley rather
than the other way around. The 2000-2002 Corniche V is powered by a
6.75 L 325HP turbocharged V8 and came outfitted with every luxury
and refinement characteristic of a Rolls-Royce with Connolly
leather interior, Wilton wool carpets, chrome gauges and a wide
choice of exotic wood trims. Dual automatic temperature control, a
six-disc CD changer, automatic headlamps and automatic ride control
are standard and all Corniches were completely hand-built and to
most enthusiasts the car was considered an even more exclusive car
than the by now completely VW owned Azure. The very last
Rolls-Royce Corniche rolled off the assembly line on August 30,
2002 and this was the very last Rolls-Royce to be made at the Crewe
plant before it was turned over entirely to the production of
Bentley models now owned by VW. Only 374 fifth-generation Corniches
were ever built.It turns out that the Corniche V brings you two
particular things so characteristic of England. First, it's
exclusive, as only 374 were built during its production run.
Second, stubborn British craftsmen with incredible pride build the
Corniche V by hand, with a signed Chief Engineers signature as
proof on each car's exclusive numbered engine, and this gives the
car something approaching a soul.In summary you will surely look
long and hard to find a finer example of this last generation from
Crewe hand built Rolls Royce Corniche Convertible with only 27K
original miles in a very unique and striking color combination! For
those who are unfamiliar, Rolls Royce and Bentley no longer exist
as they had for over one hundred years - this is one of the very
last in the original line of cars hand built in the legendary Rolls
Royce/Bentley factory in Crewe, England with a quality and
craftsmanship that far surpasses that of today's mass produced
models with many BMW parts - this is a rare opportunity to own a
piece of automobile history, from a time when Rolls Royce and
Bentley were truly building the world's finest motor cars.