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Rolls-Royce Corniche - Duel of the two-doors

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Created on April 7, 2025

Text:

Martin Sigrist

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

38

Archiv der Automobil Revue

1

Archiv

12

Daniel Reinhard

38

Archiv der Automobil Revue

1

Archiv

12

Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - Both are the spitting image of the limousine

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - duel of the luxury two-doors

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - Feudal driving in a class of its own

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - Mulliner supplied the two-door models

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - ideal for dignified cruising

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - sun deck or gentlemen's club?

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Roll-Royce Corniche Drophead Saloon (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - Two-door also works without sport

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - Open or closed, that is the question

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Saloon (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - Exclusivity ex works

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - Hardly any owner has ever tested the top speed

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - The Convertible came out on top among buyers

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - There are good reasons for both versions

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - The Convertible came out on top among buyers

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Saloon (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - The open-top Corniche looks as stiff as the Coupé

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - In the end it's all about taste

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Saloon (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - Convertibles are much more common

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - The roof of the Convertible is a small work of art

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Saloon (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - spoiled for choice

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - The joy remains long after the price has been forgotten

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - the master car

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Saloon (1982) and Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - Electric soft top

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) - It doesn't always have to be the Côte d'Azur

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) - Clear view

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) - Spirit of Ecstasy

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) - No doubts

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) - Conolly leather and - not original - Nardi wooden steering wheel

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) - Lots of nature and hardly any plastic

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) - Classic wood panel, contemporary on-board computer

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) - US re-import with mileage speedometer

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) - Burr walnut wood

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Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - Open-top driving is particularly attractive in the fall

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Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - In the 1970s, car manufacturing was an offshoot of R-R owner Vickers Plc

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Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - A fixed roof for the self-driver

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Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - Come-in, have a seat

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Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - Original steering wheel in the 2-Door Saloon

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Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - The gear selector lever is electrically assisted

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Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - The two-door model also offers plenty of comfort at the rear

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Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) - A Corniche is a coastal road carved into the rock

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Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow (1965) - feels at home in any driveway

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Cabriolet - open two-door version - at the 1974 Geneva Motor Show

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Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1971) - it takes four months on average to build a Corniche, the V8 engine is more powerful than in the saloon

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Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 2 Door Saloon (1968) - the two-door coupé based on the Silver Shadow saloon

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Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow Drophead Coupé (1967) - Interior with the finest materials

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Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow Drophead Coupé (1967) - already with the characteristic hint of a rear fender sweep

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Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 2 Door Saloon (1968) - Interior - Illustration from sales brochure

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Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 2 Door Saloon (1968) - the two-door coupé version, later also available as Corniche - illustration from the German sales brochure

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Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow Drophead Coupé (1969) - Presentation at the London Motor Show 1969

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Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow Drophead Coupé (1968) - the predecessor of the Corniche already had an electrically opening roof

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Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow Drophead Coupé (1970) - early version without Corniche designation

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertible (1971) - the soft top is covered by hand with Everflex in the color of the customer's choice at a cost of around one man-week.

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Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 2-Door Saloon James Young (1967)

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Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) und Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) – Feudales Fahren der Extraklasse

Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) und Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) – Mulliner lieferte die Zweitürer

Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) und Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) – Ideal zum gediegenen Cruisen

Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) und Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) – Sonnendeck oder Gentlemans-Club?

Roll-Royce Corniche Drophead Saloon (1982) und Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) – Zweitürig geht auch ohne Sport

Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) und Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) – Offen oder geschlossen, das ist die Frage

Summary

With the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, the manufacturer from Crewe broke new ground in many respects in 1965. For the first time, a car with the Flying Lady on the radiator was self-supporting. And for the first time, there was more than just a standard body ex works: in addition to the saloon, there was also a convertible and a coupé.

This article contains the following chapters

Sufficient with surcharge
As a family convertible and for self-driving
Other forms of driving pleasure
The feeling of grandeur

Estimated reading time: 9min

Preview (beginning of the article)

For those for whom exclusivity was not enough, Rolls-Royce continued to offer the option of commissioning an external coachbuilder to build a convertible or coupé even after the model series had been standardized by using an all-steel body for the Silver Cloud from 1955 - the Bentley Mk VI with a "factory body" made of steel had already been available in 1946. However, at the latest with the introduction of a self-supporting body, this option definitely became a thing of the past. The "Shadow" sedan made its debut at the Paris Motor Show in the fall of 1965, followed by a coupé at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1966, with bodywork by H.J. Mulliner / Park Ward from London.

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Images of this article

Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) und Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) – Feudales Fahren der Extraklasse

Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) und Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) – Mulliner lieferte die Zweitürer

Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) und Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) – Ideal zum gediegenen Cruisen

Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) und Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) – Sonnendeck oder Gentlemans-Club?

Roll-Royce Corniche Drophead Saloon (1982) und Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) – Zweitürig geht auch ohne Sport

Rolls-Royce Corniche Drophead Coupé (1982) und Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-Door Saloon (1979) – Offen oder geschlossen, das ist die Frage

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