1974 Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertible

Registration no. KLM 274N Chassis no. DRH18734 Engine no. 18734

Footnotes

Recalling its glamorous Grands Routiers of pre-war days such as the Phantom II Continental, Rolls-Royce's final coachbuilt models - entrusted to the company's in-house coachbuilder Mulliner, Park Ward - were limited to just two, a two-door coupe or similar convertible, the former arriving in March 1966 and the latter in September the following year. The cars were hand built in the best traditions of British coachbuilding using only materials of the finest quality, including Wilton carpeting, Connolly hide and burr walnut veneers, a necessarily lengthy process that took all of 20 weeks for the saloon and slightly longer for the more complex convertible. This painstaking attention to detail resulted in a price some 50% higher than the standard Silver Shadow's. Nevertheless, demand for these more glamorous alternatives to the much more numerous Silver Shadow was strong right from the start, a state of affairs that resulted in them being given their own model name - 'Corniche' - in March 1971. The Corniche proved a major success for Rolls-Royce; periodically revised and up-dated, it remained in production well into the 1990s, the last (Convertible) examples being delivered in 1995.
We are advised that this Corniche convertible comes with an extensive file of history that includes copies of the original build sheets and details of its owners, the first of which was a company: Sethia London Ltd. Sethia was followed by two owners in Yorkshire and then one in Northamptonshire before the car passed to the current (fifth) owner, who has used it as a wedding hire vehicle. (Although the registration document states that there have been nine previous keepers, we are advised that some of the changes were 'paper' transactions to transfer the cherished numbers 'LDN 1' and 'WG 3646'). Also on file are invoices relating to a gearbox overhaul and interior re-trim. Described as in generally excellent condition, the car is offered with sundry bills, current road fund licence, MoT to May 2011 and Swansea V5 registration document. A non-operational oil pressure gauge is the only notified fault (oil light goes out immediately after start up).