Corniche and Camargue

The tradition of the two-door luxury car began early in the history of the Rolls-Royce and Bentley marques. In the 1950s, its most famous realisation was the Bentley Continental, but that name was not revived when the new generation of monocoque models arrived in the mid-1960s. Instead, there were near-identical Rolls-Royce and Bentley variants of a stunningly attractive two-door design that came as either a saloon or a drophead coupé. From 1971, the range gained a clearer identity of its own as the Corniche, with a larger and more powerful 6.75-litre V8 engine. The Corniche remained in production for nearly a quarter of a century, during which time it quite literally stood alone as a symbol of wealth and as the epitome of luxury motoring. The drophead models were always the stronger sellers, and Rolls-Royce drew up plans for a new two-door luxury car to replace the Corniche saloons. In practice, the 1975 Camargue would establish its own market, and the closed Corniche stayed in production until 1980. The Camargue was both glamorous and rare, but it had a quite unmistakable presence and gained its own fame as the world's most expensive production car. The Corniche outlived the Camargue, and from 1984 the Bentley drophead models took on another new identity with the revival of the Continental name. They continued to share basic specifications with the contemporary Rolls-Royce Corniche, and both models ended production in 1995. However, that was not the end of the famous name, and Rolls-Royce announced a new Corniche - the fifth iteration of the model - in 2000, ending its production in 2002 as the company's new owners focused on a new and different range of cars. This book tells the full story of these iconic ranges, and will be essential reading for owners and admirers of the immortal Corniche and the controversial Camargue.