Rolls-Royce Corniche (2000)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Rolls-Royce Corniche is a large,
high end In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spending. Luxury goods are in contrast to n ...
, two-door, four-seater
luxury Luxury may refer to: * Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises *Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars **Luxury tax (sports), surcharge pu ...
convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...
car, made in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
from 2000 to 2002. Its debut in January 2000 made it Rolls-Royce's first new model in the 21st century, as well as the first largely new model to bear the Corniche name, after four series derived from the Silver Shadow. It was the most louche of Rolls-Royce's contemporary models. Nevertheless, despite all-new sheetmetal, bearing a strong resemblance to the Silver Seraph, it had instead been derived from the pre-BMW era
Bentley Azure The Bentley Azure is a four-seater convertible grand tourer produced by British automobile manufacturer Bentley Motors. The first version debuted in 1995 on the Bentley Continental R platform and was made until 2003. After a three-year break, ...
, thus continuing the use of the traditional Rolls-Royce 6.75l V8 engine-block, in common with its predecessors, albeit significantly modernized, and with much better performance, thanks to the Bentley-borrowed turbocharger - a first for a series Corniche. Released after a five-year hiatus, this fifth Corniche was Rolls-Royce's most expensive model and flagship car, with a base price of
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
359,900. From 2003, Rolls-Royce motor car production was handed over to BMW, who did not prolong the production of any of the existing models, but instead reintroduced the brand with an all-new Phantom (VII), costing $300,000 in 2003, even when
Pound Sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...
was stronger to the
US dollar The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
and the dollar was weaker to US consumer prices. Or, in 2003, the all-new model
Bentley Continental GT The Bentley Continental GT is a grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British automaker Bentley Motors since 2003. It was the first car released by Bentley under Volkswagen AG management, after the company's acquisition in 1998, and the fir ...
6L W12 twin-turbo costed just $150,000. Though when the
Bentley Continental T Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...
model was new 4 years earlier, it seems to have costed $390,000 even in stronger dollars.
Aston Martin DB7 The Aston Martin DB7 is a grand tourer which was produced by British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin from September 1994 to December 2004. The car was available either as a coupé or a convertible. The prototype was complete by Novem ...
MSRP in year 2000 was $143,000.https://www.autoblog.com/buy/2001-Aston+Martin-DB7+Vantage/specs/ The Corniche (V) was the only new Rolls-Royce model launched under Volkswagen holding ownership; the last Rolls-Royce Corniche to date, and with just 374 units built, it remains one of the brand's most exclusive modern series production models.


Description

The 2000-2002 Corniche is powered by a 325 hp (240 kW) 6.75 L
turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...
Rolls-Royce V8. The Corniche's engine is capable of providing 738 N·m (544 lb·ft) of torque at 2,100 rpm. The car is operated via a four-speed
automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving c ...
. It has a top speed of 135 mph (215 km/h) and a 0-60 mph (97 km/h) acceleration time of 8 seconds. The convertible, weighing 6,836 lb (3,101 kg), was built more for comfort than for speed. The Corniche came outfitted with every luxury and refinement characteristic of a Rolls-Royce. The car has a
Connolly Leather Connolly Leather Limited was a British company that supplied highly finished leather primarily to car manufacturers. Founded in 1878, it went out of business in that form in 2002. A successor firm, Connolly Brothers, UK, has resumed producing ...
interior, Wilton
wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...
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. Styling cues were taken from the
Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph The Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph was a large luxury automobile produced by Rolls-Royce Motors from 1998 to 2002. First unveiled on 3 March 1998 at the Geneva Motor Show, it replaced the Silver Spirit, which ended production in 1997. 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
Bentley Azure The Bentley Azure is a four-seater convertible grand tourer produced by British automobile manufacturer Bentley Motors. The first version debuted in 1995 on the Bentley Continental R platform and was made until 2003. After a three-year break, ...
, making it the first and only Rolls-Royce developed from a Bentley rather than the other way around, (notwithstanding the fact that the Bentley Azure was of course developed on a Rolls-Royce platform to begin with. The Corniche was the only new Rolls-Royce developed under
Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
's ownership, before the marque was sold in 2003. All Corniches were completely hand-built. The car was considered a slightly softer, more exclusive version of the Azure. The last Rolls-Royce Corniche was manufactured on 30 August 2002. This was the last Rolls-Royce to be made at the
Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
plant before it was turned over entirely to the production of
Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...
models. Only 374 fifth-generation Corniches were ever built. ''*stated by Pininfarina production records''
''**From 2 varying documents, newer data used''


See also

*
Rolls-Royce Corniche The Rolls-Royce Corniche is a two-door, front-engine, rear wheel drive luxury car produced by Rolls-Royce Motors as a hardtop coupé (from 1971 to 1980) and as a convertible (from 1971 to 1995). The Corniche was a development of the Mulliner ...


References


External links


Rolls-Royce Corniche (2000–2002)
{{Rolls-Royce
Corniche A corniche is a road on the side of a cliff or mountain, with the ground rising on one side and falling away on the other. The word has been absorbed into English from the French term ' or "road on a ledge", originally derived from the Itali ...
Cars introduced in 2000 Convertibles Flagship vehicles