Bentley Corniche Classic Cars for Sale

The Bentley Corniche was a luxury two-door car designed and marketed as either a coupe or convertible. The Bentley Corniche was manufactured by Rolls-Royce, who had bought the Bentley company in 1931 but continued to sell cars under the Bentley brand. It was sold from 1966 to 1981 although in 1984 the Bentley Corniche was upgraded and re-branded as the Bentley Continental.

Design of the Bentley Corniche

The first car to be given a Corniche nameplate was a prototype car constructed in 1939 that was based on a Bentley Mark V. This car never went into production due to World War II, with the test car itself destroyed at Dieppe docks by a bomb. The name of Corniche comes from a French and Italian term for 'cliff edged coastal road'. The 1966 Bentley Corniche was a five-seater, two-door, rear wheel drive car that was based upon the Silver Shadow of the Rolls-Royce fleet. It was constructed at Mulliner Park Ward, London and the exterior was designed by John Polwhele Blatchley. The Bentley Corniche was powered by a Rolls Royce V8 engine. It was originally fitted with twin SU carburettors, automatic transmission (three speed) and coil spring four wheel independent suspension. The wheelbase for the Bentley Corniche was 119.75 inch but was extended in 1974 to 120 inch and again in 1979 to 120.5 inch.

Bentley Corniche Re-styled and Re-named

In the Spring of 1977 the Bentley Corniche had a minor re-styling, and again in 1979. The major alteration in 1977 was to replace the V8 engine with a L410I engine, or a fuel injection Bosch KE/K-Jetronic engine, producing a top speed of 118 miles per hour (190kmph), as well as replacing the twin carburettors with a Solex 4A1 carburetor (four-barrel). In March of 1981 Rolls-Royce launched their Silver Spirit model, and at the same time discontinued both the Rolls-Royce and Bentley Corniche models. However, in 1984 the Bentley Corniche was again re-styled cosmetically and re-launched as the Bentley Continental. Over its 25 years of production, there were 69 Bentley Corniche Saloons made and 77 Bentley Corniche convertibles, considerably less than its sister Rolls-Royce Corniche models.