The name “Corniche” is derived from the French word for a road running along the side of a cliff or mountain, “route à corniche”, literally meaning “road on a ledge”. “Corniche” is a derivative of the Italian “cornice”, meaning “ledge”.
Famous roads of this type include the “Amalfi Drive” running along the Amalfi Coast, south of Naples in Italy, between Sorrento and Amalfi, the “Grande Corniche”, running along the Côte d’Azur in southern France above the principality of Monaco, and the “Corniche Ouest” in Senegal, facing the Atlantic coast in the capital city Dakar.
Rolls-Royce adopted “Corniche” as the model name of the two-door Silver Shadow derivatives from March 1971.
The name “Corniche” had been used by Rolls-Royce once before, in 1939, for an experimental car based on the Bentley Mark V. The Bentley Mark V was the second Rolls-Royce-built Bentley model, after Rolls-Royce took over Bentley in 1931. The experimental car never made production due to the outbreak of World War II.
Bentley and Rolls-Royce would finally separate in 2003, following a series of complex business transactions involving the British company Vickers plc, which owned Rolls-Royce Motors Limited, the Volkswagen Group, BMW, and Rolls-Royce plc.
A Bentley version of the Corniche was also produced, although in much smaller numbers. 63 coupe and 77 convertible versions of the Bentley Corniche were produced. Production of the Bentley convertible ended in 1982, although the coupe continued until 1984. The Bentley versions were barely any different from the Rolls-Royce.
The Rolls-Royce Corniche Coupe I continued until 1980, when the Silver Spirit saloon replaced the Silver Shadow, with 1,090 coupes having been made. The convertible, in its Silver Shadow form, would continue until 1995, with 3,239 made.
The Corniche I was in production between 1971 and 1987. In this period, there were engineering upgrades, including carburettor changes before the switch to fuel injection in 1980, suspension upgrades to include hydraulic self-levelling, and disc brakes were replaced with ventilated disc brakes. The wheelbase was extended by 6mm in 1974 and by another 11mm in 1979. Minor cosmetic changes were also made to the exterior and interior styling. The manually operated hood was converted to electric operation in 1980.
The car became an established status symbol. Famous owners included Sir Paul McCartney, Frank Sinatra and Sir Tom Jones. The car was often featured in TV shows and movies, including Beverly Hills, 90210, Dynasty and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
