1985 Rolls-Royce Corniche

Bentley Convertible

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

SCAZD42A2FCX10122

Gasoline

~~oo00oo~~ Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible 1985 Definitely NOT your average Corniche This stunning Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible is finished in Masons black with hand-painted tan fine-lines to the waist-rail. The interior is finished in light tan (Magnolia) Connolly hides with black piping and matching black carpets throughout. This Corniche is in very special condition and requires considerable explanation, so I kindly ask your indulgence in what may appear a rather long-winded description. We all know Rolls-Royces are hand-made cars, but what few know is the Corniche was the true bespoke manufactured Rolls-Royce. The body shells were hand-made in Italy and shipped to Rolls-Royce in Crewe where they were all re-worked to Rolls-Royce's rigid standards. Because of the relatively small production run on the Corniche, many of them vary in engineering specifications from car to car and, in most cases, it is almost impossible to find two exact built cars. To the non-discerning eye this would not be detectable but the purist would note subtle differences between these cars – even if they were only one chassis number apart. Each car was built and fine-tuned in such a way to achieve the best possible ride, performance and operation specific to each build. Because of this very “unique” approach there is no wonder why these cars were so expensive when new. There is also no surprise that no 2 cars “drive” exactly the same. Torsion strength was a big issue on the Corniche and as a result, it is quite common to drive one Corniche convertible and feel it “wabble” and “rattle” on bumpy road-surfaces whilst another might display less of these characteristics. This particular Corniche being offered today is one of those special cars offering an incredibly salubrious ride. In 30 years of collecting Rolls-Royces, I have never driven a Corniche convertible with such a tight and well “held together” ride as this one. So much so, that when we were assessing the car for teh first time we were perplexed as to “how nice” it performed. Such is "the luck of the build". I was thrilled and as such, this very impressionable riding Corniche was to become the foundation of a totally “over-board” process of “light restoration” that cannot be justified by any financial means - with only “love and passion” being the driving force. Mechanically, the car was found to be excellent. Notwithstanding, it was fully work-shopped to ensure all was in top shape. When this car is driven, it truly glides smoothly and effortlessly. Even over rough road surfaces, it displays no knocks, rattles or thumps – it is very “tight” indeed. The body on the car was quite nice from the beginning with only the usual odd nicks here and there (nothing objectionable) with the usual small signs of lead-wiping* marks in the normal places. *All Rolls-Royces during this era adopted a body finishing method known as “lead-wiping”. Instead of using bondo fillers, as is the process today, lead was used to join and smooth body panel joints for correct fitment and finish. Almost like a stick of butter melted into a pan, was the lead applied by craftsmen who would painstakingly heat the lead and the surface so it could be “wiped” onto the body, allowed to dry & set and then worked with hand tools to achive the final finish. The unfortunate down side of this method is the expansion properties of lead is very different to that of steel and aluminum, so thru changes in ambient temperature, the lead expands and contracts at different rates. This resulted in minute stress fractures in the over-laying paint. This is very typical with all Rolls-Royces built right up until the mid-1990s and should not be considered a fault to any specific vehicle. The usual places on convertibles is around the front fenders above the eyebrows, at the base and along the “A” pillar, on the rear quarters and where they join the finishing scuttle afore of the boot-lid. Having said all this, the signs of these “stress marks” on this Corniche are quite minimal. Paint-wise, this Corniche was lightly wet-sanded, buffed and polished and now presents beautifully. The interior of the car is the most amazing investment of time and effort that can only be best appreciated in real-life. In a quest to seek a totally factory original look, the entire interior was removed with each and every item catalogued for subsequent re-assembly. The original Italian burl walnut needed redoing as a result of the usual cracking that develops in the clear-coat lacquer. However, for this car, new wood was procured. It was an original set made by Rolls-Royce but never used on a car. Call it “new old stock” if your prefer. After considerable searching, it was sourced from a Rolls-Royce wood-refinishing company based in - of all places - Crewe, England, the "home" of Rolls-Royce. The founders of the company are original craftsmen from Rolls-Royce itself and the wood set (originally built for a same year Corniche) was a set they retained as a keep-sake - which they reluctantly sold to me. Needless to say, the wood now fitted in the car is as flawless as when the car was first driven off the factory floor! As an added bonus, thru the grace of Mother Nature, the burl walnut grain on this wood set is very defined and rich with a lot of “knots”. It looks magnificent. Every leather part of the interior was removed and each piece INDIVIDUALLY cleaned, imperfections repaired and restored to an excellent standard. This shows well in some of the close up photos included. Before the interior was reassembled, every single nut, bolt, screw, washer was inspected, cleaned and polished where deemed necessary. The final assembly was done ensuring all screws were "set" to Rolls-Royce standards. The completed finish is indeed spectacular, right down to the twin set original Tudor crystal glass sets and hip-flasks concealed in each door. With some 300 hours invested in the interior restoration alone, the final finish is as close as you would expect to NEW for a 25 year old Rolls-Royce. The interior restoration is worth in excess of $15,000. It is truly superb and I highly recommend serious buyers to take the time to view all and every photo. The convertible top on the car was already 5 years new and operates well. All features on the car work as they should. A/C is ice cold, heater is hot and climate control works as it should. All windows work well, including the rear seat ¼ glasses which are famous for being very slow or not working at all. Electric seats are working well and are not “tired”. All gauges are working, as are all the dash lights and interior lights. The wheels fitted to the car are a genuine set of Rolls-Royce alloys that were exclusively used on a limited production model called the "Flying Spur". Not to be confused with the current Bentley Flying Spur, the Rolls-Royce Flying Spur was a turbo-charged Silver Spur that was, in essence, a Rolls-Royce version of the Bentley Turbo R of the same body shape. Only 134 were ever produced in 1994 & 1995. These wheels were some $4,000 new at the time, although today, Bentley Turbo R wheels can be modified with "RR" logos. An original set of steel rims and hubcaps are available if preferred. So, here we have a very "non average" Corniche convertible. It was purchased new in 1985 and owned by its first “regular” driver/owner for 20 years. The car lived in California this whole time so it only saw the nicest of weather. It has been care-taken by 2 enthusiasts and collectors since. It must have been a non-US delivered car originally because the odometer was in kilometers. It has now been converted and calibrated to a correct mph speedometer. There is no historical service information on the car so miles covered are not documentation verifiable but certainly consistent with the pre-restoration condition of the car. Today, of course, it looks like the car has travelled less than half that mileage. With the car comes, as you would expect, its original hand-book and correct jack and tools. It even has the original instruction templates for the Climate Control (these are printed paper cards that were loosely attached to the unit controls so the new owner could easily learn how the system works and then remove them). ~~ This Corniche convertible is as about as good as you would expect to find. I make no excuse for the fact that it is amongst the higher priced Corniches on eBay for its age but I can assure you it will also be one of the best you will find anywhere. I would like to say the car is not far from show standard but given that can be very “subjective” I will define it as a 93/4 out of 10 driver. In any event, you can have confidence in displaying her at any Rolls-Royce meets as she stands. ~~ ~~ over 300 hours spent on the interior alone ~~ ~~ some $15,000 of interior restoration alone makes it virtually "brand new" ~~ ~~ the craftsmanship on the wood & leather and their fitment is a work of art in its own right ~~ ~~ brand new burl walnut wood finishes built & fitted by craftsmen ~~ ~~ Electric roof works well and effortlessly ~~ ~~ new Everflex top with new tan broadcloth interior lining ~~ As Ebay limits the amount of photos, I have provided the following link to some 150 additional and detailed photos of the car. I highly recommend all serious bidders to review these to best appreciate this Corniche convertible's stunning presentation: Link to over 150 photos - Click HERE FILMCLIP "A drive in the country-side" A note from RRMOTORSINC: “For those Rolls-Royce enthusiasts who have followed my auctions in the past I welcome you all. For those who are new to my adverts and/or the marque, please note that as a serious collector of some 25 years, all my cars are truly described examples. I have my own private Rolls-Royce workshop (not open to the public but dedicated to my own cars) with trained Rolls-Royce craftsmen who are proficient in all aspects. As a team, we are dedicated to the preservation of the marque and as such, any car that leaves the stable is completely inspected and work-shopped to ensure mechanical and operational items are maintained appropriately. We adopt a “keep it original” mentality with pride and confidence, offering after sales technical support and assistance well beyond the sale. Because most of my cars are offered for the pleasures of driving enjoyment it is not always possible or practical to seek perfection (in the true sense of the word) but we do always uphold excellence in whatever we do. Our cars are by no means cheap priced cars but we like to think they are amongst the best. To this end, I firmly believe in the famous adage; “Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.” We hope you do to.” ~~oo00oo~~ This Rolls-Royce is part of my private collection. I am not a broker or main-stream/retail car dealer; I am a professional car collector of some 25 years with considerable experience and knowledge of Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars. I have a long standing reputation being associated with the marque which I take seriously. I am one of the leading Rolls-Royce restorers in the country. I take a lot of pride in my cars and have fun in collecting and restoring them. However, auctions are not a game so when you place a bid or offer, and you are the winning bidder, please understand you have entered a binding contract. You cannot bid and win the auction and expect not to meet the terms and conditions. Bidding and/or winning does not mean you are expecting me to “hold” the car until you have the opportunity to inspect it. Any inspection contemplated should be undertaken BEFORE you bid of make an offer. You are bidding and/or making offers to buy WITHOUT conditions. A $2000.00 deposit (non-refundable) will be required within 24 hours of the close of the auction and payable by PayPal. The balance of funds are required within 7 days of the close of the auction and must be provided by cashier’s check or bank wire. I cannot accept PayPal for the balance unless you are willing to meet the cost of transfer fees. Full payment must be made (and payments cleared) before the title and/or the vehicle is released. If all the funds are not received as indicated above, I reserve the right the keep the deposit and resell the vehicle by re-listing or to another bidder. I am happy to assist with shipping arrangements on a worldwide basis but the winning bidder takes full responsibility for pickup and/or shipping and at his cost. As a collector and experienced restorer of the marque, I make every effort to bring my cars to a very high standard but the very nature of these classic Rolls-Royces is such that it is not always possible to attend to every single item, or perhaps I may have inadvertently overlooked an item. Further, a feature or function that is working perfectly one moment, may decide to play-up the next. For this reason it is necessary for the following condition: The vehicle is being sold "as-is/where-is" with no warranty expressed, written or implied. Any descriptions or representations are made with reasonable judgment and all efforts are made to ensure fair assessment and accuracy but they are for descriptive and identification purposes only and are not to be construed as a warranty of any type. The seller shall not be responsible for errors in description, authenticity, genuineness, or defects herein and makes no warranty in connection therewith. No allowance or set aside will be made on account of any incorrectness, unforeseen imperfection, defect or damage. It is the responsibility of the buyer to have satisfied himself as to the condition and value and to bid based upon that judgment solely. The seller shall and will make every reasonable effort to disclose any known defects at the buyer’s request prior to the close of the auction. Seller assumes no responsibility for any repairs regardless of any oral statements about the vehicle. I can hold the vehicle up to 30 days while you arrange shipping but you must immediately insure it. I will not bear any responsibility for any costs including storage, transportation, or repair after the close of the auction. Also, you must remember that this is a classic +/-30 year old vehicle, and while it is up to you, I do not recommend that you just “hop in and drive it across the country”. At least, I have never done that. I have always professionally transported the cars from where I bought them to my home. PLEASE; IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ABIDE BY THESE TERMS, DO NOT BID. On Sep-05-10 at 19:24:32 PDT, seller added the following information: Sellers: Get your own map today. Click here now. Simple.