Welcome to my 1988 Rolls Royce Corniche II homepage.  This stunning red with parchment interior Corniche has 37,000 miles and has got to be one of the best looking and maintained (at no expense spared) one in the USA if not the world.  The red piping on the seat and convertible top cover blend beautifully with the dark red lamb rugs and deep cut carpet.  The paint is without flaw and its reflectivity is beyond reproach, even to season grand national attendees.  This car gets more compliments and respect than any late model car I have ever owned.  As a matter of fact it gets far more compliments and admiration than my SL55 which is a fantastic car in its own right. 

This rust free, ding free, scratch free, accident free Corniche has no oil leaks, which is really saying something when you are talking about old cars and downright incredible when you are talking about old English cars.  No engine oil leaks, no transmission leaks, and no radiator or rear differential leaks.  All electrics work well too, which is quite simply amazing considering this car still retains the classic and famous Lucas electrics.  I could go on but this is a great no excuse example Corniche.

What I would like to cover here is how the car drives when it is maintained and not neglected as so often is the case.  Rolls have often been sometimes wrongly accused of ill handling and sloppy suspension motions.  That is not true with a Corniche II if the car has a properly working mineral oil suspension.  The ride motions are reassuring and controlled even on the most extreme uneven and cracked roads.  The precision of the steering is good, even by today's standards,  which has been an across the board improvement on all cars, especially in the last ten years.  With finger touch sensitivity you can steer this solid structure convertible with ease.  The good four wheel disc brakes stop fast and hard without any pulling and the suspension, if in good maintenance like I alluded to earlier, will ride like no other car now does.  The ride is indeed fantastic, rivaling new BMW 7 series and current S Class Mercedes.  Now this Corniche does not handle as well as those but it is not boaty and sloppy like you traditionally think Cadillacs and Lincolns of yore would be.

This particular Corniche has no cracks in the stunning interior wood.  If you know Rolls you know what that takes to achieve.  The leather is crack and stain free and the carpets show no wear.  The doors shut with a wonderful solid thunk, unheard of since W108 body Mercedes.  The a/c and heater as well as all electrics work as intended and keep the car hot or cold as well as almost any modern automobile.  The CD playing sound system has been carefully updated to not invade or alter any piece of the original car and the car has the integrated cell phone offered by RR of the day which you can see the molded in cell phone antenna base to the body.  Kind of neat and I would say rare. 

The famous Rolls Royce 6.75 Litre power plant is everything one would expect a car of this magnitude to be like.  It is subtly powerful, very smooth and extremely quite. It starts the first turn and never misses a beat.  The transmission, which RR uses a GM TH-400, is as good of transmission as ever built on this planet. Strong, reliable and smooth.  The car is more than adequate for what it is and is a joy every time you depress the accelerator beyond the conservative limit.

As far as collectibility, the production numbers of the Corniche II are lower than most cars that are labeled as "rare" and sell for millions.  From 1986-1989 a total of 1234 examples were built world wide. Earlier years were almost as low too. With such a low number made the future values of these cars should be quite stable.  This is actually what gives me the ability to own this car.  Its as good as a low yielding CD provided you do not drive the wheels off of it.  History has shown that a 10 year old+ Corniche is as as stable of investment as you can get in a collectable automobile.  I would just hate to be the guy who bought it new!

I love driving this car as much as looking at it, since so many of my old collector cars are better just remaining stationary.  The serene driving environment is perfectly matched to the mission this car has, which is effortless, occasion worthy travel.  My only criticism is I do not find enough time to drive it.