The luxurious Rolls-Royce Corniche was prepared for the 1981 Paris-Dakar rally. Its body was mounted on the frame chassis of the Toyota Land Cruiser HJ45 SUV.
In France, an unusual 1981 Rolls-Royce Corniche Coupe was auctioned in Aguttes. They plan to charge up to 800,000 euros for it, although such cars are usually 10 times cheaper. They talked about it on the auction website.
The fact is that a unique racing Rolls-Royce will go under the hammer. It’s hard to believe, but this car participated in the famous Paris-Dakar rally.
The Rolls-Royce Corniche rally was created by drivers Thierry de Montcorger and Jean-Christophe Pelletier. They managed to negotiate sponsorship with Christian Dior, and representatives of the fashion house were even able to persuade Rolls-Royce management to support the project.
The car was named Jules in honor of the new Dior perfume. It is worth noting that the rally version does not have much in common with the real Rolls-Royce Corniche.
Almost all vehicle body panels were replaced with lightweight plastic parts. Moreover, the Rolls-Royce Corniche body was placed on the Toyota Land Cruiser HJ45 frame chassis, and a 5.7-liter V8 from the Chevrolet Corvette was placed under the hood.
The car’s ground clearance was increased and large off-road tires were installed. A 332-litre gas tank was also revealed. However, the wooden lining on the interior was preserved.
In the 1981 Paris-Dakar rally, the team of Thierry de Montcorger and Jean-Christophe Pelletier performed well at first, but an accident put them far behind. However, the Rolls-Royce Corniche was repaired and could be finished. The car was recently restored with an investment of 150,000 euros.
Meanwhile, the famous racing Ferrari was recently auctioned for 25 million euros.
Moreover Focus He talked about the new Rolls-Royce electric car in Kiev for $600,000.
Source: Focus
Ray Bly is an accomplished journalist in the field of Automobile. He currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a deep understanding of the Automotive industry and a talent for uncovering the latest developments, Ray’s writing provides readers with insightful and informative coverage of the latest news and trends in the field.