The introduction of the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow (and its Bentley-badged sister, the T1) in 1965 marked a major departure from its predecessor, the Silver Cloud, being the first model from the company to use unitary construction rather than a separate body and chassis. The more efficient use of space made possible by this enabled the car to offer increased passenger and luggage accommodation, whilst reducing both the length and width of the vehicle. The new car was designed by John Blatchley and provided a much cleaner, more modern appearance.

Amongst the numerous other modernisations introduced with the Silver Shadow were all-round disc brakes and independent rear suspension, making use of a high-pressure hydropneumatic suspension system licensed from Citroën, with dual-circuit braking and hydraulic self-levelling suspension, offering a high quality ride. Initially, the car made use of the same engine and gearbox as the outgoing Silver Cloud – a twin carburettor, 6.2 litre V8, coupled to a four-speed automatic gearbox – but both engine and gearbox were modified during the long production run, which included a subsequent Silver Shadow II model (and Bentley T2), and ended in 1980. In all, around 25,000 4-door cars were manufactured. Far rarer was the 2-door variant – the Corniche – introduced in 1971 and available in coupé or convertible form, with less than 4,500 manufactured and the equivalent Bentley model managing less than 150 examples.

This car was built in 1971 as a Rolls-Royce Corniche – we have a partial copy of the R-R build history. It appears it found its first owner in Jersey later that same year and spent some time in the island before returning to the UK and being re-registered there in March 1978. We have an outline of the car’s history for some years after that, with a mileage record of 43,000 in 1997. It looks like it changed colour (from Gold) to Silver in March 2000, with around 56,000 miles recorded at that time. The first mention of it having been re-badged as a Bentley Corniche appears in 2006 and the last MOT certificate held shows 78,889 miles in April 2011.

In 2012, the Corniche returned to its first home in Jersey with a new owner who embarked upon considerable refurbishment/restoration works in June of that year, finishing in April 2013 with attention given to the interior; hood mechanism; bodywork repairs; electrics and braking system – over £40,000 spent. It was formally re-registered in the island (as a Rolls-Royce Corniche) in March 2013 and has had limited, careful use over the last decade, with the current mileage not much over 81,200.