The More Than Adequate Christmas Present: 2000 Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertible

by Eric Anderson

As British medical students we'd scurry out of the way when the consultants to the Royal Infirmary purred into our domain in their fancy cars (attending physicians in the more refined Rolls-Royces and the blood-and-guts surgeons in the more boisterous Bentleys). And as residents we'd stand, almost to attention, freezing in the hospital car park waiting for the same cars as they arrived for Grand Rounds early on Saturday mornings.

Thus my forelock-touching reverence for Rolls-Royce is ingrained. I've test driven a few over the years and it's always been fun. So it hasn't been a pleasure to follow the tribulations of the British company that used to make the best car in the world while its components were fought over by Volkswagen and BMW in the appalling business decision that gave one the name and the other the factory. There was no joy seeing the company's world-wide sales fall even as a dot.com wealth of Arab-oil proportions swept America.

However, in 2003, the name Rolls-Royce passes to BMW and perhaps under one owner its glory can be restored. Meantime a Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertible parked in your driveway is still going to bring the neighbors over, and on the open road still harvest the surreptitious look and the occasional, envious smile. Still get its driver the favored valet parking spot at the front of a crowded restaurant. And still gives the front seat occupants a comfortable, serene and tranquil ride.

The Corniche comes in at a base price of $359,000. I've long felt it wasn't valid to ask: Is it appropriate (or even sensible given the cost of insurance and prevalence of vandalism) to drive a car that costs more than a very large house? Instead, I believed Rolls-Royces should be discussed as cars that were simply one-of-a-kind. However, now many automotive improvements come out each year, such as lightweight alloys, rear occupant side air-bags and computerized skid protection, improvements expensive for low volume manufacturers to offer. As a result many cars could -- and do -- claim to be the best car in the world; and as gas prices again rise to "Road Warrior" prices, it's becoming harder for manufacturers to claim history, nostalgia, mystique and hand-crafted luxury create by themselves sustained high value.

Rolls-Royce -- and today's sophisticated and hard-nosed public knows this. Sales are down and this must hurt a small volume manufacturer. Worldwide, 600 Rolls-Royces were sold in 1998 and 444 in 1999, a drop of 26%. Sales in the Americas were actually up 3.5% in 1999 from 229 to 237. Bentley sells about 1000 a year, perhaps because it's a more sporty vehicle and less an example of politically incorrect, conspicuous consumption. The combined sales of the two marques are up 25% in the Americas.

In its long history Rolls-Royce has made only a few hundred convertibles, each essentially custom- built to order with customers having, for example, a choice of fine wood veneers for the dash, console and waistrails. The Corniche has had a long run without much change but the 2000 Corniche is described as an all-new vehicle even if the retro-touches, particularly on the dash, seem somewhat familiar.

Access is poor to the rear even though the front seats move sluggishly forward when they are tilted for rear entry and, with the limited space in the back, tall passengers would fight you to get in front if it weren't such distastefully bad manners to do so. Inside, of course, is the Rolls-Royce comfort of Connolly leather and Wilton carpets and lambs wool rugs -- and, way up front of the driver, that gorgeous hood ornament that tells the world what you are privileged to be driving. Behind you is something less gorgeous: a mere 6.6 cubic feet of trunk space. It is, however, a convertible and savvy owners know the top has to go somewhere when it's down. The fabric hood (somehow one can't call it a "ragtop" on a Rolls) is powered so it goes up and down with no problems and it stows flush beneath an attractive chrome decking.

When the ignition key is removed the steering wheel tilts up for easy driver access. The gear change lever on the steering column moves neatly, steering is positive and the ride is quiet especially for a convertible. The four wheel disc antilock braking seemed ponderous in the car tested as if there was a delay before the big brakes bit, something sure to bring excitement for those whose journalistic ambitions require that they borrow and drive expensive cars. Perhaps a series of automobile writers had left the test car's brakes needing adjustment.

Some car journalists wonder if, in a few years, those prestigious hand-built cars will be more mass produced and given a BMW 12-cylinder engine but the present engine, a Rolls-Royce 6.75 liter V8, takes the heavy car with its 4-speed automatic transmission from 0 to 60 mph in an impressive 8.0 seconds. Top speed is 135 mph. At one time Rolls-Royce chose not to reveal the horsepower of its engines, merely murmuring to potential customers that performance was "more than adequate." In many ways that describes this total car today. Those who have the money and are "not buying a car, but making a statement" will find it more than adequate. And, if they buy what may be the last Crewe factory hand-built Corniche, they may end up owning a collectible that increases in value in the future, gives them elegant "wheels" today and creates memories that will last forever.