1974 Bentley Corniche Two-Door H.J. Mulliner Coupé

Introduced in March 1971, the Corniche was a revised version of the Mulliner, Park Ward-bodied two-door variants of the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and Bentley T-Series saloons, themselves notable as the Crewe factory's first unitary construction cars. In Corniche form, Rolls-Royce's well-tried 6.7-litre V8 produced around 10% more power than standard and proved capable of propelling the car to a top speed in excess of 120mph with sports car-rivalling acceleration to match. The model proved a major success for Rolls-Royce; periodically revised and up-dated, it remained in production well into the 1990s, the last (Convertible) examples being delivered in 1995.

For much of the time that the Corniche was in production, a Bentley was regarded as little more than a slightly cheaper alternative to a Rolls-Royce. This famous marque had yet to re-establish its reputation as maker of some of the world's fastest and most exciting sports saloons and Grand Tourers, a process that commenced in 1982 with the launch of the remarkable Mulsanne Turbo. Consequently, the Bentley Corniche was produced in much smaller numbers than its Rolls-Royce equivalent, despite being – arguably – the more handsome of the two. The name originally comes from the French word for a coastal road, particularly along the face of a cliff, most notably the Grande Corniche along the French Riviera above the principality of Monaco, and it was thought at the time that this new name might convey some of the style and glamour of Monte Carlo and, 50 years later, it still does. Up to 1984, when the Bentley Corniche was renamed 'Continental', only 151 had been sold compared to several thousand of the Rolls-Royce version and, pleasingly, these rare Bentleys are becoming much sought after today.

On offer here we indeed have one of these rare elegant two-door cars. We understand that it was originally finished in Willow Gold but was later refinished in Velvet Green, an altogether more subtle presentation, although the original Magnolia leather interior is still in place, as luxurious as ever.

The car's previous owner was an established figure in the world of motor racing having raced in the 1950s and 1960s piloting not only his D-Type, but also an XK120, C-Type, Aston Martin DB3S, Lister Costin, and Tojiero amongst a number of others. Our vendor, a well-respected collector in his own right, had been fortunate enough to buy the previous owner's Jaguar D-Type and, in a sentimental moment, thought that it would be nice to add his beloved Corniche to his own Collection to enable the Jaguar and the Bentley to sit side-by-side once again. A great idea but, as our vendor does have a number of other Bentleys, it was inevitably not going to be used enough so the decision was made to offer it for sale.

The history file indicates that the engine had a major overhaul in 2003 which was around 13,000 miles ago. The current mileage is just under 80,000 and we understand from our vendor that everything works as intended, the electric seats, cold air conditioning, the stereo works from all four speakers, whilst the electric aerial is operated with a switch adjacent to the steering column.

The rare Bentley Corniche is, without question, a masterpiece in looks and engineering and has that certain cachet fully understood by Bentley owners. 107 HYL is an extremely desirable luxury car in beautiful condition and we believe will be very well received by collectors and enthusiasts alike.