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1981 Rolls-Royce Camargue ~ Series II

This is a rare opportunity to be part of motoring history. The Rolls-Royce Camargue was the most expensive Rolls-Royce in its time, and also the most expensive car in the world. Pininfarina of Turin was commissioned to design Camargue, with their chief stylist Paolo Martin being responsible for the final result. A total of 526 cars were delivered to customers, with the US taking 74 per cent of production. Already a rare car, accounting for those that “didn’t survive” and this is a very rare car indeed. To add to its exclusivity, this particular car was ordered by Rolls-Royce Motors Inc as the official publicity demonstrator and press car for North America. It is this very same car that was featured in various brochures, advertising and press in the United States.

                   

She is in stunning condition.

Despite being a 1981 model year car, chassis number BCX02620, was delivered in September 1983 to Rolls-Royce Motors Inc in New Jersey. It is a second generation model, featuring all the technological advances of the SZ (Silver Spirit and Silver Spur) models, including rack and pinion steering, fuel injection, revised rear suspension and mineral oil hydraulics.

This elegant coupé is finished in Acrylic White with  hand-painted twin finelines to the body swage. The interior is finished in its original dark Blue Connolly Nuella hide with contrasting off-white piping. The Wilton carpets are in matching Blue, bound with off-white hide, overlaid with matching Blue mouton rugs.

Mechanically, the car is excellent having been through our workshop and fully examined and adjusted. Anything requiring attention has been addressed, including full servicing of the complex hydraulics and braking system. Additionally, like all of Park-Ward's cars, upon sale it is subject to our full Predelivery Commissioning (certification) process to ensure everything is in top form.

The Camargue is the best-driving Rolls-Royce and this specific example drives magnificently. She truly glides, smoothly and effortlessly taking everything in stride, and sweeping through bends with grace and poise. Even over rough roads she displays no knocks, rattles, or unwarranted disturbances, being superbly tight indeed. The presentation in the engine compartment is excellent testament to its low-mileage ownership, and the fastidious care and maintenance it has always received.

The body and paint on the car are spectacular. She was repainted in recent times, in the original Acrylic White livery, and presents a consistently deep lustre without any blemishes, chips or dings whatsoever. The exterior presentation ranks a very clear 10 out of 10 driver quality, and less than 1/2 a point behind for show standard.

The interior of the car is completely original with all the leather untouched and factory original, still looking superb. The driver side seat squab does not even show the most minor of scuffing one would normally expect. The woodwork throughout is also all original and in excellent condition. As a bonus, through the grace of Mother Nature, the burl walnut grain on this wood set is very defined and rich with an abundance  of knots and whorls, presenting a particularly deep and magnificent grain. The woodwork can be described as "virtually flawless". Carpets, headlining, rear parcel shelf, controls and switches are also all in excellent condition.

All features on the car work as they should. The automatic split-level climate control works perfectly, delivering ice-cold air conditioning or hot air as required on both levels. Windows work correctly, and the electric seats operate properly and are not “tired”. Being a late Camargue, this example has electric rear view mirrors. All gauges are working, as are all the instrument and interior lights. The aeroplane inspired gauge and instrument surround pieces are all in excellent condition.

So, with the Camargue not only being a rare car, this one is incredibly unique by virtue of its important place in history as the Rolls-Royce Motors Inc’s North American demonstrator public relations and press car, and its stunning condition. It was purchased new in 1981 and owned by Rolls-Royce America for 3 years. After this important role, it was owned by a collector who housed the car in climate-controlled storage with minimal use for many years. Afterwards it was acquired by a well-respected and conscientious Rolls-Royce collector and enthusiast who brought every service and maintenance up to date. A qualified engineer, he simply was the right man to have been caretaker of this car. Although rarely driven, the car was kept under the watchful eye of this dedicated caretaker for several years. When it arrived to us, we put the car through the workshop, where it passed with flying colours, needing only minor things attended to. The car is simply superb, and having owned several Camargues over the years, I can attest that this is the smoothest, quietest and most elegant example I have driven.

 ~~ This car is an unrepeatable opportunity, is one of the finest examples in existence, and easily ranks as one of the nicest Camargues available. She is a clear 10-out-of-10 driver that needs nothing. One step better, you could take her as-is to your next Rolls-Royce meet and receive accolades for her originality and condition - and surely take home a serious prize. ~~

 International buyers always welcome ~ we have sold and shipped 100's world-wide.

The Camargue is a very special car and requires considerable explanation, so I kindly ask your indulgence in what may appear a rather long-winded description.

We all know that Rolls-Royce cars are handmade, but few realise that Camargue was truly bespoke. Coachbuilt from the outset, until 1978 the bodies were constructed by Mulliner Park Ward in London. Afterwards, Motor Panels of Coventry specially made Camargue’s unique hand-pressed panels, and the cars were handbuilt at Crewe afterwards. The painstaking build process took nearly six months, which was two-thirds as long again compared with the more straightforward Corniche.

Because of the small production run, many of them vary in engineering specifications and details from car to car and no two are exactly alike. To the non-discerning eye this will not be detectable, but the purist will note subtle differences between cars – even if they are only one chassis number apart. Every car was built and fine-tuned in such a way to achieve the best possible ride, performance and operation specific to each build. Because of this very unique approach there is no wonder why these cars were so expensive when new. There is also no surprise that no two cars drive exactly the same.

At launch, the Camargue was Rolls-Royce's flagship and the most expensive production car in the world, eventually selling in North America for approximately US$147,000 (over $600,000 in current dollars). At its official US launch, the Camargue had already been on sale in the UK for over a year. The New York Times made much of the fact that the US price at this stage was approximately $15,000 higher than the UK price. In the 1970s, many European cars retailed for significantly less in the US than they did in Europe in order to compete with prices set aggressively by Detriot's “Big Three” and the Japanese importers. Rolls-Royce rejected this approach with the Camargue, referencing the high cost of hand building, safety and pollution engineering needed to adapt the few cars (approximately 30 per year) it expected to send to North America in 1976. The recommended price of a new Camargue at launch on the UK market in March 1975 was £29,250, including sales taxes. Rapid currency depreciation would greatly raise the price of the Camargue in the late 1970s, both in the UK and North America. Camargue was intended to be exclusive from the outset, and was sold in very limited numbers worldwide. The UK, Middle East, Asia and Australia were the main markets, but the US took the lion’s share of production - 390 cars - accounting for 74 per cent of the sales.

At its 1975 press debut, Rolls-Royce highlighted Camargue’s fully automatic automatic split-level climate control system, the first of its kind in the world. So sophisticated is this system, that it took Rolls-Royce eight years to fully develop.

The Camargue shares its platform with the Rolls-Royce Corniche and Silver Shadow. It is powered by the same 6.75 litre V8 engine as the Silver Shadow, though the Camargue is slightly more powerful. The transmission was also carried over — a GM Turbo Hydramatic 400 3-speed torque converter unit with Rolls-Royce’s unique electric gear actuation. The first 65 Camargues produced used SU carburettors, with the remaining using Solex units, except for the North American and Japanese markets. Starting in 1980 for the North American market, fuel injection was utilised. These are rare. The Camargue was fitted with the Silver Shadow II's power rack and pinion steering rack in February 1977. In 1979, it received the hydraulic and suspension system of the Silver Spirit using hydraulic system mineral oil as the fluid medium.

With a 3048 mm (120 in) wheelbase, the Camargue was the first Rolls-Royce motor car to be designed to metric dimensions. It was also the first Rolls-Royce with curved side glass, and the first to feature an inclined rather than perfectly vertical grille. Camargue's grille cants forward at an inclined angle of seven degrees. It is also the widest Rolls-Royce grille manufactured.