1980 Rolls-Royce Camargue

Coachwork by Pininfarina

6,750cc OHV V8 Engine
220bhp at 4,000rpm
3-Speed GM400 Automatic Transmission
4-Wheel Independent Suspension
4-Wheel Disc Brakes

*Delivered new to New York
*One of only 530 built
*Original MSRP in 1980 - $153,090
*Offered with copies of factory records

THE CAMARGUE

It could be surmised that, if an uninitiated person was asked to guess what they had just seen after having been given a brief glance at a Camargue (Who made it? Who designed it? When was it built? How many did they build?), the answers might come back: Ferrari or Maserati; Michelotti or Bertone; mid-1990s or 2000s; it's a one off. It may surprise even the cognoscenti to know that these stunningly elegant two door Rolls-Royce sport coupes date originally from the mid-1970s, are from the pen of Pininfarina, were a full production car rather than a styling exercise and that the adornment of the Rolls-Royce grille is not a disguise but a confirmation that the car is from that esteemed manufacturer from stem to stern.

With the underpinnings of the contemporary Silver Shadow, the Camargue coupe was strikingly different from any preceding Rolls-Royce model, and closer in concept to the Bentley Continental. The company's flagship, it used an up-rated version of Rolls' dependable 6,750cc V8 engine. The power output remained undisclosed, in keeping with tradition, although most testers reported a healthy improvement in acceleration above 70mph and a top speed in excess of 120mph. The car also featured Rolls-Royce's advanced split-level air conditioning system which enabled independent temperature control at two levels, something that would later become standard on the Shadow II range.

Original U.S. list prices were approximately $148,000 making Camargues perilously expensive and in today's money, they would eclipse the cost of almost all new cars. The prohibitive cost, paired with the lengthy production build time, undoubtedly accounted for the modest numbers built; perhaps some of those in the line gave up waiting and chose to take the two Silver Shadows instead, or a handful of other cars? Although in production for 11 years until 1986, some 530 were built. Of those, a mere 30 entered the U.S.A. each year even though the bulk of production was intended for overseas customers and the majority built with left-hand drive.

THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

According to factory records, this Camargue was purchased new by Peter O'Neill of Bronxville, New York. Ordered in April of 1980 in Sepia over Nutella Stone hides with Nutella Dark Brown piping and carpets offset by a beige headliner, the car was fitted with optional Nutella Dark Brown leather wrapped knee roll and center console cover. The sticker price was an eye watering $153,090. Completed at the factory in Crewe in December of 1980, it was put aboard the American Argosy at 9am on January 29th, 1981 and arrived in Lyndhurst, New York two weeks later.

The Rolls would remain in the East Coast for most of its life and show only 44,000 miles in 2003, when it was described as being a well-maintained car that had been upgraded with a Harvey Bailey suspension handling package and a meticulously installed DVD player and screen. By 2005 the car was in upstate New York outside of Buffalo. Remaining with that penultimate owner for approximately 6 years, it was acquired by the current owner in January 2011 with an indicated 45,676 miles on the clock.

Sparingly used and largely stored since purchase, it will likely require some recommissioning before heading to the local country club or restaurant to inevitably be parked out front. While it was an inflation-adjusted half a million dollars when new, it is all but guaranteed to make you look like a million bucks while driving it today, even if the purchase price is a mere fraction of that.