Description
First registered 3rd July 1973 in Manchester serving subsequently several successful businessmen from a Mayor of Manchester to a “Bon Vivant”, race driver and legendary car dealer with Dutch origins – Tonio Tony Hildebrand.
Complete documentation of ownership from the beginning by documents from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).
All leather renewed in 2011, bare metal re-spray in 2020 and complete hood renewed in 2021.
Well maintained and in regular – long distance – use as intended for a Grand Tourer.
An all-time Classic in practical condition with special history and featured in several articles – YOU QUITE RARELY GET ALL THAT IN ONE CAR.
Currently registered in Austria with 108. 000 Miles on the clock
Both period registrations XVM 393L and DHO IK are available along with the car.
The Corniche is likely the best car for the owner-driver Rolls-Royce ever built and is unrivalled in the length of production what confirms the previous judgement. Demand surpassed the immediate availability by far. In 1972 you would have had to wait 10 years to get a delivery of a new Convertible. The production time of each single car in coachbuilt manner was a time-consuming affair. So it will not come to a surprise that in these times fine examples changed hands with a big profit for the seller. For some Corniches this entailed more than one special owner.
This is one of these examples with a complete list of owners without a blind spot, some of them to be featured here in brief without giving away full details with respect to their privacy. The first owner was a Chartered Surveyor in Manchester who had been Lord Mayor of Manchester as well for a time before taking delivery of DRH15548 on 3rd July 1973. His private passion was horse-breeding and he named several horses after the river Bollin which is dividing his breath-taking estate in a small village south of Manchester. The blue Corniche was first registered according to location and period XVM 393L.
Almost exactly two years later the Corniche changed to Inveress to serve one of two twin-brothers that ran a builders and civil engineers enterprise that employed no less than 630 men at that time and are still in business until this very day.
Another previous owner made his wealth with successfully establishing a health food chain in 1976 and selling it 10 years later becoming a millionaire. He didn’t follow the usual schemes with a big estate and distance to people, he lived in a small period house in the centre of Hastings and enjoyed an eccentric Live-Style as part of the “Loony Community”. They were wearing crazy costumes and carrying crazy names such as the most popular of them The Screaming Lord Sutch. The Corniche owner from Hastings also purchased a title and had the Rolls-Royce re-painted in cream colour. The registration DHO IK was a reminder of his real name. He was very generous with the car and lend it to other members of the Loony community for special occasions such as weddings before he died end of 1999.
Another special character in Hastings is the fourth prominent previous owner of DRH15548 to be mentioned here – Tonio or Tony Hildebrand. Born in Amsterdam he can be best described as a “Bon Vivant” with connections ranging from Dutch Prince Bernhard to lesser mortal persons. He enjoyed race cars same as cigars and of course women. Later on in London he ran the successful and prominent car dealership of “Straight Six”. Among the cars he sold where the Jaguar XK120 and the C-Type that were raced by Ecurie Ecosse! You can learn more on him by two autobiographies (1973 and 2000) and a documentation film (2005).
SOME CARS HAVE ONE PROMINENT PREVIOUS OWNER; VERY FEW HAVE GOT FOUR OF THEM - ARE YOU GOING TO BE THE FIFTH?
DRH15548 had a bare metal respray in 2020 and received a new hood in 2021 by one of the best craftsmen of his kind, serving among others the Swedish Court. The same professional had the front seats and rear bench re-upholstered back in 2011. The original layout from the Hildebrand-period was retained to a great extent in colors and material. Over the past decade the Corniche was not kept as a museums piece or show car but toured Europe, especially “the Corniches” on the Cote d’Azur.
This model is featured in three articles of the RREC-Magazine “The Bulletin” and “Austro Classic”. The mileage of 108. 000 corresponds with the time of almost half a century of enthusiastic use and you will not face troubles that usually result from cars that have not been moved for a long time. MOT is valid until July 2023.
