Of all the cars that you might have expected to see at the start of the third Paris-Dakar rally in 1981, a Rolls-Royce Corniche would easily be the most surprising. And yet the remarkable vehicle you see here, known as “Jules”, was there on the Place du Trocadéro in Paris, rumbling and ready to begin the 6,200 mile journey to the Senegalese capital of Dakar in West Africa. The Rolls-Royce easily won the most attention from startled onlookers - and now it’s been put up for auction.
Prior to its desert adventures, the Corniche was proving an unreliable Rolls-Royce for owner Jean-Christophe Pelletier. He complained about it to friend Thierry de Montcorgé over a glass of wine in Paris one evening. Why not, the pair decided, enter the Rolls in the Paris-Dakar Rally? That would wreck it once and for all. Unlike so many ideas hatched late in the evening, this one reached the planning stages the next morning.
Rolls-Royce were reputedly not keen. Fashion house Dior on the other hand were. They sponsored the project to promote their new fragrance, Jules, and the Corniche had a name. In short order the Rolls also had a new chassis, from a Toyota Land Cruiser, and a rumbling V8, from Chevrolet. Custom steel frame carried fibre glass panels, mimicking the original shape. Just bumpers, windows, and front grille remained. Along with the Spirit of Ecstasy upfront and, of course, the walnut dashboard.
Pelletier and Montcorgé took the precaution of stocking the Rolls with oysters and Champagne and set off. Jules was surprisingly competitive, running as high as 13th. An accident put paid to its chances, and though Jules was repaired - and happily the drivers were uninjured - the Rolls was disqualified. But still continued.
And so Jules finished, not officially classified due to that repair, but the Rolls did drive triumphantly into Dakar, one of only 170 entrants to do so of 300 which started. As a marketing triumph for Dior, Jules has gone down in promotional lore. But the story of this Rolls-Royce Corniche is really one of automotive adventure, a reminder that all you need to do is get behind the wheel and go off the beaten track a little. Or a lot.
There’s never been anything before or since quite like this Dakar Rolls-Royce. The story alone would make this Roller suitable for mounting on a plinth as a piece of auto-sculpture. As it happens, Jules, its indestructible Toyota underpinnings and Chevrolet V8 are in pristine condition and ready for their next challenge.
That’s the good news. Bad news - if you wanted this remarkable vehicle - is that at auction in Paris, the Rolls sold to a lucky and wealthy new owner. Hammer price of £490,000 might seem a lot - £100,000 more than a new Rolls-Royce Cullinan for instance - but then Jules really is unique. Stock the Corniche with Champagne and we’ll meet you in the desert for sundowners.
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