Few Rolls-Royces have ever created quite so much debate as the Camargue. And nearly 40 years on from the last one, Crewe’s flamboyant flagship of the 1970s and 1980s remains a talking point. It is a Marmite machine (albeit Marmite from Harrods’ food hall of course), loved and… well, loathed may be too strong a word, but certainly unappreciated, in equal measure. For the record, here on RR&BD, we’re very fond of the Camargue and its dramatic Pininfarina styling. But we can also understand why others haven’t warmed to it, against a backdrop of cars that trod a safe, conservative line.
It is the Camargue’s looks that have generated so much debate. Underneath that striking, impassive appearance, the luxury leviathan was essentially a Silver Shadow. On top though, it could be seen as an attempt to recapture something of the old coachbuilt days of more individualistic cars. The Silver Shadow’s monocoque construction had made things very difficult for traditional body builders, who were no longer able to transfer their own coachwork to separate rolling chassis. At first James Young and then Rolls-Royce’s own coachbuilder, Mulliner Park Ward, addressed the issue with the twodoor saloons and drophead coupes that were rechristened Corniches in 1971. But although these had a distinctive flair, there was still a great deal of Silver Shadow
