Niels van Roij remakes Corniche as Shooting Brake
Rolls-Royce coupe is transformed into stunning estate, complete with built-in bike rack
While Niels van Roij (the company) has become well known for all sorts of projects, from Fiat Panda to Range Rover, it has carved out quite a niche in shooting brakes. Its two-door estate projects have included the Rolls-Royce Wraith, Ferrari Breadvan Hommage and something called a Daytona Shooting Brake Hommage. The Tesla wagon may have had two too many doors to qualify as an SB, but it’s clear that the Dutch company has now built up some useful experience when it comes to stylish wagons.
So there was only one place to consult when a customer wanted to do something a little different with their Corniche coupe. In the family since the 1980s and known as ‘Henry’, the classic Rolls-Royce is now ‘Henry II’, restored and reimagined as a two-door estate. The body is all-new from the B-pillar back, bringing a new roofline, glass, C-pillars, bootlid and upper rear panels, but keeping the rear wings - now lovingly refurbished. Niels van Roij says that the build was achieved using ‘CAD, 3D-scanning, 3D-printing and traditional panel-beating, leather and wood handcraft skills.’ As well as being a one-off bodystyle, it’s a beautifully restored Rolls-Royce, with the design and build taking 7,000 hours in total.
The requirements were nothing if not demanding for Henry II. Both the client and his wife are keen triathletes, and therefore wanted space for their bikes somewhere in (or on) the Rolls Royce; storing them in the car would have created a roofline “like a postman’s van”, according to van Roij himself, so that was out. Putting them on the roof would have looked a bit messy for such a suave shooting brake. So, after ‘numerous consultations with the client and internal design and engineering workshops’, an extending bike rack in the rear bumper was devised. Heaven knows how many hours and how many thousands that must have cost, especially as another request had to be factored in - the motorsport side.
See as well as biking, running and swimming in one, the owner is also a keen historic rally driver, and typically uses the Rolls with the rear seats folded. But as part of the Henry II plan, he wanted the boot floor to be entirely flat with the rear seats down, like a coachbuilt Vauxhall Zafira. That posed its own set of problems because to do that, the fuel tank, which typically sits on the rear axle in a Corniche, had to be relocated - and where the team wanted to put it was where the bike carrier was going to go. D’oh. So the solution was to cut out the floorpan behind the rear axle, then create an entirely new rear subframe that could house both the bike-carrying system and the fuel tank. Which feels like it must have taken a thousand hours on its own.
After all that, the rest of the Henry II restoration must have seemed like a breeze, even if it did take two and a half years. So the interior is bespoke, but features restored rather than replaced wood veneer, which meant tracking down the correct wood from a 1981 Rolls-Royce. According to van Roij that “wasn’t easy”, which must sell the task short somewhat, requiring “the skillset, the perseverance, the attention to detail and the contacts to source the materials required and match not only the colour of the wood, but also of all the layers of lacquer to match the original perfectly.” It’s all too easy to see how those hours were totted up.
And there are bespoke touches throughout, including tweed and beige leather for the sun visors, a Brantz rally meter in the centre stack, a bike cleaning kit, vanity mirrors in the boot ‘for freshening up after a gruelling triathlon’, plus a fitted luggage set. There are small ‘H’ logos throughout, a nod to the nickname, found on the bags and the gold pinstripe. Nothing has been left untouched in the pursuit of two-door estate perfection. Niels van Roij added: “Our responsibility, which we did not take lightly, was to ensure that during the transformation from coupe to grand touring shooting brake, nothing was lost in terms of heritage and original design values. We were determined that our work remained intrinsically true to and fully respectful of the timeless, sumptuous lines crafted by the designers in the late 1960s.” Talk about nailing it.
All pictures courtesy of Niels van Roij
On the other hand poor Henry has morphed into a giant MGB GT with a Corsa rear bumper where perhaps a tasteful restoration might have been kinder with a LWB Transit for the sports activities.
Someone else's money, someone else's vision.
A lot of engineering and effort, I wonder what it drives like. Does it still feel like a Rolls Royce with all the re-engineering underneath ?
Looks like it's made for bootlegging champagne.
I can't criticise the styling as I wouldn't know where to start on such a project. However, it manages to look elegant and of its sixties time without ruining the basic car. Well done to the owners and the coachbuilder.
much better than just buying a Bentagya, Uris or somesuch
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