Bentley Brings Long Lost Corniche Back to Life
Back in 1939, the one and only Bentley Corniche became a casualty of World War II. Back in August 1939, the British automaker had sent the Corniche, the only model made, across the channel for testing. Shortly thereafter, World War II broke out and the Corniche was actually caught in a bombing raid on Dieppe.
The chassis actually made its way back to Derby. However, the original bodywork was lost forever in France. Now, Bentley has decided to bring the Corniche back to life, using technical drawings to build an identical replica. While the chassis and body work are all brand new, the automaker claims the new Corniche is identical to the original 1939 version.
The old-but-new Corniche was built by Mulliner Limited Editions, which was set up to produce extremely rare production runs of Bentley cars. Mulliner has traditionally focused on modern variations of Bentley, but to celebrate Bentley’s 100 year anniversary, the special production unit decided to reach into the past.
As for the original Corniche, it’s truly too bad that the car never enjoyed a full production run. Even more than half a century later, the car looks sleek and iconic. It might have been a hot seller had it ever made it to market.
And while the Corniche was never sold to the public, the car did have a huge impact on Bentley’s design philosophy. In fact, the Corniche has been referred to as Bentley’s missing link. Car historians suggest that the Corniche best link’s the company’s pre-war racers to the stylish and iconic cars that would follow.
Want to check out the redone 1939 Corniche in person? The car is expected to make its debut next month at the Salon Prive.
