1977 Rolls-Royce Camargue

This Camargue was first registered at the end of September 1977 to a wealthy Nigerian businessman before passing on to His Highness Sheik Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum - the youngest son of the then ruler of Dubai.

For around 25 years from the early eighties through to the late-mid-noughties, the Camargue was owned in South Wales, since when it has been back in the London area, with one owner even taking it on the Paris to Peking Rally. It eventually came into our vendor’s possession in February 2013.

He was looking for a Mulliner Park Ward 2-door but this Camargue came up for a good price and he was hooked. Since then he’s used it daily, alternating with a Bentley, and on several trips to France but has also kept it garaged, very well maintained, repaired and even given some sympathetic upgrades like Bilstein dampers and heavier front springs.

The vendor says the car now drives quietly and incredibly smoothly, like a new car, always starting first time. But it is a car to be driven and the owner has been away quite a lot, so he feels that it is time to sell.

The exterior Mulliner Park Ward coachwork of this Rolls-Royce is finished in Paprika - a delicious reddy-brown colour designed especially for the Camargue. There are a few age-related marks, such as light scratching on the door mirror and some tiny bubbles on the filler cap, but the paint condition is generally fabulous and the bodywork unmarked, save for a small shopping trolley dent in the rear offside that happened only last week.

From a certain angle, the styling treatment between the wide C-pillar and the high boot lid might appear slightly awkward and unresolved but from all other viewpoints the Camargue looks every bit as impressive as its price tag when new would suggest. The side profile in particular gives this luxury coupé a really distinctive road presence.

This car is from a period where excessive chrome was seen to date a car, so trademark radiator grille aside there isn’t a great deal. What remains on the bumpers and the trims around the lights and windows appears in good order with no obvious pitting.

The car sits on 15-inch black-painted steel wheels, all in good condition with chrome trim rings and hubcaps sporting the RR logo. They are fitted with matching Avon Turbosteel tyres, which appear in good order with plenty of tread.

Rolls-Royce cars from the 1970s were likened to a “gentlemen's club on wheels”, with the finest leather and best quality walnut veneers. This Camargue is no exception and with the hint of cigar smoke still in the air, you only need to close your eyes to imagine the clink of a cut-crystal whisky decanter pouring out a Macallan single malt.

The interior is trimmed in a magnolia coloured Nuella hide, with a dark red piping on the seat upholstery. With mileage into the high 90s and well over 40 years worth of use, the front seats in particular have that lived in look of creasing and patina that only a good quality leather gives. As far as we can see, the creasing hasn’t yet given way to any cracks or rips.

The dash is clad in black to reduce the reflected glare and the instrument panel sports a book-matched walnut veneer. The wood continues across the door tops and the side panels in the rear.

There are two forms of entertainment in the central dash, the original fit Blaupunkt Frankfurt AM/FM radio and a Pioneer cassette deck from the eighties. We understand that both work as they should, as do the other electrical equipment and the air conditioning.

The floor is carpeted in a mid-to-dark red along with the car’s original thick pile lambswool over-rugs in a matching colour. Up above, the pleated wool headlining shows a little patina but with no evident damage.

The front-hinged bonnet is well insulated with quilted pads and, like the engine bay, is correctly painted black on the underside. Whilst the engine and ancillaries haven’t been detailed and valeted, they are relatively clean and appear well looked after. The engine runs smoothly and powerfully, just as you’d expect.

Underneath the car, there is an older coating of Waxoyl or similar across the floor pans and structural parts, some of which is flaking, and an expected level of road dirt coating everything else. There is surface rust here and there but no damage or anything obviously untoward to be seen, nor was anything picked out on the last MOT back in the autumn. Looking through the invoices, it would seem that a good deal of bodywork, including the undersides was done in 2015 at Cooper Coachworks in West London.

As the exterior shape would suggest, the boot space is quite large, although the floor is higher than you might expect due to the stowage of the spare wheel underneath the car. The carpet and linings are the same as inside the car and appear in reasonably good condition, with just a touch of fraying around the battery compartment where the edge trim has come away. A small period toolkit is present as well as a jack and wheel brace stowed in a leatherette sleeve.

The Camargue has a current MOT valid until September 2023, which it passed at the first attempt with no advisories. Of course, this car is well into its fourth decade and as such is exempt from annual testing, but it is pleasing to see a classic car owner diligently getting an independent check of safety and roadworthiness each year.

The car comes with a sizeable history file including dozens of old MOT certificates, tax discs, the owner’s handbooks, manuals and service directory. There are two books recording the long service history plus numerous invoices that back up some of the entries, show more servicing and repair work, and also record the purchase of genuine parts.

Original book:

• Oct 1978 - 2,375 - Jack Barclay, Oxford
• Apr 1982 - 19,264 - a/a
• Aug 1982 - 22,387 - Broughtons, Cheltenham
• Jan 1984 - 30,449 - Howells, Cardiff
• Sep 1984 - 35,014 - a/a
• Mar 1985 - 38,955 - a/a
• Jul 1986 - 47,210 - a/a
• Jun 1987 - 50,060 - a/a
• Jun 1988 - 52,292 - Merlin Cambria, Cardiff
• Nov 1989 - 53,888 - a/a
• Aug 1990 - 55,238 - Paramount, Cardiff
• Aug 1991 - 56,919 - a/a
• Nov 1993 - 61,564 - a/a

Replacement book:

• Nov 1998 - not stated - Wyndham, Cardiff
• May 1999 - not stated - a/a
• May 2000 - 71,014 - a/a
• Nov 2002 - not stated - Welsh Porsche, Bridgend
• Dec 2003 - 73,211 - a/a
• Dec 2004 - 75,195 - a/a
• Dec 2005 - 75,927 - a/a

Service invoices:

• Aug 2007 - 76,288 - Chris Moroney R-R & Bentley Specialist
• Nov 2011 - 80,343 - a/a
• Jul 2013 - 81,422 - a/a
• Feb 2013 - 82,540 - a/a (possibly 2014)
• Oct 2014 - 85,187 - a/a
• Mar 2015 - 85,948 - a/a
• Mar 2016 - 87,812 - a/a
• Apr 2017 - 89,870 - a/a
• May 2018 - 90,730 - a/a
• Apr 2019 - not stated - a/a
• Mar 2020 - 94,182 - a/a
• Jan 2021 - 95,010 - a/a
• Dec 2021 - 96,790 - a/a
• Sep 2022 - 97,116 - a/a

We are especially pleased to see that it has been looked after in recent years by Chris Moroney, an independent Rolls-Royce and Bentley expert. One of our team has used Chris in the past for their cars and describes his work as “brilliant”.

If you scan through the recent invoices from Moroney, you will see that not only has the servicing work been done but also any other issues were rectified as and when necessary. This is an extremely well-maintained car.

The Camargue is a big car - 17 feet long - with a big motor, so it is never going to be especially economical. But the legendary 6.75-litre V8 delivers its huge torque effortlessly and the long wheelbase helps soak up the bumps in the road to give you a very comfortable ride with decent enough acceleration.

Long overlooked and underestimated, benchmark values of Camargues have gone up by as much as 20% over the last couple of years, even for those in a relatively poor condition. Intended for overseas markets, right-hand-drive examples are pretty rare

We think this well-presented Rolls-Royce, having a royal second owner, super service record and a thick history file, will sell for between £40,000 and £60,000.

We’re not afraid to hold up our hand and say we enjoy a scrape of Marmite on our toast now and again - and we’re pretty partial to this Pininfarina-penned Paprika Camargue too.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.