1976 Rolls-Royce Camargue

Upon launch, the Camargue served as the new flagship for Rolls-Royce and also became the most expensive new car in the world. By the time the car arrived for sale in the United States, the car had already been selling in the UK for an entire year. The Camargue also had an extra $5,000 added to the price tag in the United States thanks to aggressive model pricing by Detroit’s Big Three. The headlining luxury feature for the Camargue was Rolls’ new ‘automatic split-level climate control system,’ which, apparently took eight years for the company to develop. Powered by a slightly hotter 6.75L V8 from the previous Silver Shadow and mated to a GM Turbo-Hydramatic 3-speed automatic, the Camargue made little splash with journalists over its performance figures. Ultimately, the Camargue was sold in extremely limited numbers across four continents, and it is understood that only 531 units were produced.

This Camargue’s Paprika exterior is bright red and features yellow pinstriping. For the most part, the paint is evenly applied around the entire car, that being said, there are some marks in the following areas: just above the crease line on driver’s front quarter panel, several chips on the rear-view mirror, and three marks in the driver’s door. The fuel door has some bubbling on it, and on some of the crease lines around the car there is evidence of touch-up paint being used, fortunately it matches the body paint quite nicely. The hubcaps are clean and show no curb rash, and the tires show no cracks with a decent amount of tread left. Glass around the car is clean and free of chips or cracks. The passenger door seems to have some warps in the metal work, but calling them dents would be an over exaggeration. Overall, the Camargue is in good condition, it has some flaws, but they aren’t particularly worrisome.

The interior is tan leather with black accents. The tan leather front seats are in solid condition, creasing is evident but not terrible, and there are no immediate holes or tears. Thick black carpets have been added likely to protect the original mats, but they seem to be in fair condition although they seem to have some trouble laying flat in place. The wooden inlays are probably the most beat up part of this interior. The wood shows several cracks although the gloss is still in good condition. Some of the gauges and vents have scratches on their black metal faces, but all of the gauges are easily readable. The black leather steering wheel has been preserved nicely and shows no major damage. Towards the center, it appears that a former owner added in an Alpine stereo for added convenience. The rear seats look supremely comfortable and show very little creasing with no holes or tears. The cloth headliner shows no damage and hangs tightly in place along with the sunshades.

We are happy to report that the underside of this Camargue sports no major damage. This trend continues under the hood although a power washing would really liven things up. There do appear to be paint chips around the engine bay, but nothing under the hood appears to be out of place.

It seems like the Camargue was delivered new in 1976 to a dealer in Van Nuys through the port in Long Beach, then within a year, the original owner sold the car to a budget car rental service. The rental service gave the car regular maintenance for about 5 years before selling it off. In 1982, the car was in Beverley Hills, California. By 1985, the car was receiving maintenance out of a shop in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is safe to assume the car spent the majority of its time on the west coast, before the seller ultimately acquired the car in August of 2012.

The Camargue was an extremely limited production vehicle for Rolls even though the model was technically on sale for over 10 years. Critics of the vehicle panned the car for its looks when it was originally released, but we at The Market believe Pininfarina kept the car’s lines both modern and minimalist, while still retaining the business-like profile found on any Rolls-Royce. This specific model needs some love on the inside and outside, but it won’t take much to get the car competition ready. Anyone looking for a rare British car with a good price tag should look no further. Your luxury chariot has arrived, and we are confident it will hit its $30,000 - $40,000 estimate.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL BIDDERS

It should be noted that this vehicle has been on static display for a number of years and there is no history available beyond that displayed in our photography section.

We have not started or driven the car so cannot vouch for its mechanical viability or functionality. It will require recommissioning prior to road use and is sold ‘as seen’.

Please note that the title for this vehicle is in transit.