The Corniche was a development of the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, with the two door variants of that model marketed as the "Silver Shadow Mulliner Park Ward two door fixed head coupé & drop head coupé" from 1966 until 1971 when the Corniche name was applied.
Inserita nel listino ufficiale Rolls-Royce col nome di "Corniche FHC (fixed head coupé)" e assemblata dalla Mulliner Park Ward, la nuova coupé venne subito affiancata dalla versione cabriolet a 4 posti, denominata "Corniche DHC (drop-head coupé)".