Meet Jules. 1981 Paris-Dakar Rolls Royce Corniche. Born after a bet between the organizer of the first (1979) Paris-Dakar and a couple of friends which revolved around a Roller partaking in the rally. The idea came into life when Christian Dior decided to promote his new perfume 'Jules' with the car. The name stuck and since then the car is known as Jules.





The car was built in a couple of months by Michel Mokrycki, it took over 2000 hours of work to complete. Most of those 2000 hours were spend manufacturing the glass fibre reinforced polyester body, which weighs a mere 80 kg. Just the doors, hood and trunk remained aluminium. The chassis is upgraded by adding a tubeframe which acts as a rollcage and a platform to connect the 4x4 system sourced from a Toyota Land Cruiser to. The Rolls Royce slushbox is ripped out in favor for the Land Cruiser's 4 speed manual.



Sadly, the Rolls Royce engine is replaced with a 5.7 liter Chevy V8. Built to last, it musters 'only' 350 horses. Torque is ample though. To quench the V8's thirst a 330 liter fueltank is installed. It gets placed behind the front seats to aid the overall weight distribution. After all is said an done the car weighs in at a respectable 1400 kg.

Testament to quality of the build is the fact that halfway through the rally the Rolls is in 13th place. But then disaster strikes in the form of a broken axle, repairs take too long and Jules is disqualified. Determined to finish the team carries on though and is one of only 40 cars to reach Dakar. Keep in mind that 170 cars showed up at the start.

Jules would never race again and is now for sale. Asking price is €200.000 and the car's builder, Michel Mokrycki, has promised to throw in a full restoration for an extra €30k.







More pics? Go here:

Parijs-Dakar in stijl? Koop Rolls Royce ‘Jules’!

 

I'm not sure what to make of this. The fun-loving side of me wants to say "yee-haw! That's a badass Rolls!" but the purist in me is calling that thing a monstrosity.

 

+1.

 

Conservative pricks.

Come on, it's not like an eighties Corniche is such a rare vehicle anyway.

 

Love!! Those cars are real piles of crap anyway - at least now it's interesting!

 

. I just think there are certain cars/brands that you do not "go nuts" with.

 

I'm definitely voting "yee-haw!" That car was neither rare nor special and there are tons preserved in old people's garages. I'd love to bomb around Gorman in that thing!

 

actually that is pretty awesome!!

 

I would like to drive it, just to see how it felt with the lighter body.... Yee haw!!

 

So it's a Land cruiser tranny and 4wd system with a Chevy engine. Can't really see much RR technology left.