The Rolls-Royce Camargue was a two-door Rolls styled in Italy by Pininfarina’s Paolo Martin and launched in 1975. At its debut it was the most expensive production car in the world. It was also the first car to offer dual-zone air conditioning, so the driver and front passenger could each set a temperature.
For a company that designed its cars in-house, handing the job to an outside studio was a big step. Decades later, a Bloomberg feature still called it the ugliest Rolls-Royce. Even so, the Camargue stayed in production for 11 years.
Here is who drew it, what sat underneath, and what the record says it is worth today.
Why Rolls-Royce went to Pininfarina
The Camargue was the first postwar Rolls-Royce designed by Pininfarina, according to a Bloomberg feature by Hannah Elliott republished by TopAuto. Its designer was Paolo Martin, who worked for the Italian studio at the time.
The Museo Nicolis, which displays a 1978 Camargue, calls it the first time the company entrusted a car’s design to Pininfarina. It says Martin designed the car and Mulliner Park Ward built the bodies in England.
The museum also points out the body style. It describes the Camargue as a two-door saloon, not a coupe.
Even the name needed explaining. A Rolls-Royce spokesperson told Bloomberg how to say it: “It is Kar-Marg—hard G.”
What sat under the Rolls-Royce Camargue
Underneath, the Camargue was familiar Rolls-Royce hardware. TopAuto says it shared its platform with the Silver Shadow and the Corniche. It also used the same 6.75-liter V8 as the Silver Shadow, although in a more powerful state of tune.
Rolls-Royce did not officially publish an output figure, the museum says. However, the Museo Nicolis estimates about 220 hp in its text, and its specification box lists 225 CV. Then power went through a three-speed automatic supplied by General Motors.
Meanwhile, the museum’s figures give a sense of scale. Its spec box lists a weight of 2,400 kg, about 5,290 pounds, and a top speed of 190 km/h, or about 118 mph.
The firsts behind the Camargue
The headline feature was the climate system. The Museo Nicolis calls the Camargue’s dual-zone air conditioning “the first of its kind in the world,” because it let the driver and passenger choose different temperatures. TopAuto likewise says it was the first vehicle ever to offer dual-zone air conditioning.
The car also changed the Rolls-Royce face. According to TopAuto, it was the first Rolls-Royce with a slanted grille, inclined at seven degrees. Similarly, the museum agrees that the sloping grille was a first for the brand.
There was one more first that no owner could see. TopAuto says the Camargue was the first Rolls-Royce designed in metric dimensions. In addition, the museum notes special door handles shaped to keep rings and jewelry from scratching the paint.
How many Camargues Rolls-Royce built
Production ran from 1975 to 1986, according to the Museo Nicolis. TopAuto gives a total of 531 cars over the 11-year run, including a single example with a retractable roof.
However, the figure is not settled. The museum’s own text also says 531, but its specification box lists 434 units. So the safest statement is that Rolls-Royce built about 530 Camargues, the figure both TopAuto and the museum’s text give.
Either way, that works out to fewer than 50 cars a year over an 11-year run.
What a Rolls-Royce Camargue is worth now
Despite its launch price, the Camargue has not become an expensive classic. In 2021, TopAuto’s Bloomberg feature cited Hagerty’s average value of $47,440 for a car in excellent condition. By comparison, it said a driver-quality car cost closer to $30,000.
Auction prices also tell a similar story. According to the same feature, the average sale price for the best examples at public auction rose from $54,000 in 2015 to $64,350 in 2020. The big exception, however, was a folding-hardtop Camargue that RM Sotheby’s sold for $252,000 in 2019, which the article calls a major outlier.
Some owners have also gone further than the factory did. Hagerty’s John Wiley told Bloomberg that owners had cut “perhaps five to seven” coupes into convertibles.
For a look at an original, the Museo Nicolis displays a 1978 Camargue in mother-of-pearl ivory with a flaming red leather interior. According to the museum, that car appeared at the Vicenza Classic Car Show in 2025.
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