The Henry II is a 1981 Rolls-Royce Corniche that has been converted into a shooting brake by Dutch coachbuilder Niels van Roij.
Based on a Corniche that has been in the same family ownership for 40 years, the title is an evolution of the pet name given to the car of ‘Henry’.
The commission to create the shooting brake included the need for a bike rack, which is hidden behind the rear bumper and extends out electrically to carry two bikes while still allowing access to the boot through the bespoke tailgate.
Everything from the B-pillars back has been re-engineered and uses new metal by van Roij. A mix of traditional restoration and CAD (computer aided design) has gone into Henty II, and the whole project took 7000 hours to complete.
Company founder Niels van Roij said: ‘The story behind ‘Henry’ is especially intriguing as the car had been in the one family for more than four decades.
‘The owner told us Henry is showing his age a little bit and wanted to undertake some alterations without losing the character and heritage of the car. So, that was the starting point of the commission.’
After 3D measuring the car, van Roij began stripping the car and working out how to accommodate the bicycle carrier. Niels van Roij said: ‘The only way to make the bicycles fit inside would have been to create a very high roofline. But it could have ended up looking like a postman’s van, and we certainly weren’t going to do that.’
The customer also wanted rear seats that fold completely flat, as well as equipment for rallying such as map pocket and instruments. There are also bespoke travel bags that sit neatly in the boto space.
