ROLLS ROYCE JULES - PARIS-DAKAR 1981 - Mug

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The story began one summer evening in 1981, during a good meal between friends Thierry de Montcorgé, Jean-Christophe Pelletier and Jean-François Dunac; the latter mentioned the repeated problems with his Rolls-Royce Corniche. In three months, the Rolls was ready to face the Sub-Saharan desert. After a laborious preparation requiring the intervention of another colleague, Michel Mockrycki, the French V8 specialist, who took them to California to find an engine more reliable than the original English one.

Do take note of the livery, because it’s important to the story. “Jules” is a brand of Christian Dior and at this point in time, the company wanted this brand to get it’s name out there in a hurry. Somehow, Dior took one look at the Rolls and agreed to help sponsor the team. de Montcorgé drove, friend Jean-Christophe Pelletier navigated, and the car entered the 1981 Paris-Dakar, where the car did well, up until an incident whhere a steering arm broke off, which took so long to repair that the car was disqualified from the official results. Despite this, the Roller did eventually finish the journey, one of only forty teams in the car category to actually make it.

• Ceramic
• 11 oz mug dimensions: 3.79″ (9.6 cm) in height, 3.25″ (8.3 cm) in diameter
• 15 oz mug dimensions: 4.69″ (11.9 cm) in height, 3.35″ (8.5 cm) in diameter
• Dishwasher and microwave safe
• Blank product sourced from China