All Entries in the "BENTLEY" Category
Bentley Driver’s Must Read: Bentley Continental, Corniche, & Azure 1951-2002
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Veloce ::: Bentley Continental, Corniche, & Azure 1951-2002
LISTED fourth down on a roster that reads like a mid-20th Century Who’s Who , American racing legend Briggs Cunningham took delivery of BCA4 (built expressly for him without emblems or mascots and in right-hand drive by coachbuilder exemplar, H.J. Mulliner) on what must’ve been a beautiful summer day in 1952.
The car that Mr. Cunningham received was the newly minted Bentley R Type Continental -Britain’s first post-war supercar; a unique-to-Bentley 2+2 grand tourer; a classic today.
Martin Bennett chronicles Mr. Cunningham’s superlative car and others in Bentley Continental, Corniche & Azure 1951-2002 published by Veloce and distributed by Motorbooks.
Two hundred and fifty two pages (256, if you count the three full-page RR/Bentley service adverts at the back), the UK turned Aussie native’s work is by all accounts a well documented history of postwar Bentley coupes up until the introduction of the VW Phaeton based GTs.
In exchange for this informational over-abundance (including such finite details as how Bentley management chose to fit the seats of the magnificent 90s Azure into the Continentals R and T for ease of ingress and egress), and perhaps with the type of customer in mind, the publisher demands a Bentleyesque price – $150 suggested retail.
With razor focus, Mr. Bennett chronicles the only Bentleys to be visually and somewhat mechanically unique of their Rolls-Royce stablemates (except for the 70s & 80s Corniche) – a rarity in the annals of the two marque’s long-entwined history.
Lacking the comprehensiveness of Anthony Bird & Ian Hallows’s The Rolls-Royce Motor Car and the Bentley since 1931, but similar in grace of presentation (art deco titles with smarty organized listings) Mr. Bennett’s work will in presentation and informational offerings appeal directly to those precious few who count themselves privileged to own a Continental, Corniche, or Azure.
Mr. Bennett stolidly delivers the essential aspects of the Continental as he describes in the text’s introduction:
“The appellation ‘Continental’ is perhaps the most evocative in Bentley history, conjuring as it does visions of fast motoring to the South of France, or through the Alps Maritimes, with silken power clothed in supremely elegant coachwork, and drivers and passengers enveloped in the heady aroma of Connolly hides and the rich glow of fine woodwork.”
Mr. Cunningham doubtless thought the same of his first Continental.
Ed. note: Motorbooks furnished the reviewer (yours truly) with a copy of this prodigious text.
Rolls-Royce Opens Kuala Lumpur Showroom, Brings Worldwide Dealership Count to 83
By Gunnar Heinrich
AN interesting bit of news recently from Rolls-Royce.
The company reported last week that they granted their own royal warrant to Quill Motor Cars of Kuala Lumpur to be Royce’s official sales presence in Malaysia.
Asian Tiger economies and all that…
This addition lifts the marque’s global sales force to 83 official dealers. In the US, Rolls-Royce is present in 18 states with 12 dealerships split evenly between California and Florida, alone.
By contrast, divorced other-half Bentley has 40 dealerships in America and continues to enjoy its own presence in Kuala Lumpur.
Books: The Rolls-Royce Motor Car and the Bentley Since 1931 + The Hemi in the Barn
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG B.T. Batsford via Amazon
AUTOMOTIVE books are, typically, dreadful.
They range from dry if vague accounts of various models through the years (replete with stock photos that inspire no one) to one man’s ill worded diatribe on why the Continental should rightfully transplant the Town Car in the annals of Lincoln’s last forty years and… you get the idea.
Deadly dull.
This Christmas, I’ve received two books that might just buck the trend.
The first: The Rolls-Royce Motor Car and the Bentley since 1931 6th Ed. by Anthony Bird, Ian Hallows, and Brendan James, published by B.T. Batsford.
Four hundred thirty two pages – it is, as you might guess, an historical review of the marque’s engineering progress; worded in a fairly patrician argot.
Ex. 1, p. 55, ph. 3
The arrangement worked to a nicety; not only was the 40/50 Rolls-Royce exceptionally economical by the standards of its day, but it was able to accelerate smoothly from 3 to 60 m.p.h. in top gear without hesitation or spluttering.
What makes The Rolls-Royce Motor Car worthy of your buck, loonie, or quid (as listed on the inside cover) is that The Rolls-Royce Motor Car is really thorough, covers every model up to 2002, and most important – it’s pretty.
All photos – including more contemporary pics – are in black and white. The serif text, the sleek cover photo, makes this book such a lovely reference to Rolls-Royce and Bentley’s past. A fittingly fine addition to anyone’s automotive library.
The second: The Hemi in the Barn: More Great Stories of Automotive Archaelogy by Tom Cotter, forewarded by Jay Leno; publishedby MotorBooks.
Mr. Cotter employs a unique concept just in the title – that cars have been part of the human story long enough for us to consider barn finds as a small niche of human archaelogy. In 39 stories he takes us through, in grounded, basic language, how so ‘n so found such’n such a car in some barn somewhere.
Ex. 2, p. 105, ph. 1
Japanese cars from the 1970s are known as rust buckets. The metal on these cars was thin and rust-proofing was nonexistent. When rust invades a Datsun, Toyota, or Honda from that era, it’s usually beyond fixing. Unless it’s an old race car [...]
Mr. Cotter reminds us that cars and their stories are really about people. We can get so fixed on the cars themselves (the engineering, styling, etc.) that we can lose focus on that facts that cars are the fruits of man’s labors and creativity.S
So, for human interest: The Hemi in the Barn and for love of engineering: The Rolls-Royce Motor Car.
Coming Down From Heavenly Perch: Exotic “Bargains” on eBay
- ‘Tis the season to be inventive with your car purchases
- Bargains by the Bentley-full
- Maserati Spyder for $38K? SL55 AMG for $34K?
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG via eBay
BARGAINS to be had! Bargains to be had!
It would seem that with a little money, poseurs and the thrifty rich alike have options this Christmas season.
The exclusive toys of the last decade are about to avail themselves to a new clientele at clearance prices. But caveat emptor! These are entry prices – maintenance, insurance, taxes, and even petrol will take their pound of flesh, to be sure.
Let’s do a little window shopping shall we?
2000 Bentley Arnage R with 36K miles on eBay. White on Tan. Buy-it-now price: $49,888.
Not keen on chrome matrix grilles for newer generation Bentleys, but this Texan example has an interior that’s been well loved – which sadly isn’t common among older Arnages.
2004 Maserati Spyder with 24K miles on eBay. Blue on tan. Buy-It-Now Price: $38,990.
Let’s see. A droptop equipped with a modern Ferrari V8 plus exotic Italian cache to be had for less money than a new Boxster? Si, grazie!
2003 Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG with 65K miles on eBay. Black on ash. Buy-It-Now price: $34,988.
For the price of a stripped, year-end C-Class, you could have a drop top that’s faster then everything else on the road. Sexier than most everything else, too. This particular car’s had couple of fender benders, though… Used means used.
2003 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage with 10K miles on eBay. Silver on gray.
Pluses: It’s an Aston. Droptop. Only 10K miles. 5.9 liter V12. Minuses: Silver on gray? It’s got an Automatic. Summary: Did I mention it’s a V12 Aston for $57K?
Classic Rolls-Royce Advert Classically Knocks Bentley
- Old Royce advertisement knocks Bentley
- Silver Cloud, Bentley S1 mechanically indistinguishable
- Wither Bentley beneath the mighty RR
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG via Jim Mahoney
“PEOPLE who feel diffident about driving a Rolls-Royce can buy a Bentley.”
Diffident. Let’s look that one up, shall we?
Merriam Webster: adj. hesitant in acting or speaking through lack of self-confidence.
Thought as much.
This helpful suggestion, part of 13 sales points Rolls-Royce’s marketing department pitched in the above 50’s advert reads like a real put-down for Bentley today.
The language underscores decades of Bentley’s withering under the shadow of the double R’s; adding layers to the bitterness of Royce’s hostile takeover of W.O.’s concern during the Great Depression.
“The Bentley is made by Rolls-Royce. Except for the radiators, they are identical motorcars, manufactured by the same engineers in the same works. People who feel diffident about driving a Rolls-Royce can buy a Bentley.”
If you were on the Bentley sales team, and there really wasn’t such a thing in 1959, this half-hearted endorsement would ring about as true as Elvis complimenting the Beatles for That’ll Be The Day.
Fortunately for Bentley and Rolls fans, the Bentley S-Series did eventually take unique shape with coachbuilt bodies modeled leaner, more Jaguar-esque, and driver focused that the grander, upright Silver Clouds.
Vive la différence!
Gilmartin’s Flowing B Parallels Rolls-Royces’ Flying Lady
- Bentley’s “Flowing B” reminds us of the Flying Lady
- Bentley manufactures parts for old Rolls-Royces
- Flowing B to be available on Mulsanne
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Bentley Motors
ONE of the odd, but open secrets in the automotive world is that VW’s Bentley manufactures Rolls-Royce parts; that is to say parts for any Royce that was assembled at Crewe before Rolls’ departure with BMW to the new assembly at Goodwood.
So, in a funny twist, if you wanted to replace your Silver Seraph’s Spirit of Ecstasy (a.k.a. the Flying Lady) because some uppity kid nicked your original, your new Rolls-Royce emblem will have come courtesy of Bentley, not Rolls-Royce.
Pre-War Bentleys and the S-saloons in the 50s were sold with “Flying B” emblems on the radiator shell. Essentially it was an art deco font letter “B” with carefully knurled wings attached that rose above the chrome grille.
Those emblems have made a recent resurgence as a bespoke option in the Arnage, Azure, and Brooklands cars and now the Mulsanne.
Bentley designer Richard Gilmartin has taken the original Flying B concept and embellished it for art and charity’s sake in the recent Bonhams auction in honor of the Christie cancer center which we’ve covered in the previous article.
Bonhams Lot no. 12 featured two examples of a new mascot called the “Flowing B”. It is the silhouette of jubilant and busty lady whose figure clad with silken dress forms the shape of a “B” in profile and looks not entirely dissimilar from Royce’s Flying Lady -but different enough to avoid (hopefully) copyright issues with the ex. parent company.
Machined in aluminum (or aluminium, if you prefer) and sold at auction, the “Flowing B” will be made available as a bespoke option from the Mulsanne saloon.
Mr. Gilmartin wrote in the lot description posted on Bentley’s website that the Flowing B drew inspiration from some of the best works of the early 20th century by the French company Lalique.
And a certain other British marque, sans doute.
F.Y.I.: Mr. Gilmartin’s other entry, lot 11, is also noteworthy. It’s an acrylic on canvas pop art painting of the Bentley 6.5 Litre Blue Train car.
God Bless Us Everyone: * Update * Bentley’s Design Auction Raises Tidy Sum For Hospital
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By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Bentley Motors
PROPS to Bentley’s Rich Gilmartin, member of the marque’s design team, who has spearheaded the Bentley Styling and Design Art Project for raising funds and awareness for the Christie cancer center in Manchester.
Bentley’s design team submitted various objets d’art that they created: sculptures, paintings, and photos showcasing Bentley design heritage to the automotive auction house exemplary Bonhams for auction to raise funds for the Christie.
The auction which I wrote about earlier last week took place in London today and succeeded raising a handsome £70,000 ($116,000) – a sum, it should be said, – that probably goes farther in the British Healthcare System than it would here in these United States.
Bentley’s press release states that Mr. Gilmartin’s efforts have raised more than £100,000 ($166,580) for the cancer hospital that looked after his own mother when she was ill.
While many car manufacturers try to find ways of giving to various charitable causes as part of being good corporate citizens, there’s something inherently good and organic about this initiative – started by an employee from personal initiative and then inevitably backed by the company – that makes this a most noble endeavor to which Bentley and Mr. Gilmartin should be applauded.
The intiative also reminds us, that the highest form of automotive design is synonymous with art. That Bentley is one of the few remaining car manufacturers that “gets it” is reassuring, indeed.
