BENTLEY SPOTTING

It's the Rolls-Royce of Bentley websites.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

The Bentley Azur



Yes I have not made a spelling mistake. And no I am not talking the Bentley Azure based on the Bentley Continental R/T.

I am talking about the Bentley Azur by Robert Jankel. The coachbuilt 2 door Bentley based on the Bentley Turbo R. It was the competitor to the Hooper 2 door as featured previously.



Robert Jankel shortened the wheelbase of the Bentley Turbo R to make this 2 door coupe. Presumably by around 4 inches, say a reverse of the Bentley Turbo RL version. The design was in collaboration with Pininfarina.



As shown, it came in both convertible and fixed coupe form. Both versions were called the Azur.

Pictures of these vehicles are very hard to find, and I have only managed to locate the Jankel Press release photos, taken on the familiar speckled gravel drive out the front of Robert Jankel's headquarters.

Here is a very low quality photo of a black version from the brochure.



The photos are so hard to come by, that I present a model of a Rolls Royce Spirit based Jankel Azur.



These cars are quite interesting, and hopefully more information will follow.

Pictures courtesy(Jankel, VF Americars)

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Ladies Entering Bentleys

This post is a little wrong, but I will do it anyway.

Ladies entering Bentleys. The right and wrong ways. Firstly we shall start with the right way to enter a Bentley.

What better authority to show us etiquette than the Queen? Her Bentley as explained previously here is an excellent example.



It does help that even with your hat on the car door is still a head taller than you. What a proper modern Royal Carriage.

Now the wrong way.

What better female Bentley driver to show us the wrong way to enter a Bentley than Paris Hilton? From recently being caught as an unlicensed driver in her Bentley Continental GTC, and having previously run out of petrol, and further crashing her GTC into a bin, and finally enjoying washing a Bentley Arnage - Paris shows us the wrong way to enter a Bentley.



But it does look good.

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Matte Black Bentley Continental GTM Monaco



The British company Specialist Cars GB, otherwise called Amari Super Cars has released a special edition of the Bentley Continental GT, called the Bentley GTM Monaco.



The stand out of this special car is the matte black paint.



It also sports new wheels and a new front fender vent. Better add this type of vent to the list of Bentley vents here.



The car has been spotted on the street by www.Autogespot.com user Kakker, and is currently for sale for £179,995



Nice Bentley Spotting Kakker



This year at the Geneva Motor Show another matte black car was shown, then time a Rolls Royce New Phantom, by Mansory. It seemingly does not look real.



It is real - and I'm sure it will be hard to keep clean!



Pictures courtesy (Kakker of www.Autogespot.com, Amari Super Cars, Jalopnik )

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The Derby Bentley experience.



Ever dreamed of sitting in the front seat of a older Bentley. Sure you have. Ever dreamed about driving one? Yes. What would if feel like? It would definitely be an experience.



Lets dream. Take this 1936 Derby Bentley 4 1/4 Litre British racing green drop head coupe open tourer. Nice car. Bet it goes as well.



Now lets think of the toughest and most demanding purpose-built race track in the world. One which is usually open to the public, but also used to test the best cars of today. Even the modern prototypes. The Nürburgring.



Now imaging taking the Derby Bentley 4 1/4 Litre out on the Nürburgring and racing against other vintage cars of the same era. Wow.

Play the video of this experience.



Pictures (Concept Carz)

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Pininfarina Bentley Mark VI, 1949



From the 'worlds largest and finest classic cars showroom' The Auto Collections at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas comes another one off Bentley Pinninfarina coupe. This time from 1949, a Bentley Mark VI.



Pinin Farina has made numerous Bentleys, like the Bentley T1 Coupé Speciale, the Bentley Camargue, and exclusive Bentleys for the Sultan of Brunei.



This Bentley as was usual for Pininfarina, was designed for a car show of the period. The chassis is B453CD and was previously sold by Bonhams & Butterfields on the 29th July 2005 at the annual RROC auction at the Hunt House.



The car sold for $253750 and had an estimate of $250000-$300000.



Previous auction result here. Now with the roof on.



Pictures courtesy (The Auto Collections, Motorbase)

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Bentley Continental R lights on a New Phantom





How impressive does this coachwork look! There have been plenty of people who do not like the new Rolls Royce because of its truck like appearance, caused by the headlights. Now there is a solution. Simply add Bentley headlights.



Paul and Andrew Wood, from the Rolls Royce authorised repairer and dealer P & A Wood in Essex, (link to google maps hacked zoom of the roof here showing satellite images of Silver Shadows out back) have designed and built the 'GainesWood' Phantom featuring Bentley Continental R headlights and a new front bumper bar with recessed number plate frame and newly designed lower bumper.



The coachwork was commissioned by a customer who refused to purchase the new Phantom unless more traditional looking headlights were fitted. The coachwork took four months to complete, with several mock ups of the front end before a look was satisfactory, as deemed by Paul Woods and the customer. The total cost of the conversion was £26,000. The car is now for sale, as the customer who commissioned the car now has ordered an extended wheel base new Phantom, again with the headlight conversion to the Bentley Continental R. Very dedicated.



Photos courtesy (P.A. Wood, Winding Road)

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Sunday, March 25, 2007

Bentley Four Wheel Drive



Just to clarify, half the current range of Bentley motor cars are 4x4. That is, drive goes to all four wheels.

Yes, they are not SUV's or off roaders, or soft roaders for that matter, they are saloon cars and grand tourers.

The rumour mill was massive a while ago that Bentley was making a SUV. It was because of a spy shot of a Porsche Cayenne with weird wheels, presumably a test mule.

Here are the CGI images that where floating around.



The above rendering looks good actually, say 26" wheels?



The rendering below - well what can you say other than fat pig! Really bad.



There are proper motor cars that are 4x4/SUV's off roaders though. You simply need to make them yourself, or be a Sultan.

For sale by Shannons a few years ago in Victoria Australia, this Rolls Royce Silver Shadow is based on a Nissan Patrol 4X4 system.









Again from Australia, this time from Western Australia one for wading through deep rivers - definitely not as refined.



The spare wheel placement is just great on this home made Rolls Royce SUV. The number plates tell the story. Californian plate 'GOT BAJA'.





Pictures (bentleyspotting, WorldCarFans, webfinds)

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Bumper Comparison



The recent spy shots of the soon to be updated Bentley Continental GT and Continental Flying Spur made me wonder.

They only changed the front bumper bar.

So just how much has the bumper bar of Bentley cars changed over the relativity recent years? Let us have a look.

Currently the cars have different bumper bars, but the spy shots had them sporting both the same.

The spy shot of the update late 2007/08 Continental GT and Flying Spur.The current 2007 Continental Flying Spur.And the current Continental GT.The Arnage has actually changed the bumper bar quite a lot in the nearly 10 years of production. The front lights were also changed in 2005.

The 2007 Arnage.The 2002 Arnage.
The 2000 Arnage.Now the 1999 Arnage.
Now a couple of Turbos.
And the older Continentals.
So it seems that Bentley does have a recent history of changing the front bumpers, and sure enough it is about time for a change on the Bentley Continental GT and Continental Flying Spur.

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Smooth as Ice - Bentley Continental GT sets record



Four-times World Rally Champion Juha Kankkunen, smashed the world ice speed record in March, reaching an average speed of 199.86mph (321.65km/h) on frozen sea off the coast of Finland. Cool.



What is even better is that he did it in his own actual Bentley Continental GT.



There were very slight modifications for a colder running petrol, some studded ice tyres, headlight covers which look very cool and smooth hub caps over the wheels.



'The Bentley performed impeccably,' said Kankkunen. 'I was amazed how stable and secure it felt at these high speeds, despite the track's rough and icy surface being scattered with powdery snow. I even managed to stop the car from its top speed within 600 metres.'



A true Bentley boy. I like it.



Source (Bentley PR)

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