Arabian Bobsled Team

I tend to tease Americans the most on Bentley spotting. They are such an easy target.

Now here is something different.

It's an oldie, but a goodie.



A Rolls Royce does not break down, it just fails to proceed.
Now into Arabic:
أ القوائم رويس لا تنهار ، انه مجرد فشل للمضي قدما.
From Arabic back to English:
Ruiz is a listing collapse, it simply failed to move forward.

Computer translations do not always make sence. When did a Rolls-Royce become Ruiz?

One for the trash can.

Silver Spur II Touring Limousine by Mulliner Park Ward

The Rolls Royce Silver Spur II Touring Limousine by Mulliner Park Ward is a wonderfully proportioned car.



The car is extended an extra 610mm in the rear compartment and the roof is rasied by 55mm, given it an enhanced yet very well balanced enlargement.



It is so well proportioned in fact, that even thought it is a limousine, when your driver is off on a Sunday morning, it looks totally acceptable driving the car yourself on a baguette and croissant run.

As this driver in Paris demonstrate.



Proper stuff.

2010 Bentley Arnage Experimental Car

The magazine Auto Express have managed to photograph what appears to be a 2010 Bentley Arnage Experimental car.



It looks like early days still, but that gap between the doors points to a larger size than the current Arnage.

Phantom proportions anyone? Surely?



Vehicle Registration Mark: DK57FZZ
Make: BENTLEY
Model: UNKNOWN
Transmission & fuel type: PETROL
Body Type: 4 DOOR SALOON
Colour: BLACK

Vehicle Check gives model unknown. Figures.

Pictures Auto Express

Monster Garage Trash

On occasions Bentley Spotting does feature some low brow trash. This post it total toilet humour.

Monster Garage was a popular television show for the Discovery Channel hosted by Jesse G. James.

One episode they built this. A 1969 Rolls-Royce Sewage Sucker. Very subtle toilet humour.



The show takes cars and makes them into 'monsters'. This monster was a machine that sucked sewage from portable toilets into a tank mounted in the boot.



Not just a gold Spirit of Ecstasy here, no no - everything is gold!

Slight different to the standard life of a Silver Shadow.





The machine acquired additional parts that included a vacuum pump, water pump, switches, brackets, secondary filter trap, pipes and fittings, hoses, ball valve, oil trap, high idle cable and wheel adapters.



The show was assisted by Matthew DeAnda a service technician at Rolls-Royce and Bentley of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA.

He arrived at the 'Monster Garage' in a Bentley Arnage.

Here is a short video of some of Jesse G. James's antics.

A number of monsters were for sale this year at a Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction.

Trash-a-rama!

RR Phantom DHC Hyperion by Pininfarina

It is nice when someone who commissions a coachbuilt car deciding to display it publicly for all to admire.

Yes it is showing off a little bit, but who cares as we get to have a sticky beak at the creation.

A client of Pininfarina has allowed Pininfarina to show off their latest creation called the Pininfarina Hyperion.

What Pininfarina have done is to take this, the chassis of a Rolls Royce Phantom drop head coupe, and create a totally new body for the car.



This is what it looks like. No much detail so far, but the car will be reviled at the Pebble Beach Concours in August 2008.



The pitch of the wind screen have changed significantly, as has the length of the boot and the size of the wheels. My guess is that the picnic bench boot of the DHC has been re-designed.

When the day comes, proper pictures of this coachbuilt car will be posted.

Top Gear Bentley Brooklands Review Preview

Oh Top Gear. The best motoring telly programme on earth.

It is back on Sunday nights for the boys 11th season on the BBC.



Here is a little sneak peek of their Bentley Brooklands review which will be aired sometime this season.



Vehicle Registration Mark: DK08FRL
Make: BENTLEY
Model: BROOKLANDS AUTO
Transmission & fuel type: PETROL
Body Type: COUPE
Colour: GREY



Now I wonder what has occured to make Jeremy Clarkson pull this face in the Brooklands.



He certainly looks nervous.



Maybe it has something to do with a rear tire loosing a seriously large amount of tread all at the same time.









The first Bentley Brooklands blowout anyone?



The photography is always so beautiful on Top Gear, as is the post production.



Certainly looking forward to the review, and a Bentley Brooklands going sideways.



Nice.

Pictures (Top Gear, BBC)

Bentley Hooper Empress II Market Wrap

Economics. Concepts like supply and demand. Market value. Asking prices, selling prices. With that lame introduction it should be very obvious that I am not an economist.

But if you are into making purchases it is good to know what is on the market. Specifically if you are buying something rare with limited market appeal which previously had a very high asking price. Like the Bentley Hooper Empress II.

Here is the scenario. You are cleaning out the back shed and you come across and old copy of The Californian Executive magazine.

It is from the early 1990's and you open it up to this page, and read the article about a car which is the 'ultimate in coach class'. It also was the most expensive car to buy at the time. Contemplation.



You decide that you want to get one of those, so you check out the market with a litle research.

Believing everything in the advertisements is not always correct as they want to sell you it, and somehow used car salesmen have a reputation.

A total of six Bentley Hooper Empress II were made, and four examples are known to Bentleyspotting. Please sent in information if you know the whereabouts of the other two cars. My guess is in Japan or the Middle East.



What is currently unusual in the market, is that out of the six manufactured, three currently are actively for sale seeking buyers.


The first is chassis number SCBZR03D2LCX32776 from 1990 with a navy blue exterior that has traveled 12354 miles.



It is currently for auction on ebay item number: 270248075462.



It was imported to the USA from Japan and has previous been on the block on ebay before here.



As with the previous auction the opening bit is for US $150,000.00 with a Buy it Now price of US $200,000.00.



Now this is just a bit special. It is presumed by the colour that the picture below is of this car under construction at Hooper in 1990.

Not something you see everyday on the internet.




The second car currently for sale also in California is SCBZR03D8MCX34842. This one is a 1991 car and has traveled 5,075 miles.



A previous article about this car is here, with also gives links to all eight Bentley Hooper Empress II posts on bentleyspotting.



It is not known what the asking price of SCBZR03D8MCX34842 is.



Thank you to Berverly Hills Motor Cars for supplying these high resolution photographs of the car, where it currently is for sale.


The third Bentley Hooper Empress II for sale is in France. It is a 1990 version that has traveled 4660 miles.



The VIN number is not known, and a previous article about this car is here.



It is currently for sale at Autodrome and has an asking price of € 180.000.00



It interestingly enough had an initial asking price of € 130.000, and I wrote that it was a sound investment at that price. Sorry to the sod who was thinking of buying it.


Now to the forth Bentley Hooper Empress II known to bentleyspotting. VIN number SCBZSOT00FCH13832 a 1985 chassis that was coahcbuilt by Hooper in 1988, and is referred to at auction as a 1988 car. The current milage is unknown, but it does get around as it have been photographed a few times here and here, with more to come.



This car has sold twice in the last 4 years.

First it was for auction at the Automobiles de Collection incluant une collection privée Christies, Le Circuit des 24 Heures, Le Mans Classic on the 23rd July 2004.

It had an estimated value of €40000-€60000 and sold €64625.

Here is a write up, noting the incorrect number of cars built.



Then it was sold again a year later at the Exceptional Motor Cars And Automobilia Christies, The Jack Barclay Showroom on the 19th April 2005.

It had an estimated value of £35000-£45000 and sold for £37600.



There could be a reason why the three cars currently for sale have been so for quite a while. Asking price maybe?



Now for some school boy calculations.

1990 SCBZR03D2LCX32776 Navy blue - 12354 miles
1991 SCBZR03D8MCX34842 Red - 5075 miles
1990 unknown Black - 4600 miles

Thats a combined distance of 22029 miles, and a combines age of 53 years, or 19345 days.

So on average a Bentley Hooper Empress II currently for sale travels a total distance of 1.14 miles a day.

They all must live bloody close to the shops.

It is lucky Bentley Spotters can rely on SCBZSOT00FCH13832 who's mileage is unknown from its 2004 figure of 14827.



Look! A Bentley Hooper Empress II owner has remembered to drive it!



Nice spotting CARLOS62.

Pictures (CARLOS62, Berverly Hills Motor Cars, ebayer sklove43, Autodrome, Colin Hyams owner of Hooper & Co. (Coachbuilders) Ltd from 1981, Christies & Darvani)

Vintage Bentley Tour of New Zealand

A little while ago I posted a video about Bentley's on breakfast TV here.

Now here is another segment about Bentleys on breakfast TV, this time from New Zealand.

It covered the 30 vintage Bentleys that were on this.



The International Vintage Bentley Tour of New Zealand 2008.

Here is the segment.

It certainly would have been fun.



All weather gear was very much needed on the tour, as the long white cloud broke many times.



One can read more about the tour here.

Pictures courtsey (Layton and Jana's travel log)

Bentley T and Silver Shadow Estates

Estate car or station wagons or shooting brakes, what ever you want to call them, are certainly practical vehicles.

Underrated in fact. You don't need a four wheel drive or SUV in the city to drive over the nature strip, but you may need the interior room for all your bits and bobs.

You know, a Toorak or Chelsea tractor is a bit, well - if you do not have a country property - hard to justify socially these days. Not that you would get a hybrid as it is so transitional technology, that you maze well stick with diesel. An electric car should be plugged in.

Interior room, practicality and been socially responsible is where the under-rated estate just shines.



If you have a big day at the shops, or you have children the interior room is absolutely justifiable. Needed in fact.

This example is a 1976 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow estate that is currently for sale at The Chelsea Workshop. What an appropriate location to trade in your slightly inappropriate urban tractor for this gem.



There is certainly an enough room in the back for all that stuff that needs to be transported at any time. If things do not fit in the back of this, you should be hiring someone.



This car has been for sale for well, as long as one can remember, and the asking price is £45,000.

What is great about this car is that it is not simply sitting around the back of the dealers lot, it is out and about in use. How very practical.



The car has been spotted around London a number of times.



Even Street Super Cars have it on there site. It is good to see people think that it is a super car.



It is very much dependant on your definition of super car. I would suggest more of a practical car type label.



Now this very much paparazzi style photograph below shows the car in the ultimate action that it was designed for. Simply put, to carry stuff.

Yes if you have got a couple of kids, a few strollers and the associated endless bags of apparrell for all possible types of child situations you need room in your car.

This Rolls Royce Silver Shadow estate certainly provides it.



A blog for new Dad's called Daddy Types ran this very practical photo and commented on the pram.

For those who care, if you have a Roller, you should have a good stroller. For the Pram spotters out there, if there is such a thing, the one above it top stuff, and uber fashionable. Like a Rolls Royce estate. It is made by Bugaboo and is the Gecko model. Not the top of the range Chameleon model, but kind of like the difference between a Silver Spirit estate and a Silver Shadow estate. It's personal preference but if you have either, thumbs up to your fashion credibility.

What I would really prefer though, is the picture below that a Bentley Spotting reader Andy sent in.

It is a Bentley T2 estate.



With the slight curve in the estate section window, and a flowing slope to the roof line, the proportion and balance of this version is more in symertry to the rest of the car. Less hearse like if it must be said.

I would take it down to the shops.

Pictures courstey (Daddy Types, Street Super Cars & The Chelsea Workshop)