BENTLEY SPOTTING

It's the Rolls-Royce of Bentley websites.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Rolls Royce Silver Wing Landaulette by Hooper

The Rolls Royce Silver Wing Landaulette by Hooper is quite a special car. It was first mentioned on Bentley Spotting here.


It is always exciting to spot modern coachbuilding and this example is no exception.

The Rolls Royce Silver Wing Landaulette is based on the Silver Spur and was designed by Hooper, but were actually made by another coachbuilder Crailville Ltd. Just two examples were built.

There are snipets of information that a Silver Spirit based Landaulette by Hooper was to be called the Silent Wing as opposed to the Silver Wing, and was to be of a similar design, but it seems that both examples built were based on the Silver Spur extended wheel base chassis.

Apparently the Rolls Royce Silver Wing cars were made in 1996.

The Rolls Royce Silver Wing Landaulette by Hooper was spotted by a member of at the ultimate car spotters website Autogespot.com.



It is thought that the car was spotted at the Antwerp Classic Salon, which is the largest classic car show in Belgium for veteran, vintage and classic cars.



The car was being displayed by Bevanux, a classic car dealer located at Druivenstraat 33, 2300 Turnhout, Belgium.



What is great is that the car is currently for sale. Minus the alloy wheels and driving lights as above.



With only two in the world made by the world famous Hooper & Co. it seems like quite a good car to pick up for a collection.



The ad reads "Rolls Royce Silver Wing Landaulette by Hooper 1984"



"Silver sand with magnolia hide; very nice condition; drives like new; very exclusive wedding car."



Exclusive is a slight understatement. Unless it is parked next to the other one in the world.



This angle on viewing the interior of a Silver Spur is just a little bit rare. Say 2 in about 8859 examples.



The Hooper emblem is quite a nice and rare touch.





The asking price is 45.000 euro. Worth it in my books.



Pictures courtesy (Bevanux, Autogespot)

Labels: , , ,

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Bentley Speed 8

Turn the speakers up.

It's a Bentley Speed 8 video.



With a cheeky last shot that reveals the real purpose of the video.

Labels: , ,

Friday, August 22, 2008

Museo-Coleccion Rolls Royce Torre Loizaga

Castillo Concejuelo in Torre Loizaga, Spain.

42 Rolls Royce cars in 3 pavilions. One of the most significant Rolls Royce collections in the world.

It is just about, well exactly here. About 20 minutes outside of Bilbao, Spain.



Let's take a look at all the Rolls Royce cars and some others from the collection, in a fantasticlly made video by you tuber 'silverghost97'.

Absolutely worth the 10 minutes of your life it takes to watch it.



The Rolls Royce cars:

Silver Ghost Roi Des Belges (1910)
Silver Ghost Alpine Eagle (1914)
Silver Ghost 40-50 HP (1921)
Silver Ghost (1921)
Silver Ghost Springfield Cabrio (1922)
Silver Ghost (1923)
Silver Ghost Springfield Limousine (1924)
Silver Ghost Springfield Sedanca (1925)
Phantom I Landalerre / Sedanca (1926)
Silver Ghost Tilbury (1926)
20 HP Doctors Coupe (1927)
Phantom I Doctors Coupe (1928)
Phantom I Cabrio Aluminio (1928)
20 HP Cabrio (1928)
Phantom I Springfield (1929)
Phantom II Cabrio Aluminio (1930)
Phantom II S Coupe Continental (1932)
Phantom II Limousine (1933)
20/25 Sport Saloon (1934)
20/25 Cabrio (1934)
Phantom III Limousine (1936)
Phantom III Sedanca (1936)
25/30 HP Berlina (1937)
Wraith Berlina (1939)
Silver Wraith I Sport Saloon (1948)
Silver Wraith Sedance (1953)
Silver Wraith (1954)
Silver Dawn (1955)
Phantom IV (1956)
Silver Cloud I Berlina (1957)
Silver Wraith (1958)
Silver Cloud II (1960)
Phantom V (1961)
Silver Cloud II (1962)
Silver Cloud III (1966)
Silver Shadow Coupe (1970)
Corniche (1972)
Camatgue Copue (1975)
Silver Shadow II (1979)
Silver Wraith II (1980)
Silver Spirit (1984)
Silver Spur (1990)

The Phantom IV.



Simply amazing.

Thanks silverghost97 for making the video.

Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Bentley Arnage RL Limousines

The Bentley Arnage RL generally comes in three sizes of large, but Bentley Mulliner would probably make whatever length you would require.

They are referred to by the length of their extention compared to the standard Bentley Arnage R.

The Bentley Arnage RL 250.

Bentley Arnage RL 250mm

Above is the Arnage RL 250, which is generally referred to as just the Arnage RL, extended by 250mm. Then there is the Arnage RL 450, extended by 450mm and finally the Arnage RL 728, you guessed it, extended by 728mm.

Below is an example of the Bentley Arnage RL 728.

The 728 has been quite popular in the Chinese market. That's actually in the People's Republic, not the Chinese market in your local Chinatown.

Bentley Arnage 728

There is also a 'high roof' version called the Arnage RL 450 'HR' which has a higher roof than the standard raised roof of the Arnage RL 450 and the Arnage RL 728. More on that car here.

The Arnage RL 250 is extented only in the rear doors by the 250mm, and the Arnage RL 728 is extended in the rear door as well as an added centre piece between the doors as pictured above.

The Bentley Arnage RL 450 however is different.

The 450 is extended in the rear door by 250mm, but also in the rear D pillar by 200mm.

The Bentley Arnage RL 450.



It certainly is one impressive limousine in an unusually understated way.



The car is massive, yet in complete proportion.

All Bentley Arnage RL cars are not standard. Each one is individually specified by the customer and only made only when an order has been placed. There is no standard Arnage RL.

With this level of individualisation people tend to hang on to their Bentley Arnage RL cars, especially the 450 and the 728 versions.

Unusually a Bentley Arnage RL 450 is currently for sale in Germany.

Here it is in the same colours as the above press photography, sporting a vain grill not the standard mesh.



It is for sale from Bentley Stuttgart.

The car is brand new, still having the protective masking tape on the wood around the televisions and the centre console.



This photo does show just how much room is in the back from the extended wheelbase of 450mm.



Certainly enough room to stretch your legs out in the back as you watch telly.



The advertisement states that the car has a list price of 509.000,00 EUR



I do like the Hooper style rear discreet window.



The car is currently advertised on Classic Driver here.



The subwoofer position is a little bit of a surprise. A more discreet placement would be my call. Or just get rid of it.



Any takers?

Labels: , , ,

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Office K from Japan

Having a look at what tuning shops do to Bentley's around the world is always interesting.



Often a sore stomach and a facial cringe accompanies the observation, but not in this case.



The Pro Shop is called Office K and their address is below.

〒174-0073 東京都板橋区東山町26-8
  (環状7号線内廻り、板橋中央陸橋より高円寺方面へ
1個目信号左側、東山町バス停前)

周辺地図(マップファン) パーキング有り

I'm not sure where abouts in Japan that is either. Sorry.



What is great is that there is hardly any modification that have been done to the car, yet it looks completely customised and stunning.



It is definately in the detail. Check out the Swarovski crystals on the B.



The profile is just superb.



The rear light clusters have been blacked out. It is an impressive look.



The rear defusier or valance is very similar to the Hooper Turbo R 2 door spotted in Japan earlier here, as it the whole look of the car.



I am thinking that they could have come from the same tuning shop.



The slight body kit is impressive, as is the interior.



Even the aftermarket cup holder hanging off an air vent looks fine.





And here it is spotted on the street! Looks so impressive.



Pictures (Office K, webfind)

Labels: , ,

Bentley Brooklands Videos

Feel like watching some TV?

Here is about 16 minutes of Bentley Brooklands videos.

That is about a whole half hour show in commercial telly land.



Labels: , ,

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Rolls Royce Hyperion by Pininfarina

In 1968 the famous Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina took the latest Rolls Royce car, the Bentley T and and built a one off coachbuilt version called the Bentley T1 Coupé Speciale.

Here it is.



Now 40 years later in 2008 again the famous Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina took the latest Rolls Royce car, the Rolls Royce Phantom Drop Head Coupe and and built a one off coachbuilt version called the Rolls Royce Hyperion. Ahh history. I can already picture 40 years time. Probably won't be a petrol engine though.

Here it is.



As with most modern coachbuilt cars, the wheelbase, grill and rear view mirrors are the same, but everything else, well different.



What is even more special about this coachbuilt design is that the car is now a two seater roaster.



With the removal of the rear seats, and whole balance of the car has changed.



The front windscreen has been relocated rearward significantly, to create an extra long swooping bonnet.



The rear has been shortened to balance the the proportions of the roaster, and the front and rear light clusters are unique.



The owner and commissioner of the car is one Roland Hall.



What is a great feature, is that with the relocation of the windscreen, room was created in front of the newly positioned windscreen. In this gap, instead of loosing the space, the teak deck was continued frontward to match the hood cover, and compartments were created underneath.



These compartments were custom created to carry Mr Hall's hunting rifles.



Does it have mass market appeal? Probably not.



But that is the point of coachbuilding.

You get what you bloddy well want, and the rest of you can bugger off.

That's not very nice. What is nice it that this car is currently on public display at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance this weekend in Montery, California.

Send in your photos.

Labels: , ,

<< Older Bentley Spotting posts

Newer Bentley Spotting posts >>