BENTLEY SPOTTING

It's the Rolls-Royce of Bentley websites.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

A little more T Vicar?

Here's a really nice rare 1978 Bentley T2.
I have never understood why Rolls-Royce got lazy and didn't replace the 'RR' lettering on the gauges with a 'B' on the last run of series II cars...
Penny pinching?
It's amazing how Bentley has gone from a 'Rebadged Roller' back to it's own brand.
'Walter Owen' would be proud.
Thanks again to Rodd for the great shots.
(Posted by David Irvine)

Friday, October 29, 2010

Wine & Spirits

This what happens when you drink spirits before driving your Spirit.
It happened last year when an impaired driver smashed his old Silver Spirit through the window of the Tesco superstore in Andover, Hampshire, U.K.
He did a lot of damage and injured quite a few shoppers before trying to reverse out again.
He received a 16 month jail sentence.
I'm sure he's whining now...
 
Thanks to Rodd for the info.
(Posted by David Irvine)

Monday, October 25, 2010

Spoiled Photo

This is great shot from the 1977 sales brochure for the Silver Shadow II.

Good old 1800TU barrelling around a corner (probably only at only 5mph) but it does look impressive.

The only fault is something I had never noticed before over the 33 years of glancing at this shot every once in while. I just noticed it yesterday.
 
The spoiler is bent on the right side of the picture!
 
Someone at the RR PR department really wasn't paying attention.
No 'Photoshop' back then. Now, there's a good excuse...
Click on it to enlarge.
(Posted by David Irvine)
 

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Lord of The Shadows

No, this is not a JRR Tolkien story about Middle Earth , nor a William Golding story about kids on an island.
It's about Rodd Sala the caretaker.
But not a caretaker like the crusty old guy with the mop at your old school.
Rodd's got the best job in the world.
 
 
Read on:
  
"RRPark-Ward Motors was originally formed in Australia by founder; Rodd Sala who, over the last 30 years, has become an avid collector of the marque.
 
40 years ago as a young lad, Rodd was introduced to Rolls-Royce for the very first time. By a neighbour of his parents' home who, one day, elegantly arrived in a newly purchased 1967 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.  "I remember it well. Finished in a dark burgundy which I was later to learn to be known as the colour Garnet. It had "biscuit" leather interior and I remember this Shadow not "driving" onto the neighbours front lawn but "gliding silently".  From that very moment an instant love affair began. "I remember peeking my head inside this Silver Shadow and whilst every other neighbour was admiring what was under the bonnet, I was otherwise overwhelmed by the sheer beauty and craftsmanship of the interior. The wood, the fine chrome detail and the rich leather. It was like seeing a stunning antique piece of furniture "in motion".

Over the years to follow, Rodd has been the personal care-taker (Rolls-Royce prefers "care-taker" over the word "owner") of more than 400 Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor cars. He was a member of Rolls-Royce Club of Australia and member of the RROC of America. He has written articles on the Rolls-Royce marque and had the esteemed benefit of being invited as a distinguished visitor of the Rolls-Royce factory in Crewe, United Kingdom undertaking a detailed review of the assembly line and manufacturing procedures prior to the sale of the Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor car divisions. As a once single, largest private collector in Australia of Rolls-Royces he is very experienced in all facets of the cars - in particular, the Silver Shadow and Spirit series. He has significant experience in restoration, all aspects of service and maintenance and is very knowledgeable on the design and original features of these series. "I would like to think my epitaph would pay some homage to my commitment to the long-term preservation of Rolls-Royces as we pass each of them from care-taker to care-taker."

He gets to play about with Silver Shadows all day, every day...

Where can I sign up for a job like that?

(Posted by David Irvine)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

This one didn't make it...

Lake Barrington, Illinois U.S.A. today.
A very sad Silver Shadow 'Beyond Economical Repair' -to use a 'Flying Spares' term.
The old girl's off to the graveyard but not after donating plenty of parts to keep others on the road.
Still, it's sad to see...
Thanks to Rodd Sala for the pictures.
(posted by David Irvine)

Friday, October 22, 2010

$600,000 Arnage!

How can that be?
 
Well,this is a rather special Arnage, but the high price is simply because it was delivered new to Australia.
It's a 2004 Arnage with the following options. (Lots of little things, but in Australia where the import duty on cars AND parts is in excess of 100% it added up to PLENTY!)

Manufactured special order:

1) burl walnut panels in all 4 doors
2) burl walnut in-lay steering wheel
3) stirling silver inlays to all 4 door rails (cappings)
4) rear picnic tables
5) rear 1/4 mirrors
6) "drilled" pedals
7) "knurled" knobs throughout (radio, door-locks, vents etc)
8) 100% leather interior - no vinyl "accents"
9) Moutons including trunk
10) Umbrellas
11) 18" spoke sport rims

Some 3 months after the car was purchased , the new model was released so this one received the
following upgrades:

1) Revised front grill
2) complete lower grills. The standard lower grills are 2 dimensional wire
whereas there was an option for 3-D inserts like the main grill.
3) Lower chrome strips on side
4) stainless steel finish on trunk
5) current model 19" chrome wheels
6) Upgraded "B" badging
 
Thanks to Rodd Sala for the details and photos.
(posted by David Irvine)



Thanks to Rodd Sala for the pictures.
(posted by David Irvine)


Thanks to Rodd Sala for the pictures.
(posted by David Irvine)


Thanks to Rodd Sala for the pictures.
(posted by David Irvine)

School Project

Part of a 1978 School project I did on Rolls-Royce with reference to the Michael Crawford film 'Hello-Goodbye'.
(posted by David Irvine)
 

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Hello-Goodbye deja-vu

Years ago in 1978 I did a school project on Rolls-Royce. Part of it was a mention of the film 'Hello-Goodbye' starring Michael Crawford when he crashes a Phantom into a swimming pool.
I still have the project and here's a scan of that mention.
Today I came across the opening scenes for this film on YouTube. My images are not in this part, but it is interesting. A nice Bentley S3 'Chinese Eye' Mulliner convertible, a Silver Shadow at Jack Barclay's and a nice early Phantom - I think?

 
Thanks to 'Fullframes' for finding the link shown here by 'trancemassacre'. Now I want to watch the whole film which I had completely forgotten about.
 
(Posted by David Irvine)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

It's a Wrap.

A new Arnage being delivered to Freemantle, Western Australia in 2004.
A bit like opening a birthday present...
Thanks to Rodd for the photos.
(posted by David Irvine)

Monday, October 18, 2010

The Link.

Here's the link to my old 70's and 80's photos:
 
 
They're mostly from prints, but I can scan the negatives if required.
 
(posted by David irvine)

Negative scans (Spot the Difference)

If anyone is interested I do still have all my negatives from the last 35 years. I can scan them for superior quality images, but it takes just that little bit more time (i.e. they're not organised like the prints..)
If someone out there likes a particular image from my old photos, just email me at david@bentleyspotting.com  and I can (when I find it ) scan the negative for better results.
(posted by David Irvine)

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Division Cars

Ok, so let's do a comparo between two chauffeur driven cars 44 years apart. A 1936 20/25 and a 1980 Silver Wraith II.
This sort of car is also ideal for taking the Mother-in-Law for a drive in the country. In the back on her own with the division up...
I think I want one, but my wife may not agree.
Thanks again to to Rodd for the great photos.
(Posted by David irvine)

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