BENTLEY SPOTTING

It's the Rolls-Royce of Bentley websites.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Jack Barclay the Year 1977

Remember 1977?

The UK celebrated the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. The US public elected Jimmy Carter as President.
Elvis played his last gig (ever) and the Sex Pistols brought punk to the airwaves.

In sport, the Toronto Blue Jays played their first-ever game of baseball against the Chicago White Sox.
Australia beat Great Britain 13–12 in the Rugby League World Cup.

So if you were a British Captain of Industry, Chairman of a Bank, Pop Star, Successful Entrepreneur or Landed Gentry what would you have been driving?

Well, if you had an appetite for a Rolls-Royce or Bentley there certainly was a well known place to go with a fine menu for you.

Say a 1977 budget of GBP 40,000 - that's the equivalent to GBP 225,000 today, roughly the price of a Bentley Mulsanne or Rolls-Royce Ghost would do nicely.

And the place?

How about 'the worlds largest Rolls-Royce & Bentley distributor' Jack Barclay Ltd. With period photo by David Irvine.



And the menu? Well this menu.

A specially selected range from Jack Barclay’s May/June 1977 stock list.



I do like the cover.

To the meat and potatoes with mashed peas on the side.

This is what was for sale in 1977. Click to enlarge.



Certainly some tasty goodies.

Let's peruse the menu in more detail.

At the top of the list, the Rolls-Royce Camargue.



Definitely a fancy a coupe. The mistletoe Camargue was probably too expensive for even our wealthy buyer.



Next, the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 4 door saloons.

Luxurious yet practical and with seven on the menu, there’s a choice of colours available too.



How about in Caribbean blue?



It does look nice, but have you considered a Corniche Convertible?



Fabulous for summer in Monaco. And it looks good in athenian blue. But winter in London? May be not…



Something larger? Need a lot more room?

How about the Rolls-Royce Phantom VI 7 passenger limousine.



Finished in coffee bean brown over willow gold. Interesting colour combination. Here it is today.



Probably a little to large to swallow, and too formal….

But hey, what is this last menu item hidden away at the bottom of the page.

Look it's a Bentley!



A Bentley T-series in Brewster Green.

Rare, sporting and my choice….



Now to the back of the menu.

It certainly is quite nice.



I'm quite sure that Jack Barclay no longer produces their stock list in this nice menu format. It is a little 1977.

So what do they do now?

Well, post the list online and make youtube videos with techno music of course!



You can find out what's currently on Jack Barclay's menu here.

PS - if you want to listen to how well Jack Barclay Sales Executive Paul Gardner handles himself with a prank caller - watch here.

(Posted by Andy/Bentleyspotting - Andy top work on finding current day photos of the 1977 stock list, and David - your period photos always come in handy!)

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Bentley Continental SuperSport in Paris

Renowned Paris based car spotter Alexsmolik, filmed this Bentley Continental Supersport.

I think the sound track is very befitting the car.



The location was "on the angle of the Champs Elysées and Avenue George V".

Quite a fancy place.

Automotive Rhythms Bentley Factory Tour

It looks like the gents at Automotive Rhythms had quite a nice day on their Bentley Factory Tour.



Automotive Rhythms also made this review once they got back to Los Angeles.



Love the yellow SuperSports!

Rolls-Royce Phantom Drop Head Coupe in inclement weather

On the street of Adelaide, a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drop Head Coupe owner just went to pop into the shops for a bit.

But then inclement weather set in.



Woops.

Ski Joring in a Bentley

Skijoring ('skē-jȯr-iŋ) is a winter sport where a person on skis is pulled by a horse, a dog (or dogs) or a motor vehicle.

It is derived from the Norwegian word skikjøring meaning ski driving.

So why not use the fastest car on ice to give you a hand!



Looks like fun!

But if they were really keeping it real, they would have used the Bentley Supersport skis called the Zai for Bentley.

They only made 250 examples with the price tags as follows: 6,800 EUR, 9,800 CHF, 9,800 USD, 5,900 GBP.

Check the skis out here.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Phantom No more

Well, it seems Kim Dotcom has done something wrong.
His assets have been seized.
Amongst them are his 2008 Phantom DHC.
 
Never mind the Benzes galore (three of them plated 'Mafia', 'Hacker' and 'Police') and the house, just what will the N.Z. Police do with this car.
He had a nerve though...
 
Registration number 'GOD'.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bye Bye...
 
What was our beloved British comedian Alexi Sayle's nickname again...?
 
 
 
Same applies. I'd never heard of Kim Dotcom until today.
 
 
 
"Who is (or was) that F*t B*****d?"
What a waste of a nice car.
 
(Posted by David Irvine)
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Record Sales

2011 results show that Rolls-Royce has had their best sales in the company's 107 years.
The previous best figures were from the Silver Shadow II era of 1978 with 3,347 cars. 
They sold 3,538 cars in 2011.
 
 
 

Bentley has also posted positive 2011 sales figures. Bentley sold 7003 cars globally, up 37 per cent from 2010 (5112 units).

 
 
This is good - and you can't have too much of a good thing...
 
(Posted by David Irvine)
 
 
 

Monday, January 23, 2012

Teaser...

Spotted when new.


Now found today.

Something coming up soon on Bentleyspotting....
 
 
(Posted by David Irvine)
 

Sunday, January 22, 2012

My Bentley Wheels

During the week I changed the black centre caps on my 18" wheels to red centre caps.



Read about it more here.

Team Bentley Spotting member David rightly pointed out that I needed better photographs of the final result.

So here they are.

Up close for the detail.



And the Bentley as a whole.



Now is situ, with a little more photo composition.



Now how about a video walk-a-round?



Even the bird likes playing with it!

So my wheels have gone from the standard 15" alloys.



To the Continental T 18" alloys with black centre caps.



To now with red centre caps.



You can probably tell I'm enjoying being the custodian of this car.

Yes, yes I still have the 15" alloys when I might feel like putting them back on.

RREC Annual Rally 2011

Here is a great set of videos by youtube user T1Bentley.

It is him "going to England to join the RREC Annual Rally 2011 at Rockingham Castle including a pilgrimage to the grave of Sir Henry Royce in St. Andrews Church in the village of Alwalton."



Wow - how many cow hides to make an interior? Is it 10? Wonder how many Cheetahs had to die for that car.





Thank you so much for uploading them.

Practical Performance Car's Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

Practical Performance Car Magazine has a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow that they like to play with.

In 2006 they took the car to the 'ring after carrying out a lot of modifications.



Then in 2008 after adding a big turbo and massive external inter-cooler to the car they took it to the drag strip.

I have to say that external inter-coolers on a Crewe car are rare. Wonder why?



Then in 2010 they did something unexpected but still quite cool.

They took it to the 'in the park' show and did a 'live roof chop'. Check it out.



I wonder what they will do next?

Well if you buy your ticket early to PPC in the Park 2012 with info here.



You could win a ride in this Chopped Roof Rolls-Royce.

Canada or Australia

David send in what it looks like in Ottawa, Canada today.



Lots of snow.



I suggested he should get one of these.



I had to remind him that it is summer here in Australia and looks like this.



So what is an appropriate car to take to Bondi Beach in Sydney Australia?

How about this beauty. Surfboards for everybody!



With NSW registration 'RR'. Nice one.

And yes, the Silver-Plow is photoshop - but the Bondi Silver Shadow is true blue.

Wacky Races

Wacky Races was a cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera in the late 1960s which featured eleven madcap teams driving crazy cars in road races around the USA.

Competitors included Dick Dastardly and Mutley in the Mean Machine, Penelope Pitstop in the Compact Pussycat, Peter Perfect in the Turbo Terrific and The Ant Hill Mob in the Bulletproof Bomb.

I used to watch it, and The Ant Hill Mob were one my favourites – they were such gentlemanly mobsters. Here’s a picture of them:



But what if Wacky Races had been set in the UK rather than the US? What would The Ant Hill Mob have driven? I may have found the answer….

An “enhanced” 1938 Rolls-Royce Phantom III:



Okay, not one for the pursits! There’s not much of the original car left - it’s got Corvette suspension, a 454 cubic-inch Chevrolet big block motor, Turbo 350 automatic transmission, power steering and power brakes.



I bet it’s bloody quick! Dick Dastardly wouldn’t have stood a chance.



Anyone wanting to be a Wacky Racer should get themselves along to Barrett Jackson’s auction in Scotsdale.



It is coming up for auction here.

Wait a tick, it has a tubular custom chassis. I think someone has found a use for an old body and Rolls-Royce grill - not sure if the car is a Rolls-Royce anymore...

(posted by Andy)

Electric Shock

Team Bentley Spotting was recently shocked to hear of an Electric Bentley.

Not because, Bentley Motor Cars has revealed an electric version of its flagship Mulsanne…it’s hasn’t. Well, not yet.

But because this electric Bentley is much older. And a little more home made.



Some clever chap called Tom Dixon has modified a 1949 Bentley Mk VI to make it run on battery power.

Here is the schematic.



He sourced the components from a "milk float” – the electric powered milk delivery trucks that were common throughout the UK in the sixties and seventies.



Here are the components.



No word on performance, but we assume its “electrifying”…



Yes, even we cringed!

(Posted by Andy)

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