BENTLEY SPOTTING

It's the Rolls-Royce of Bentley websites.

Monday, February 29, 2016

2016 Rolls-Royce Dawn Start Up, Exhaust, and In Depth Review

Here is Kyle at it taking a look at the Rolls-Royce Dawn.



They are going to look great in the northern hemisphere summer!

Northern Irish Rolls-Royces

Huh...?

Well, aside from my old Belfast shots from the late 'seventies & early 'eighties there were actually Northern Irish built Rolls-Royces.










J.B.Ferguson was the elder brother of the famous Northern Irish engineer Harry Ferguson.
Young Harry did work there for a while.



Yes, that Ferguson - tractors (Massey Ferguson) and Jensen FFs (Ferguson Formula four wheel drive system).
His brother, a coachbuilder. 
They bodied quite a few Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts.



In 1922 after the failure of his own car the 'Fergus' they closed up.
Apparently JB went to New York and opened a car dealership

But the Silver Ghosts....
Here are a few of them.

#1619 for a Frank Eyles



12BD for a H.P. Shiel of Dublin



# 2476 for a C.Steele of New York U.S.A.



# 1552  for the Ottawa Taxi and Auto Company in Canada 1911.



A Silver Ghost open tourer.



And a Silver Ghost Laundalette #18YB for a Otto Jaffe , Belfast.



JB's did build an aeroplane designed by Harry, just what Charles Rolls was into at the time. It flew 2.5 miles but was badly damaged at the end.
Harry survived. Unlike Rolls who died as 'The first Englishman to die in an aeroplane crash' in 1911.

Bloody aeroplanes....

"Fascinating" , as Mr.Spock would say.....

(Posted by former Northern Irishman David Irvine and thanks to Rob Geelen for getting me onto this)


'Top Hat'

Here's something special. 
The Bentley T in the 1977 factory brochure had a special look.
A very rare two tone paint scheme known as 'Top Hat'.



"So, a painted roof - no Everflex", you say.....



No. The top colour runs around the bottom edge of the windscreen and along the top edge of the doors,
Very subtle.

There's a car on Ebay with this too.
A 1979 Silver Shadow II in Olive over Pewter.



Look at the dark paint.



Top edges of the doors.



Bottom of the windscreen.



A quite unique car.



Low , low mileage. 19,900 only.

Lovely untouched original interior too.



I like this car - a lot....



Here's her listing.




(Posted by David Irvine)



Canadian Winter

Ahhh, winter....







Snow





Ice 



Ccccold...




So it may be Global Warming or just one of those fluky mild winters that cycle every twenty years or so but this one in Southern Ontario has been bearable.

I actually took the 'Old Thing' out for a February drive today. 
No snow, no wet, no salt.
Perfect.



Never have I driven one of my classic cars at this time of the year.







Oh well back she goes until spring really arrives.



(Posted by David Irvine)





Saturday, February 27, 2016

Just spotted this #RollsRoyce #SilverSpirit sporting #Bentley headlamps. #bentleyspotting #Melbourne


via Instagram http://ift.tt/1XQy4Lu

Friday, February 26, 2016

'Once Removed....'

I'm a little upset I missed seeing this one.

I had a cold two weekends ago, so did not get to the Toronto Autoshow until the eighth day.

Now I find out that there was a lovely two tone Rolls-Royce Dawn there at the start of the show that I missed. Orange and grey? Regency Bronze and Shell...? 

Certainly stand out colours.

My guess is that it was sold and pulled from the show.



Sneakily replaced by a black Wraith in the middle of the night.



Nice car, but not the crazy loud, 'in yer face' colourful Dawn...





Here today, gone tomorrow.



The Dawn are shots I have since found on the internet - they're not mine. Credits to their original photographers (Jo, Nirakar....?)

I guess if I saw a car I wanted at the Autoshow and paid $500gs for it I would tell them to pull it out.

I do hope I see that Dawn on the Toronto streets this summer, it is a stunner.

(Posted by David Irvine)

2017 Mulsanne Facelift

I do like this new Mulsanne facelift which is to be unveiled at this year's Geneva show.



Bentley is the largest producer of twelve cylinder engines but their flagship model still uses the old 6.75 V8 'lump' (my words there) dating in original form from 1959. 

Basically the same engine as my "Old Thing" a Bentley T has....
"as evidenced by its cam-in-block overhead-valve design, it's been fully modernized with electronic controls and twin turbochargers. The result is 505 horsepower and 752 pound-feet of torque (or 530 hp and 811 lb-ft in the Speed), routed through a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission to the rear wheels." - Autoblog.
Some things live on forever.
'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'.
0-60 mph in 5.1 seconds and a top speed of 184 mph. The 'Speed' version is even quicker : 4.8 seconds and 190mph....
In a 6,000 pound car!
Mine won't do that.



I like this car....





In 'Autoblog's words, the re positioned headlamps in a horizontal axis with the grille 'eliminate the droopiness' in the current car. 



Ok....I wouldn't quite have said that myself but do see what they mean.



Oh, and that great vertical grille. 

It's been fitted from the Derby Bentleys of the late 'thirties, until the late 'eighties and even on some special Arnage limousines of the 2000s.



I will continue to play the lottery.





(Posted by David Irvine)

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Vertical Grilles Are 'In' Again.

Now this is interesting...



The new Bentley Mulsanne facelift features vertical grille slats. Back to the style of a few years back before the original mesh grille was reborn.



Well, the mesh is still there - just a bit further back....


In Bentley Motors' own words:

"Perhaps the most visible change in the new Mulsanne is the introduction of a wide front grille in front of the familiar Bentley matrix, featuring bright stainless steel vertical vanes. It matches the stainless steel Flying 'B' wing vents found behind each front wheel arch and the polished stainless steel exhaust tailpipes. A retractable Flying 'B' radiator mascot can be commissioned as an option, to complete the picture.

The new Mulsanne features sharper lines to the fenders, bonnet and boot, which combine to give the entire exterior a contemporary appearance, with the bumpers emerging seamlessly from the bodyshell. From the front, the car looks wide, low and tightly connected to the road.

The new Mulsanne's sleek silhouette is free from needless clutter, not least due to a composite boot lid that conceals the antennae required for the radio, navigation and WiFi systems, eliminating the need for visible aerials anywhere on the outside of the car."

I had to stare for a while, but now I like it.
Restyled tail lamps too.



And of course a stunningly gorgeous interior too. As always.





Good job lads - I  look forward to seeing it in real life.



Vertical grille slats are back in style.



(Posted by David Irvine)

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