The Versatility of 1994 Bentley Silverstone Roof

The P150 Bentley Silverstone is an interesting, versatile car.

Project 150 or P150 was the Crewe Project code for the Bentley Silverstone. The customer was Blackpool which is the codename for the Royal Family of Brunei.

The Bentley Silverstone was designed by Hawtal Whiting and built by ASC, American Sunroof Corporation from Detroit, who subcontracted Metalcrafters in California to do most of the work.

It is a coachbuilt car based on the Bentley Continental R SZ chassis, with an upgraded twin turbo engine.

An initial order of 6 Bentley Silverstone cars was secured for 1994, then a further 2 were build as an additional order in 1995.

Here are the details of each car built.

Marque	Model	Numberplate	Year	VIN	Exterior	Interior	Garage Pics
Bentley	Silverstone	KF8877	1994	SCBZH04A0RCH00301	Black	Black	Yes
Bentley	Silverstone	BN19	1994	SCBZH04A2RCH00302	Green	Green	Outside
Bentley	Silverstone	BN5995	1994	SCBZH04A4RCH00303	Green	Green	Yes
Bentley	Silverstone	BQ9989	1994	SCBZM04A6RCH00304	Silver	Black	Yes
Bentley	Silverstone	Unknown	1994	SCBZH04A8RCH00305	Charcoal	Black?	Metalcrafters
Bentley	Silverstone	BN68	1994	SCBZH04AXRCH00306	Red	Red	Yes
Bentley	Silverstone	KF8809	1995	SCBZH04C3SCH00476	Black	Black	Yes
Bentley	Silverstone	BN368	1995	SCBZH04C5SCH00477	Yellow	Red	Yes

What has not been spoken much about the car is just how versatile this car is. 

Essentially it is 3 cars in one.

• It is a Coupe, like the Bentley Continental R
• It is a Convertible, like the Bentley Azure
• It is a Targa, like the Bentley Continental SC.

This car was in 1994, so it pre-dates the 1995 Bentley Azure, which is a Continental R Convertible, and pre-dates the 1999 Continental SC, which is a Continental R Targa or Sedanca Coupe.

• The Bentley Silverstone has a hard top convertible roof - the Bentley Azure only a fabric soft top convertible roof
• The Bentley Silverstone has a fully automatic single section Targa roof - the Bentley Continental SC only has a manual two section hard top roof 

Let's check a close up of this special converting roof.

Notice the two sections of the hard top - a centre section panel, and a second rear section of the roof.

Now lets look from the rear of the car.

Notice that it does not have a traditional cut line for an opening boot or trunk.

It is quite a large boot, and yes there are two Bentley Silverstone cars next to each other.

It's quite large, as this boot is for the roof, and not for luggage.

This is how the 3 position Coupe, Targa and Convertible roof works.

The boot opens in the opposite direction than expected and is rear hinged. 

The rear window section has it's individual retracting mechanism to stow it in the boot.

The centre targa roof section also has it's individual retracting mechanism to stow is in the boor under the rear window section.

It's pretty cool how complicated and fully automatic this roof mechanism is on the Bentley Silverstone.

Here is how the car looks at a Targa or SC.

I like it. It's a Bentley Continental SC before the Conti SC existed. 

Here is how the car looks as a convertible.

It is quite special that this is a fully automatic hardtop convertible.

Now a top down look at the Bentley Silverstone in convertible mode.

There is no fabric roof to be seen here.

So how do you control this roof mechanism? 

Well first jump into the interior.

In the centre console next to the gear selector there are the roof controls. 

There are two control switches each with two positions.

The top switch allows for the selection of Coupe or Targa.

The bottom switch allows for the selection of Coupe of Convertible.

The Bentley Silverstone is such a versatile car due to it's 3 position fully automatic hard top convertible, targa or coupe roof.

What is interesting this that one of the cars has a different interior design. 

Here is SCBZH04A4RCH00303, where this photo was taken in 2001 in Garage 1 Upper Level in Brunei.

This car is the one with a different interior.

It has different seats, steering wheel, different dashboard and a redesigned centre console. 

The seat adjustments and seat memory functions are re-located to the door panel from the centre console.

However the roof function buttons of either a "Coupe or Targa" - or a "Coupe or Convertible" are located next to the gear selector as per the other cars.

This is actually the interior design of that of the Bentley B3 by Pininfarina.

Here are the two variations of switches side by side.

I just wanted to include this photo - as it actually shows 5 different Bentley Silverstone cars all in the one picture. 5 of the 8 cars made. Nice.

The graphic below includes the cars 2001 Location in Garage 1 Upper Level in Jerudong, Brunei, the Colour, Number Plate and VIN.

Garage 1 Upper Level in Jerudong, Brunei was actually at the back of HRH Prince Hakeem's Palace, though he no longer resides there.  

For more photos and information on the Bentley Silverstone check out more here.

And a special thank you to Hans Porrio for the photo from Schiphol Airport of the roof mechanism in action. This was taken when the car was on it's way to Brunei.