Bentley Continential T 440 PC

Bentley Continential T 440 PC.

440 means 440 horse power.

PC stands for Personal Commission.

There is only one Bentley Continential T 440 PC in Silver Tempest.

Below are high resolution press photos from 2001 that were released by Bentley of the Bentley Continential T 440 PC in Silver Tempest.



The interior is seriously good looking. Black with machine brushed aluminium.



The car is a true two seater. The rear seats have been removed to save weight. How fantastic is the diamond stitch leather lining of the rear parcel shelf, with integrated strapping points. Definitely sporting.



If you really want this car, buy the only one!

The Bentley Continential T 440 PC in Silver Tempest is currently for sale in Germany at Sportwagen Engel. It still looks amazing.



The advertisement can be found in German here.



The interior still looks fantastic.



The rear parcel shelf has held up well. Not much use in 7 years. 19.000 km to be precise.



This is an image from the sales brochure for this particular vehicle.



And the original receipt of purchase. That is EUR 466875.12 or FF 3062500.00



The asking price is EUR 250.000 or GBP 187.500 or AUD 420.000 or USD 367.500.

Thanks Basman007 for the tip.

Chop Top Corniche

This Rolls Royce Corniche has just a slight bit of personalisation.

Hot rod style. This car was part of a gallery of hot rods here, but these photos are much better.

The Corniche has had a total roof realignment. Not drop top, but chop top.



The view below certainly highlights the roof line change. Not to mention the rear window, rear lights and rear quarter panel ending. They are now slightly finned. Very unique.



The number plate is DEANS RR. Nice one Dean. Not my cup of tea, but I appreciate the effort.

Bentley T coupe by James Young

Now this is a rare one.

In the late 1960's the RR&B dealer Jack Barclay persuaded coachbuilder James Young to make a 2 door Silver Shadow/Bentley T. He did, and a total of 50 cars were produced.

There were 35 Silver Shadow and 15 Bentley T variants.

It certainly is one collectible body type, and the rarest of the Silver Shadow Bentley T type cars that were produced in conjunction with the factory. There is a known photograph from Crewe at the time with a James Young bodied car on the production line. I may scan the image in at a later date.



So when a Bentley version comes up for sale I do like to take note. And one has.



It is Chassis CBH1377 again, that previously turned up for sale in New Orleans by Big Easy Dave no doubt. More can be read about the previous auction here.



The car is currently for sale again in New Orleans via ebay item: 160195896909.



The auction has just finished, and the car did not meet its reserve price.



The car's condition is so so, and it has not moved in more than 30 years.





There is also the presumption of the dark cloud of hurricane Katrina. The engine bay may tell a story.



It is most likely the second James Young Bentley ever produced after CBH1342.



The car is certainly worth some money, what ever condition. Simply because the front doors are a little longer and the centre pillar has moved back a bit. Just fill in the rear door gap, and you have yourself a coachbuilt wonder.



I would leave it in my garage for another 30 years. A bit of spit and polish and some new hoses and plenty of fluids and it could make it to the shops. Maybe.

Le Mans Rolls - Bentley Special

There is a joke about Vintages Bentleys where if you find a bolt that was from a pre 1931's Bentley in a barn, you can make a whole car from just that Bentley bolt and call it a Vintage Bentley.

I think someone found a Bentley bolt in a barn and made this. Petersen Engineering of Beaworthy Devon, England in fact. And they certainly did a good job of it.



There are issues that one faces after you find the bolt. Pretty much three things.

Namely the chassis, engine and body.

The body is dead easy - Le Mans style racer, just like everyone else.

Now how are you to hold a proud face driving a Le Mans style racer with a Detroit create motor? It is just not right. In a Bentley T with no knowledge of Bill Coburn of Tee One Topics is a different story however, but I digress.

What Petersen Engineering has done is quite clever. Drop in a Rolls Royce engine. That will do it. Shine it up a bit and change the name plate on the cover and voilà. Here it is.



Now to the hardest part. The chassis. You only found a Bentley bolt. It is not enough for a chassis. People will question. They can look it up!

The issue is that you can not just put two pieces of steel parallel and wield them together to make your own. If one goes down this path the car is called a replica and is worth a pittance. You need to find a manufactured chassis for a little street cred.

So what did Peteren Engineering do? Another great idea. A 1932 Rolls Royce chassis, number GAU 45. It is similar vintage, and a year after Rolls Royce bought Bentley so it is one seriously wise choice of chassis. I do not know about early Rolls Royce chassis numbers, could be Phantom II or a 20/25 or something else.



Here is the plaque explaining the car. Nice choices from only starting with a Bentley bolt.



The dash board is just as impressive.



Now what is great about this car for Bentley Spotting is this video. Very well produced for a Youtube effort. Professional in fact. Sit back and enjoy.

The car is currently for sale by Le Riche of Jersey.

In summary this car can be correctly described as a Rolls Royce with a Bentley Le Mans racer style body. It is a little more work than swapping the Rolls Royce Silver Spirit grill for a Bentley Mulsanne grill. But essentially the same.

I do like Rolls Royce to Bentley swaps.

A Bentley Final Drive

A Bentley Final Drive. The discussion is not about the differential or the drive shaft here, but a person's actual final drive. To the grave.

Yes the Bentley Hearse. There is such a thing.

This Bentley Turbo R hearse was coach built by Coway Limited, Coachbuilders of Westhoughton in Lancashire that have 40 years experience in coachbuilding.



The experience shows, as does the innate stability and rigidity of the car, as surely with a little body flex all the glass would break!

Most Coway cars tend to by Rolls Royce, but as this picture proves, not all. Funeral directors in a hurry tend not to be the standard.

There are others!

This Bentley Hearse is a four door Turbo R built by Mogi in Japan.



The different cultures and traditions show with the style were the coffin is not reviled.



If you want something more modern than a Bentley Turbo R, how about a Rolls Royce Seraph?



A slight pity that it is not a Bentley Arnage, but a little grill and wheel swap never hurt anyone. Except in you look at the VIN number.

Picture courtesy Bentley Spotting reader (Maurice)

Bentley Hooper Empress II For Sale

Now this is a very rare one.

A Bentley Hooper Empress II has come up on ebay.



Item number 170182728629 and this beauty has a Buy it Now price of $200,000.00.

This pictures seem not to be working, so there is only the above one currently.

It has travelled only 12354 miles and has never been registered in America. It seems like it spent its life so far in Japan.

It is VIN number SCBZR03D2LCX32776, the same car as a Bentley Spotting reader was offered in September $150k USD. Read about their post here.

The text of the ad is as follows:

"Extremely Rare Collectible, BENTLEY HOOPER EMPRESS

Here is an opportunity to purchase a piece of motoring history! This masterpiece is extremely rare, I believe only 6 built and only two of them are in the US! It's worth over US$ 1 million!! The coachwork was built in all alloy by Hooper in 1990. It has only gone 12354 miles! Still like new, looks and smells as fresh as the date of installment. Both the exterior and the interior show incredibly well with no scratches or dents. Everything works perfectly---drives and runs flawlessly! Don't miss this chance to own this masterpiece, it will make a great addition to your car collection!!

*this is US car but never been registered in the US. come with shipping documents and bill of sale."

More information about this very rare coach built Bentley can be found here when one was spotted in Monaco, the original advertisement from Hooper can be found here, and another one that was for sale in France can be read about here.

Happy bidding.

French Continential GT Speed Review

A nice Bentley Continential GT Speed video from the Continent. France be more precise.

There is just a bit of co-branding with Breitling as well.

Gold Jewellery not Silver

Some people do get sick of silver jewellery and want to switch to gold.

This owner certainly did.

Oh Monaco darling, Monaco.


Photo courtesy (Johann Petit, Supercar Photo Collection).

Odd Rolls Royce Design

I have been asked by a couple of people about these designs.

They apparently have a 16 cylinder engine in them.

That is pretty much all I can say, other than that they are pretty nasty.






If I had to take a punt I would say they were an American design from the 1980's that had a modern take on the 1950's Americana theme.

They look a bit General Motors style to me. I'm thinking Lincoln like Town Car like.







Send in your knowledge if you are able. You can post a comment below if you know anything about these designs.

Bentley Hooper 2 Door Turbo R in Japan

Google translate is a handy tool when sifting through classified ads for used Bentleys from around the world.

If you are on the look out for a coachbuilt car from the 1980's and 1990's it does not really work to plod on down to your local car lot.

I can just picture it. "Gday mate, I'm after a two door Bentley Turbo R, you know, the ones made by Hooper, or if you have a Jankel version I'll take it. Yeah, really I can not tell the difference anyway."

I don't think the reply would be "No worries mate, I've got a black one it's an '86 with the square engine turbo labelled bit, and also a '89 white one with newer alloys. Wait, I think my mate Jimbo down the road has a blue one he wants to get rid of." It is just not going to happen.

For previous posts about Hooper cars read here.

But there is a guy down the road that is selling a blue one if you happen to live around 平須 Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture town. This exact road in fact.



Mori Auto is currently selling this Bentley Hooper 2 Door Turbo R. I am not sure if they have salesman called Jimbo.

The thing I have to first mention is the price. It is JPY ¥2.55 million. That is about US $22,800.00 or AU$ 25,800.00 or GBP ₤11,500.00. Bloody cheap mate!



It sports a mesh grill and has travelled only 31,000 km. It has the Hooper front air damp as well with the square fog lights.



The rear privacy window is a Hooper staple and certainly looks good, as does the Hooper badge.

I would have bought it, except the steering wheel is on the wrong, I mean left, side. Bugger. I don't like that Japanese fashion.



The translation software is slightly confusing, as it says it is an '89 car, and also an '87 car. I am thinking it is an '87 car that was first registered in '89. Coachbuilding and travelling time counted.


The side profile is why you buy a Hooper 2 door, and here it is. A very nice car.


The link to the English translated ad is here. The Car Sensor link, the Japanese history checking service is here.

Mori Auto can be contacted on +81 029-243-3363 if anyone wants to buy it for me.