Bentley, Range Rover or Aston Martin

I don't know what was said at all in this video.

If you could have 3 new cars, these would be right up my alley, however I would want a convertible Aston.



Take the Bentley out for dinner, the Range Rover for the school run and the Aston Martin convertible for the weekends. Nice.

Royal Bentley nearly failed to proceed

It made world wide news - the Royal Bentley nearly failed to proceed.

Seven times to start, but then it did.

30 sec add then the CBS new report:

1960 Bentley S2 Continental by H.J. Mulliner Restoration

"The Bentley Continenal S2 is a coveted classic. Only 92 were made and only 24 were lefthad drive cars.

This particular car was found in the Auto Trader magazine in Fresno, California. It was stored outside for years and was a rusty relic of its former greatness.

In this video, represented by the RROC-Southern California Region, Santos Guerra owner/restorer walks us through the process of a remarkable restoration of this now multi-award winning conconurs class example of a true classic.

Bentley experts Ronny Shaver and Tony Handler also offer their insights into the restoration process."



Thanks for sharing the video.

New RR Accessory

 

The floods in Jakarta this week really were tragic - and I first must say I am not in any way mocking such an event.

Flood waters have ravaged Jakarta, Indonesia, in the past week, leaving at least 26 dead so far. The Associated Press reports that torrential rains caused a dike to collapse in the capital's center on Jan. 17, leaving approximately 30 percent of the city's 14 million people overcome by the water.

Jakarta's new governor, Joko Widodo, faces major challenges in repairing the massive destruction. The millions of dollars in damage done thus far highlight Jakarta's need for improved infrastructure, according to the BBC, and flood waters have revealed the vast chasm between the city's rich and urban poor. Estimates put around 103,000 people as being left homeless by the disaster, according to UPI.

But, of course, the 'eyes everywhere' media caught this:

 

 

 

These images are all over the web now.

 

 

What is quite shocking is how many people are helping. Just who was in this car?

 

 

 

 

 

A Ghost caught in the flood...

 

The official Rolls-Royce plastic bucket...

 

 

That bucket ain't gonna help...

 

 

 

 

 

The electrics are already shorting....

 

That car will end up as a movie prop.

 

 

(Posted by David Irvine)

 

 

 

 

Presentation

Just looking at Autotrader.ca  (Canada, of course) and caught this one.

I love the photos....

Presentation does say a lot.

 

 

British Columbia in the winter.

 

 

 

http://www.autotrader.ca/a/Rolls-Royce/Ghost/RICHMOND/British%20Columbia/5_15640180_20121120142120494/?showcpo=ShowCPO

 

 

Kudos to the photographer.

Good one.

 

(Posted by David Irvine)

Bodies-in-White

A great picture I just got my hands on through Ebay from an unknown French publication. I just had to buy it.

 

 

Possibly taken at the Pressed Steel plant in Cowley.

 

 From there the bodies-in-white (as they were referred to) were delivered directly to Pyms Lane for a two day pre inspection and initial check during which adaption for left or right hand steering and drilling of all necessary apertures for wires/instruments was performed.

 

Here's one more for good measure (which I have posted before) from Malcolm Bobbitt's 'Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow' book:

 

 

(Posted by David Irvine)

Wraith Teaser by Bentley Spotting

The teaser pictures of the new Rolls-Royce Wraith are just that.

This is an enhanced one I found on Google Images. You can see just that little bit more:

 

 

Well, one of our Photoshopers has added wheels to this shot to enhance it even more.

 

Standard Ghost alloys:

 

 

Somewhat 'Go Faster' alloys, perhaps:

 

 

 

I'm wondering if we should try to Photoshop a nose and tail too....

 

Or just wait until March 5th.

 

(Posted by David Irvine)

TU Explained (again)

At the Detroit Auto Show when I was at the Bentley Motors' display, Steve from Bentley mentioned to me that people often ask him what the 'TU' number plates mean.

 

You may have noticed that some newer 'TU' plates are now turning up on the company cars:

 

TTU1 for example:

 

 

 

Well, not to dwell on it, but all it is is the old U.K. registration letters for the Cheshire area - the city of Chester to be exact -  twenty four miles from Crewe (probably the closest DVLA office to Crewe in the 'thirties).

 

"Chester (pron.: /ˈtʃɛstər/ CHESS-tər), is a city in Cheshire, England.
Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to
118,925 inhabitants,[1] and is the largest and most populous settlement of
the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a
population of 328,100 according to the 2001 Census.[2] Chester was granted
city status in 1541."

 

In the U.K. up until 2003 the two last letters of a three lettered plate show where the car was first registered.

 

'Wiki' explaination here:

"ONE OR TWO LETTERS FOLLOWED BY ONE TO FOUR NUMBERS OR REVERSE
These plates are rare and are normally only seen on newer vehicles as
cherished or personalised numbers. However, some still exist
and were originally issued to vehicles first registered between 1903 and
the mid 1930's. The reverse (where the one or two letters
follow the numbers) are very rare - only a few of these were issued in the
1950's / 60's when three letter plate combinations ran out.
The one or two letters, in the above example AB, make up the 'area
identifier' and indicate where the vehicle was first registered.
Area identifiers for vehicles first registered from 1 September 2001 are
different to those used with this system.
If the plate is reversed, e.g. 1234AB, the two letters (AB) are still the
area identifier.
The numbers, in the above example 1234 are the individual element which
give the vehicle it's unique identity. The numbers are
issued in sequence from 1 to 9999. Not all possible combinations of these
plates were issued - and many have since been sold on as
cherished numbers.
Although this series of plates has long since ceased being issued to new
vehicles, it is still in use for re-registrations for pre-1931
('vintage') vehicles which need new plates. The current series being used
for re-registrations is SV8000 - SV9999 which was never originally issued."

 

'TU' - Chester.

 

 

It's all here:

 

http://www.cvpg.co.uk/REG.pdf

 

For those of you in regions where you can have personalised plates on your cars, get a 'TU' plate for your Crewe product...

1800TU, 1900TU, 3500TU, 2000TU and 20TU were the most common.

They really have no meaning - except to 'those in the know'.

 

Some have done it outside the U.K. already:

 

 

And I know I am not the only one. There are a few 1800TUs in Australia too.

 

(Posted by David Irvine)

 

 

Bentley S1

Launched in April 1955, the S1 was a significant advance on the R-type it replaced.
While it carried over the "big bore" R-type's 4887cc, straight-6 engine, the S1 standard saloon featured an all new separate steel box section chassis and body manufactured in pressed steel with doors, bonnet and boot made from aluminium.

Here's an example:

This cutaway diagram is from a brochure:

 

The S1 standard saloon was refined and luxurious with a reasonable turn of speed, but for more sporting drivers the S1 Continental with its higher performance and glamorous coachwork would have been the pick of the range. 

Here's the cover of "The Bentley Continental" brochure:

Supplied as a chassis only, the S1 Continental was fitted with coachwork by H.J. Mulliner & Co, Park Ward, James Young and Freestone & Webb and the shorter radiator, higher compression ratio, more efficient cylinder head and redesigned cam-shaft profiles together with higher transmission ratios resulted in a top speed of 120 mph (192 km/h) and 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 12.9 seconds. To accommodate the increased performance, the chassis was also up-rated and benefited from servo assisted hydraulic brakes and ride control.

 

From 1955 to 1959, a total of 431 Bentley S1 Continentals were manufactured and here we have some photos of one of them. It's chassis #BC42BG, and the photos were taken in Germany in the late 80s...

First a front 3/4 profile:

Next, a rear 3/4 profile showing the rakish fastback coachwork:

And finally from the rear:

.

Mulliner built just 123 examples of the S1 Continental Fasback in right hand drive so its a pretty rare car.

 

Also a very nice car...I like it...a lot!

Many thanks to Juergen for sending us the photos.

Other photos web finds.

 

(Posted by Andy)

Jeremy Clarkson on 2003 RR&B

2003 was a good year for Rolls-Royce and Bentley.

Both had overcome the troubles of the companies splitting.

It was a good year for consumers too, as both brands released new models.

Also in 2003 Jeremy Clarkson reviewed both the new Rolls-Royce Phantom and the Bentley Continental GT.

Here is his review of the Rolls-Royce Phantom.



And here is his review of the Bentley Continental GT.



I'll take both please.