A Change of Headlights

I have been thinking about this for some time, and finally I have come about to post my idea.

First some development history.

In 1991 Bentley released the popular Continental R. Here are the original headlights when released.



The car was also the basis of the Azure that lasted until 2003. Over the period 1991 till 2003 the headlights were changed to the ones below. The indicator has moved to become part of the bumper and it gives the car a cleaner look.



In 1998 the Bentley Arnage was released. These are the headlights that first appeared on the car.





In 2005 Bentley changed the headlight on the Arnage to the ones below. To me, they are more of a design devolution going back to the original Continental R type headlights, reflecting the further move away from Rolls Royce. The above headlights were shared with the Rolls Royce Seraph.

The 2005 Arnage are the same as the current Azure and the 2008 Brooklands.





How here is where my brain starts ticking.

The other Bentley model from 1981 till 1998 was the Turbo R. Did those headlights change over the many many years? Well there was the option for the square Rolls Royce headlight, but really nothing changed with the twin circle Bentley headlight.

Of course that got the creative juices flowing.

Here are the standard Bentley Turbo R headlights.



Some more.



Now how about if I photoshop on some current Arnage headlights? Yeah lets do some modification. Custom coachbuilding if you may.

Lets have a look.



Ok the photoshop job is not the best, but the idea I think is spot on! It makes the car really new.



If you changed the light to the same as below, the 2008 Brooklands I think it would look even better.



After spending a bit of time on the photoshop trying to get the design right, I remembered someone else had done a similar thing before. It was the Gaines Wood Rolls Royce Phantom with older headlights, not newer as I was trying to do.



It is a big possibility for the future.

Rolls Royce Bangers.

You have to love British past times. Fox hunting, falconry and banger racing. It is a really good way to rodger up a Rolls Royce or Bentley.





It is so wrong.





But exciting.



You even go 'stuntin', yeah, its urban speak.





It does look serious.



Power slide!



Doughnuts.



FUUCK YEAH!!



Then of course, the aftermath.





Bang it back into shape.



Then off to another race.





I was so hoping to find the video of this destruction, I know it exists. But unfortunately I am yet to locate it.

Here is some footage of some banger racing with inappropriate cars. Have to look at how many coachbuilt beauties are in the mess...

I will update this when I locate the footage.

Cool Bentley T

This is one cool Bentley T.



T shirt that is.

If it's really hot, you can always go down to the beach.

Take it Off

It is always a little exciting to see what's underneath the top.



The RR & B.

Picture (The Older Club)

Abbott likes the Bootie

My gosh that is a big behind.



This is a 1954 Bentley R-Type Continental Coupe with an Abbott body.



Features a helicopter landing pad on rear deck.



One of 8 remaining, and chassis number 8. First owner was the Earl of Sefton, and the car is currently for sale.



The Classic Car Shop wants £79,950 for it here

Bentley with Fins.

Have a look at this. It's obvious that is does not have a grill, but look at the front fenders! I have never seen such a thing.



That is what I really like about coachbuilding. They are unique, and often surprising!

This is a Bentley Continential, but with fins. Certainly an eye opener.



What is interesting is that it is currently been restored in Germany. That makes more sense. Mercedes Benz Finnie. That's it. I see the inspiration.



I'm waiting till it is finished. Hopefully photos will pop up!

Well I did not have to wait long. The car is actually built by H J Milliner, so it is not as special as I thought. But I still liked the surprise.

Two other examples.







Photos from The Other Club Germany, webfinds.

Another Bloody Bentley Ute

Gday. We have seen a 1950's Bentley S1 ute in South Australia here, and a gallery of 10 Silver Shadow utes from the 70's and 80's here, so how about this one.

It is a 1948 Bentley Ute from South Africa.



Its agricultural, but with handling.

Bentley Donington Special

In the 1970's a company called Johnard Vintage cars, or Halse engineering of Sussex re-bodied a number of 1950's Bentley Mark VI standard steel cars with roadster bodies.



The roadster body was designed by John Guppy and 16 cars of this type were made. They were built by John Guppy and Dudley Beck.

This one is said to have been owned by Elton John.



They were named after the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit.

This example was on the Peking to Paris rally.



A Donington Special on the streets of Japan.



This one was sold at auction in 2006 and the details can be found here.



Chelsea Cars currently has this version for sale at the moment here. The car was previously passed in at auction here.









Another was sold at auction, Chassis number B89EW, engine number B249E and rego KYR 188 previously here but there is no photograph available, and another possibility here.

Most likely all these cars would appear in the book 'Bentley Specials and Special Bentleys' by Ray Roberts which can be purchased from Amazon, or Bentleybooks.com

I will add to this gallery as I come across more Bentley Donington Specials on the internet. Should I aim for all 16 cars? 6 out of 16 is not a bad start.

Bentley Dior

Well not quite, to my knowledge Bentley and Dior have not teamed up, unlike Breitling and Bentley, were Breitling for Bentley is becoming quite popular.

Watch out for Dior Homme their clothes are really good!

I'm guessing this Bentley Continental GT owner was trying on some new clothes.



This is one fashionable car. Black rims with the contrasting B centre badge. Nice. It looks really good. This guy knows how to shop.



It got me thinking. How would this look on the previous model? No one, well, highly unlikely that anyone would have put black wheels on a black Turbo R before.

I still wanted to see how it would look though. So I had to do it myself. Thanks to photoshop.



Cool, but not quite as cool as the GT. Still cool though, it would put a big smile on my face if I saw it down the shops.

Here is the original photograph. This car is actually a Turbo RT, one of the last made in this body shape.