My Bentley's New Shoes

So this is how my first car I ever purchased looked like. An 1989 Bentley Turbo R in acrylic larkspur blue.

As it is Christmas, what better thing to do than buy my new Bentley a present!



And what is simply the best and hardest to find present to give to any 1980-90s Bentley?

A set of alloy wheels of course - some new shoes!

I first fished around in the UK from the likes of Flying Spares and Phantom Motors for the exact ones I wanted.

But then to my surprise I managed to purchase my most favourite set of Bentley alloys from my home town of Melbourne!

Here they are. The biggest alloys Bentley ever made in the 1990s, they are 18" by 9.5" rims.



A big thank you to Nick Lang from Ekberg & Lang, Australia's largest pre-owned RR&B specialists, for helping me locate a set - much appreciated Nick.

These wheels are mainly seen on the Bentley Continental T, as well as some very high specification and special cars.



They were also standard on the Bentley RT Mulliner, one of my most favourate cars. That's probably why I like them so much.



So here is my Bentley at the cobbler getting some new shoes for Christmas.



Trolley jacks are so much easier than the ratchet jack in my boot!



The wheels currently have black centre caps - I'll have to change them to red to match the Turbo R badges sometime.



First shoe fitted! Onto the second one.



Now to the other side.



To my surprise, there was still some original green paint on the front callipers. You never know, these may end up painted red one day.



Now the finished product!

I really, really do like them.

Down by the beach the car looks great. I quite like this photo, the colours and lines look nice.



The Bentley also looks good in the city of Melbourne, with the obligatory tram in the background and trees and sunshine.




So here is the side by side, before and after pictures.

First with the standard wheels.



Then with the new wheels. I think the composition and colours of the comparison shots are onto it, considering these are just dodgy iPhone pics.



The alloys really do totally change the look of the car.

The car has gone from looking like my Dad's car, to looking like my car. Exactly what I wanted.

I'm still totally amazed that I have the exact Bentley within the VIN number range that I have always wanted, and now with the alloys that I have always dreamed of having.

You can kind of tell that I have not got my first Bentley Service Bill Shock yet can't you. Honeymoon period of Bentley Turbo R ownership continues.

And yes, I still have the standard Turbo R alloys, so I can change back at any time.