Indholdsfortegnelse for November - December 2022 i Rolls-Royce & Bentley Driver

Little did I think when compiling the ‘Royal Rolls-Royces’ feature to mark the Platinum Jubilee in our July/August issue that we would witness the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II just a few short months later. The presence of the Queen as the Head of State and at the head of the Royal Family seemed constant and even eternal, which of course is impossible, but she was as much a part of the country we all knew as the landscape itself. Perhaps in that way, we took her presence for granted, which gave the period following September 8th a surreal quality. What was indeed real was the Queen’s enduring support for Rolls-Royce and more recently Bentley as suppliers of State cars to the Royal Mews. I know many…

For any restoration business, entering a car to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is a nerve-racking experience. You are there to say ‘here is our be work – now judge us against our peers’, so you must be confident. This often means that cars on the lawns of famous north Californian golf course verge on being over-restored in the eyes of some observers: things that were never chromed or nickel-plat are suddenly bright and shiny; pain that was once applied with a brush is now a glassy-smooth spray job. What if you bucked the trend? What if you reached for the brush instead the spray gun, and didn’t mind fitting components with whatever finish the supplier would have used, rather than a uniform, immaculate re-plating? You’d need a good story…

Insert key, reach down past the hazard lights and seat heaters, and press the Start button. There’s the briefest whirr and then a subdued boom as all 12 cylinders catch and send a deep, liquid-sounding idle out of the large exhausts. The engine note on the GTC is well-managed, like everything else on this highly accomplished product, which benefits from the many revisions introduced for the model’s second series in 2011. If the gear lever is left in ‘D’, the car will drift about in a subdued, civilised mode like any other automatic. Well, any other 600bhp automatic. But knock it over to the left, to the plus and minus positions, and some clever control unit turns up the volume on the exhaust. It’s expecting you to make use of…

To those passing by, it was a spectacle unlike anything they had seen on the stree of London. Ten brand new Rolls-Royces including Ghosts, Phantoms and Cullinans; an array of police vehicles, and the entirety of Westminster Abbey closed just for the occasion. Most assumed that it was a member of the Royal Family, or perhaps a celebrity trying to show off – but this was far from the truth Inside these cars were ten children who live lives far more difficult than our own. With them were their families, all out for a day away from hospitals, machines and other stress. A DAY OUT FOR THE FAMILIES The convoy was parked outside the Hilton Metropole Hotel in London. To see ten of Rolls-Royce’s latest vehicles all parked in one…

After three months holiday in Perth, Western Australia, it was time to go home to Sydney, and retrieve my ‘unsighted’ Rolls-Royce, Silver Wraith WAB37. Another little challenger faced me: where to park it. After negotiating with one of my very kind apartment neighbours, who had a spare parking space, and making sure it was large enough, I could now welcome it home with a safe, undercover, dry, Rolls-Royce ‘bedroom’. My wife, and primary investor, was delighted. What a car, so mighty, so beautiful, so huge… Joanne has named the Silver Wraith ‘The Baron’ in homage to the second owner, Baron Hives, and for a bit of fun as well. Being the proud owner of a 1988 Silver Spirit, I was ready for a little pain, and budget surprises. But I…

Salon Privé’s 2022 event at Blenheim Palace proved well up to par, with some dazzling cars spanning well over 100 years of motoring history. Rolls-Royce and Bentley were well represented, with one car from each marque scooping a major award: Best of Show third place for a spectacular 1931 Bentley 8-litre Saloon by Freestone & Webb and the Churchill Cup for Most Exceptional Design for an even more rakish 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental coupé by the same coachbuilder, and part of the Bamford collection. The 8-litre naturally took the class win for Class D too – ‘pre-war closed / elegance’. Amongst the honorary awards, a 1929 Rolls-Royce 20hp 3-position Cabriolet by Windovers took the prize for ‘Most Opulent’, while a 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental drophead-coupé by James Young…

Today, what was once pride of a pop star’s has found an excellent home a long way from Elton’s old stamping ground lucky owner is Rodd L leading man in the profession in faraway Melbourne, Australia Rodd acquired the Bentley in England in 2012 and I fortunate in being able to meet b Rodd and the c the Victorian Stat capital after a Co lockdown kept us for much of 2021. well worth the wait! Rodd tells me so much, clearly full of knowledge about this rare and precious machine. ‘My car is one of just 45 Bentley Corniche series convertibles. This is the with the classic chrome bump bars rather than the rubber c that came with subsequent series.’ The Bentley Corniche convertible is a high-performance car, making around…

In general, there is a timeless elegance to Rolls-Royce and Bentley models that means they look good no matter what the automotive fashions around them. It’s the reason that a Bentley R-Type Continental is still absolutely drop-dead gorgeous 70 years after its first appearance, or that the Silver Shadow could survive from 1965 through to 1995, at least in Corniche form, with few changes to its overall shape. However, the magic doesn’t always work. There was the Camargue, of course; Pininfarina’s distinctive 1970s and 1980s flagship which divided opinions when it was current and continues to do so today. And in 1980, Rolls-Royce replaced the much-loved Silver Shadow and Bentley T-series models with the first of the SZ series; an angular update of the previous generation that was very of…

Ben Eastick retained his Times Challenge Trophy crown with a superb victory in the Bentley scratch race at a baking hot 74th annual BDC Silverstone race meeting on Saturday 13 August. The meeting – an institution on the British club motor-racing calendar – saw another day of fantastic racing at its very best, with the Times Trophy encounter the blue-riband event of a packed 10-race programme which saw many Club members competing. Ben’s potent 6.2-litre supercharged T-Type single-seater crossed the line at the end of the 10-lap Times Trophy event some 32.9 seconds ahead of runner-up Oliver Llewellyn’s 3/8 Special. After pre-determined starting time penalties had been applied, Ben’s margin of victory was just 2.9 seconds. With the BDC Competitions Committee unwilling to risk leaving the cars sitting on the…

Send an email to rrb.ed@kelsey.co.uk or write to: The Editor, Rolls-Royce & Bentley Driver, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent, ME18 6AL THE KING’S CHOICE At this sad time of reflection it is good to see that the new King has chosen to use the Phantom IV, chassis 4AF2, as his official transport for the time being at least. This car, as most of you know, was built to the special order for the Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip and is said to have been a gift from the King. It was based on the Silver Wraith with a chassis extended by a foot to accommodate the 5,675 cc ‘B80’, 8 cylinder in-line version of the celebrated ‘B’ series engines, since the Prince was reputedly…

How did you get started in this very specific niche, Duncan? ‘I’d always loved classic cars, and I started off as a teenager with an 1969 MG Midget. I bought it for £500 and spent £800 fixing it up, and then one day I was followed home by a couple in an E-type. The chap pulled onto my drive and got out, saying “My girlfriend wants your car”. I told him it wasn’t for sale, so he said “I’ll give you £4000”, and I said “Here are the keys!” That was the first of many restorations, but I happened to be doing an MGB when I looked at upgrading all the lighting to LEDs. I was shocked at the price and the variable quality, so I thought I would offer…

On 8th September 2022 we united with the people of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Commonwealth and the world to mourn the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. For so many of us in the club, Her Majesty was the only British Monarch that we knew. Queen Elizabeth II was a paragon of dedication and calm during many turbulent times. Throughout her extraordinary 70 year reign she was an inspirational leader respected by all. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to the King and his family.…

MODEL HISTORY As Rolls-Royce’s first post-war mode the Bentley Mk VI went into bat on something of a sticky wicket: a battered nation with little spending money offered an uncertain market and the demand from crucial oversea territories was difficult to gauge. Ad to this the car’s major gamble – a new Standard Steel saloon body – and it’ no surprise that Rolls-Royce launched the car in Bentley form while quietly continuing with the coachbuilt Rolls-Royce offering in the form of the Silver Wraith. Indeed, it would be mo than three years after the first Mk VI Bentley was delivered that the Rolls Royce version, the Silver Dawn, made an appearance as an export model. By which time success was assured. This was down both to the car’s attractive looks…

We ended the last report with a daunting tick-list of jobs to do before we could consider using the car on the road. We had dreamed of a long distance adventure to the Goodwood Revival, but it soon became apparent that this was to remain a dream. What we did achieve, however, has been hugely encouraging and should mean we have a debut appearance at an event of some kind to report on next time. Though now I see that written down, it makes me nervous! Back to that list of jobs. The car was still with Stephen, our friend and mechanical mentor, and before it could leave him, he had to re-seal the levelling rams in the rear suspension and assemble everything. This involved re-fitting the rear springs and…