Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 46 - Jan/Feb 2025 i Rolls-Royce & Bentley Driver

We’re no strangers to pre-war cars here at Rolls-Royce & Bentley Driver, and are always pleased to have one as our cover star. This issue’s front cover offers something different, however, as it’s the first time we’ve featured a 1920s RollsRoyce commercial – a vehicle that’s still earning its keep. It originally started out as a 1923 Rolls-Royce ‘Twenty’ with limousine coachwork by Hooper. By the late ’30s, however, the 20hp was being offered for sale by a used car dealer in London, only to be snapped up by a family-run ice cream business. Its limousine bodywork was subsequently removed, and in its place came a bespoke rear end created for the specific purpose of selling ice cream to the public. Remarkably, more than 101 years after the original rolling…

What is expected to be the largest ever gathering of SY-generation RollsRoyces and Bentleys will take place in 2025, with the Middlesex Section of the RREC planning an event at the historic Brooklands Museum to mark the Silver Shadow family’s 60th anniversary. Heading up the special event is Michael Marshall-Clarke, an RREC Board Director and the proud owner of a superb 1974 Silver Shadow. His inspiration comes from a famous publicity photograph produced by RollsRoyce Motors that same decade: “In the 1970s, 100 Silver Shadows a month passed through the gates of Crewe for the home market,” explains Michael. “This number was represented in a period advertising shot, which we aim to recreate at the 2025 event – with at least 100 cars, and hopefully many more.” Other highlights of…

Compared to the old Rolls-Royce L-series, BMW’s M62 all-aluminium double overhead-cam V8 was (technically) an improvement, having been designed in the 1990s rather than the 1950s. When Rolls-Royce engineers assessed it, however, they were concerned about its pulling power at lower speeds; but fortunately for Vickers, having engine specialist Cosworth in its armoury paid dividends. Cosworth was able to take power for the 4398cc unit from 282bhp to 349bhp by dint of adding two Garratt turbochargers and many other modifications, even if torque stayed roughly the same at around 310lb.ft, and in such form the M62 was far more appropriate for a big Bentley bruiser. The 4.4-litre BMW V8 went on to find other British homes beyond Bentley, as derivations of the same unit were also used in the Morgan…

MARQUE HISTORY TOUR OF CREWE In honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee, RollsRoyce Motors opened its doors at Crewe to employees and their families on Sunday, June 19th 1977. One of the members of the Bentley and Rolls-Royce Reunion Group, Roddy Young, recorded the day for posterity, and we are delighted to share some of this extraordinary archive with you here. These were good times for Rolls-Royce Motors. It had recovered from the aero engine division bankruptcy of 1971 and its subsequent separation, with demand for the newly introduced Silver Shadow II and Silver Wraith II being strong. The coachbuilt models had been correspondingly updated and the company and its dealers were enjoying full order books and waiting lists. This was also over five years before the resurgence…

TECHNICAL GUIDE IN THE WORKSHOP TECHNICAL GUIDE Having changed the electronic parking brake motor on a Bentley Continental GTC last time out, we’re back to Rolls-Royce this month for a plugs and filters service on an early Silver Seraph, built in 1998. Before we get to that, though, I must update you on some exciting news: Flying Spares has moved to a new, much larger site at Merrylees, just up the road from our old HQ. Overnight, the capacity of my Technical Services Division has doubled. We’ve gone from two ramps to four, in an all-new purpose-built workshop, and we’re already seeing the benefits in terms of the number of cars we can renovate ourselves. Safe to say, I’m very happy about it! Back to the job in hand. Rolls-Royce…

STAFF CARS 1972 SILVER SHADOW STAFF CARS +44 (0) 1455 292949 www.flyingspares.com It has been a joy to have JUD 1D in good health, giving me an exciting option beyond the boring modern and semi-modern daily cars. Tackling a few minor glitches along the way, like the improvised fix to the brake light switch covered in the last issue, is to be expected and even qualifies as rewarding. The car is still in its first 500 miles after a 35-year slumber, and on such a complex model as the Silver Shadow, the list of small things that may choose to expire through lack of use (or sudden reintroduction to use) is long indeed. What I dreaded encountering, of course, was something more serious. Not only because I’ve already spent rather…

UP FRONT NEWS AND VIEWS As part of its new Beyond100+ business strategy revealed to the world’s press in November, Bentley Motors has confirmed it is delaying its transition into a manufacturer of only battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The strategy of the original Beyond100 plan of four years ago was to go full-electric by 2030, but instead Bentley will now continue to develop its plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrains and won’t be BEV-only until 2035. The company has also confirmed that the launch of its inaugural BEV has been pushed back from 2025 to 2026. It will be what Bentley is calling “the world’s first luxury urban SUV” and will mark the start of a decade-long plan to launch a new BEV or PHEV model each year. Announcing the changes, Bentley’s…

This issue’s Auction Tracker covers the full 12-month period from November 1st, 2023 to the end of October 2024. Trends are assessed on a 12-month rolling basis versus the numbers published last time (2m trend) and year-on-year versus November 2022 to October 2023 (12m trend). SOFT MARKET IMPACT In my last column, I remarked on the number of motor cars offered for sale dropping for the first time since I started the Tracker, and wondered whether the market resilience for Rolls-Royce and Bentley could hold given the relative strength witnessed in Sept/Oct 2023 (which, of course, drop out of this column’s latest figures). It seems that these indicators were predictive of a downturn, and I therefore regret to report that the gloom of the soft classic car auction market has…

This year’s RREC stand at the NEC celebrated the theme of the SY generation. As 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the Silver Shadow, the club decided to use the Classic Motor Show as an opportunity to advertise the celebratory event at Brooklands that will mark this milestone, which will take place next August. The show will welcome all, not just Silver Shadow owners, and is encouraging non-members of the club to come along and celebrate with us. More details of this event will be released shortly. This year’s stand featured club director Paul Hegarty’s vibrant Regency Bronze Silver Shadow and Anthony Kearsley’s splendid Silver Wraith II. Both models proved to be great talking points with members of the club and the public alike. Another feature was the Piaggio Ape…

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 ANNIVERSARY DISPLAY I have just finished reading the latest [Nov/Dec 2024] issue of Rolls-Royce & Bentley Driver – what a wonderful edition! I enjoyed the 120 Years of Rolls-Royce section and was surprised to see the photograph at the bottom of page 46 of the display at the RREC Annual Rally celebrating the meeting between The Hon Charles Stewart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce. You might like to know that I was responsible for this display. I was asked by the chairman of the RREC to come up with something to celebrate the 120th anniversary of that meeting. I was given zero budget…

I ’m sure that many readers, as well as being fascinated by the cars themselves, are also interested in marque-related automobilia, by which I mean any collectable items that relate to motor cars, motoring and motor sport. I don’t include spare parts in this definition, although these are often to be found alongside memorabilia and there is some crossover – some parts are pieces of beauty in their own right. As the author of the Auction Tracker column, I frequently peruse the automobilia catalogues that accompany car auctions, and I enjoy visiting autojumbles whenever I can. It’s an area that we don’t often cover in RR&BD, and so here is a quick spin around the world of automobilia. In writing it, I have reviewed the specialist retailers, auction houses and…

PERSONAL CHOICE 1981 SILVER SPIRIT PERSONAL CHOICE From a very early age, my dream was to own a Rolls-Royce. I had always associated the name with excellence and was in absolute awe whenever one happened to waft by. The sheer presence they hold on the road was – and still is to me – unlike anything else on four wheels. That monolithic grille, the gracefulness of the Spirit of Ecstasy, symbolised another era, as well as real exclusivity and a strive for perfection. My vested interest in Rolls-Royce was also partly a result of my grandad’s ownership of an Onyx Green Silver Shadow II back when it was practically new in the 1980s. His appreciation for the marque’s meticulous attention to detail and quality, the stories of faultless long journeys…

Sixty years after the release of the James Bond classic, Goldfinger, RollsRoyce Motor Cars has created a one-off Phantom as a tribute to the Phantom III featured in the film. Built for a UK-based client as part of a three-year project, the Phantom Goldfinger comes with “some of the most extensively engineered and hand-crafted features ever produced”, says Rolls-Royce. These include an 18-carat solid gold bar (cut in the shape of a Phantom Speedform) in the centre console, and a gold golf putter fitted to the bootlid – a reference to James Bond’s first encounter with Auric Goldfinger at Stoke Park. There’s also a pullout picnic table with a map of Fort Knox engraved in 22-carat gold inlay, while the Starlight Headliner matches the constellation that would have been visible…

Among the array of concours-standard cars on show for the final of the Lancaster Insurance Pride of Ownership in November was this superb 1976 Rolls-Royce Camargue, proudly owned by Steven Prevett and the subject of a recently completed long-term restoration. The car attracted plenty of attention during its stint at the three-day NEC Classic Motor Show, held in Birmingham. Watch out for a full feature on Steven’s Camargue in Rolls-Royce & Bentley Driver next spring.…

This Rolls-Royce is famous in the east of Scotland. If you’ve lived within 30 or 40 miles of Edinburgh at any point, the chances are you’ll have seen the 1923 20hp ice cream van at air shows, car shows, fairs and festivals, or just offering its wares on the seafront at North Berwick or Musselburgh, which is actually its home. Luca Scappaticcio founded his ice cream business in Musselburgh, on the coast east of Edinburgh, in 1908. And now, 116 years later, his first name has become the family surname, and his grandson, Michael Luca, still runs the business. With a second branch in Edinburgh’s Morningside, S. Luca has become an institution for those who love proper Italian ice cream. Mobile ice cream vendors were nothing new back then (picture…

’Tis the season for… reflecting on past achievements, indulging in festive celebrations and, of course, looking to the future. Much of this is currently taking place at the Bentley Drivers Club, with awards for 2024 endeavours to be dished out, regional and clubhouse Christmas bashes to enjoy, and dates for a host of exciting 2025 events to be placed in the diary. Wrapping up the latter part of 2024, many congratulations to Graham Barrett whose magnificent 1956 S1 Continental Fastback by Mulliner Park Ward landed the overall Bentley Trophy prize at the annual Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court. The award capped a successful few months for Graham, who also took home two class prizes with the same car at the club’s Summer Concours. Meanwhile, Axel Schroeter was successful in…

Over the decades, there have been some remarkablelooking Bentleys and Rolls-Royces; those built for the Sultan of Brunei or Nubar Gulbenkian, for example, or some of the creations from the coachbuilding houses of Hooper, Pininfarina, Frua, Abbott and Franay. And then there was the one-off Poberejsky Silver Wraith that caused gasps at the 1949 Geneva Motor Show. From 1934 through to 1969, however, one man was responsible for commissioning a series of astonishing and eccentric machines united by common characteristics such as dramatic shortening, extensive glasswork and light weight. Collectively known as the McLeod cars after the man responsible for bringing them into the world, Captain R.G. McLeod, their nonconformist aesthetics have divided opinion since they first appeared… and continue to do so. But one thing is for certain: they…

EXTENDED WHEELBASE The arrival of the Silver Shadow also saw the launch of an extended-wheelbase version, which in 1977-on second-generation guise would be marketed as the Silver Wraith II. Prior to that, however, it was simply known as the Silver Shadow Long-Wheelbase, as shown in these monochrome press photographs promoting the Formal Sedan derivative. Both images show the longer Silver Shadow fitted with the optional interior division, with the caption for one explaining it was “designed to be driven by a chauffeur, seen here with [an] executive jet”. The back of the second image featured its own explanatory note, pointing out that this extended-wheelbase version was “four inches longer than the standard saloon”. It also explained that the “black vinyl roof with the Rolls-Royce monogram is a distinguishing feature of…