Innehållsförteckning för September - October 2021 från Rolls-Royce & Bentley Driver

The Concours of Elegance – known for gathering together some of the world’s rarest cars – will showcase AX 201 at Hampton Court Palace this year, taking place over the weekend of 3rd-5th September. Organisers claim that “nowhere else in the UK can the public see such a high standard of rare historic vehicles”. Tickets to the Concours of Elegance 2021 are available now, costing from £30 for half-day entry, while three-course hospitality packages start from £288. Tickets can be bought online via concoursofelegance.co.uk/tickets.…

John Tupper, managing director of IntroCar, says: The Silver Shadow and T-series have emerged from their long period in the doldrums and are now seen as a true classic. For many years their image was tarnished by the great many rather shabby examples on the road and being short-changed in workshops. They were often victims of an ownership that did not understand that the ratio of the cost of the vehicle to annual maintenance was not as high as one would like! In the last ten years, this has changed somewhat. The worst examples have been broken down for spares, and a much larger proportion of current owners treat them very differently. Expertise in the marketplace and great availability of spares has never been better; the result is that there…

If you fancy seeing your own Rolls-Royce or Bentley within these pages, it couldn’t be easier! We’re interested in any model of any age – and even its condition isn’t important, as we’re just as keen to see ongoing projects as we are potential prize-winners. All you need to do is email us a small selection of good quality jpeg images – and we’ll do the rest. Within your email, don’t forget to tell us a bit of history about your car, details of any work carried out, or perhaps your future plans for it. The more information, the better! Email us at rrb.ed@kelsey.co.uk - and don’t forget to send your photographs full-size. The higher the resolution, the larger we can use your images. If you’d prefer to send non-digital…

Finlay’s Silver Shadow dates from an important change-over year, as it was in 1970 (after his car had been built) that the original 6230cc V8 used in the Silver Shadow for its first five years was usurped by a larger-capacity version of the same unit. In came the 6750cc V8, marking the start of the L-series engine’s hugely successful ‘six-and-three-quarters’ career. This very useful increase in capacity was necessary to counter all the power-sapping equipment that was now being fitted to the Silver Shadow’s mighty V8 to control emissions, especially on cars destined for the North American market. But it was also welcomed by UK buyers (and our motoring press), who appreciated the extra horsepower on offer… although, of course, no official figures were ever released by Rolls-Royce.…

With Volkswagen taking control of Bentley in 1998, the early years of the new millennium would inevitably see a new model line-up, a process that truly began via the headline-grabbing launch of the Continental GT at the 2003 Geneva Motor Show. It was the first Bentley with four-wheel drive and it was (in relative terms) something smaller, sportier and more affordable than Crewe had ever made before. The Continental GT marked the start of a whole new era and a complete break with Bentley tradition. There was obviously no connection with any previous Rolls-Royce, with the GT in fact owing more to the Volkswagen Phaeton in terms of its platform, transmission, adjustable air suspension and unusual W12 engine – which in Bentley form boasted twin turbochargers and an output of…

In 1914, Rolls-Royce’s legendary 40/50hp found itself facing its biggest challenge to date. August that year saw Britain becoming embroiled in the First World War, which meant the country was in urgent need of military machinery. The outcome was the Rolls-Royce Armoured Car, a fighting version of the Silver Ghost that easily equaled its civilian counterpart by being the best of its type on the planet. It proved so capable that examples even went on to serve in the Second World War. Along the way, these Silver Ghosts with attitude initially served in France, Germany’s African colonies, Gallipoli, Russia and India, then excelled themselves in the Middle East, where they enhanced their reputation still further alongside Major Thomas Edward Lawrence – better known as Lawrence of Arabia – during the…

That the Silver Shadow looked like nothing produced by the company before came as a shock to traditionalists and a delight to progressives. But it was necessary. While the USA – where roads were wider and generally less packed – remained a major export market, over half of all Silver Cloud production remained in the UK, where roads were generally narrower and considerably busier, with a motorway network still in its infancy. Thus, it was desirable for the Silver Shadow to be more compact than its predecessor without stinting on interior room. Despite the car being 8.9cm narrower and 18cm shorter than the Silver Cloud, it offered more space for both passengers and luggage, something that was only possible through the use of a monocoque bodyshell. The method also went…

FIFTY YEARS AGO This brace of brochures dates from 1971, by which time the bestselling Silver Shadow had seen its engine capacity increase to 6750cc and what were previously known as the MPW two-door models were being relaunched as the Corniche. It was also the year, of course, in which Rolls-Royce Ltd collapsed, an event that saw the creation of Rolls-Royce Motors as an entirely separate entity. These brochures for the latest Silver Shadow and Corniche adopted a similar theme for their front covers, showing a close-up of the front end of each model. Perhaps inevitably, the Corniche brochure focused on the hand-built quality of the car, which was still created by Mulliner Park Ward craftsmen. It explained that the Corniche was “completely assembled and finished by hand to exacting…

20HP HEADS FOR AUCTION A 1926 Rolls-Royce 20hp with four-door saloon coachwork by Park Ward is heading for auction in early September, estimated at a tempting £30,000-35,000 plus buyer’s premium. Chassis number GMJ 41 benefits from a previous engine rebuild by marque specialist Brunts of Silverdale and has been in its current ownership for the last 33 years. The 20hp was launched by Rolls-Royce in 1922, its 3127cc six-cylinder engine being the company’s first overhead-valve unit. This example benefits from various later improvements, including the 1925- on four-speed gearbox and allwheel braking. A wide range of body styles was available for the 20hp from some of Britain’s best-known coachbuilders, including Mulliner, Thrupp & Maberly, Barker, Hooper and – as with this example – Park Ward. The vendor describes the car’s…

AX 201, generally regarded as today’s most valuable car, was sold to a customer in 1908 and remained in private hands until Rolls-Royce bought it back in 1948. It was then owned by Bentley Motors from the end of the 1990s, as part of the purchase of Bentley and the Crewe works by Volkswagen. AX 201 is now once again in private hands, having been sold by Bentley for an undisclosed sum in January 2020. It is still based in the UK and its future is assured. It was displayed at the RREC’s Members’ Day in June of this year, much to the delight of all those attending.…

Nigel, it was way back in 1979 that you began your apprenticeship with a Rolls-Royce dealership. Can you tell us a little about those very early days and how you progressed? Being sixteen years old and not knowing what to do with my life, suddenly being around these amazing cars changed everything. It made me realise that this was exactly what I wanted to do. I started my apprenticeship with Richmond-based H.A. Fox, an official Rolls-Royce and Bentley dealership, and attended Kingston College at the same time. Working with the right people who encouraged me and let me drive the cars from a very early age meant I was soon hooked. At the end of my apprenticeship, I attended the last ever training course called The Introduction to Silver Spirit…

The Silver Shadow’s hydraulic system was regarded as its most innovative ‘break with the past’, controlling the car’s braking and suspension height. Rolls-Royce originally experimented with a compressed air system, which proved unsatisfactory because it had to be pumped up using an air-line every morning – hardly something expected of a such a prestige vehicle. Initially, the British firm considered the hydropneumatic system developed by Citroen to be unreliable, after it dismantled one of the French company’s DS19 saloons to examine it. But there was little else around that could satisfy what Crewe was looking for, and so, in the end, it bit the bullet and licensed the high-pressure system from Citroen – but only after considerable testing. Although the Silver Shadow’s set-up is often described as being the same…

With Bentley under Volkswagen control from 1998, it was keen to remove its reliance on BMW, which supplied its 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 for the new Arnage. The surprising solution was to adapt the Arnage to take the traditional ‘six-and-three-quarters’ Rolls-Royce V8 that was still in production for the Azure and Continental in an emissions-compliant specification. Rather usefully, production had been outsourced to Cosworth, which in September 1998 was also acquired by VW Group and operated as part of Audi. The company took the opportunity to extensively revise the engine and it was duly fitted to the Arnage (along with the older four-speed GM gearbox), the revised car being badged Arnage Red Label. The engine was upgraded at the same time, now producing a colossal 616lb.ft. with a single Garrett turbo.…

As the CEO of Volkswagen Group from 1993, Ferdinand Piëch inevitably played a major role in the company’s acquisition of Bentley and (temporarily) Rolls-Royce five years later. It proved to be a complex situation, with Rolls-Royce Motors owner Vickers striking a deal with Volkswagen to buy its Crewe factory, plus all rights to the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot and the shape of the Rolls-Royce radiator grille. In a separate deal, however, BMW paid £40m to licence the Rolls-Royce name and logo, which meant that VW was effectively unable to launch a new Rolls-Royce. After lengthy negotiations between the two German companies, it was agreed that Volkswagen would continue to produce existing Rolls-Royces until the end of 2002, with BMW still supplying engines. From January 2003, however, all Rolls-Royce rights would…