Innehållsförteckning för Issue 36 - May/Jun 2023 från Rolls-Royce & Bentley Driver

Although the Silver Spirit and long-wheelbase Silver Spur arrived at a time of recession, their sales improved throughout the 1980s, ensuring Rolls-Royce Motors had a prestige hit on its hands. Much of the development in the early part of the '80s was focused on Bentley, culminating in the Mulsanne Turbo and subsequent Turbo R. But by 1989 the Silver Spirit and Silver Spur came in for an upgrade via the Series II. This ushered in an adaptive damping system known as Automatic Ride Control, which employed electronically controlled dampers front and rear, plus vertical and horizontal accelerometers, linked to a control module that could vary the settings between soft, normal and hard within fractions of a second in response to steering, acceleration and road surface. A further revision came in…

The Eight (1984-92) was what Bentley somewhat hilariously claimed as an entry-level model. Bearing in mind that one like Ron’s was more than £70,000 when new in 1990, and that the Brooklands was only around £5000 more, this seems like an odd market niche, especially as other top-of-the-line executive saloons were around the £30,000 mark. A mesh grille distinguished the Eight visually, and the lack of a turbo made a big difference from the driver’s seat - seats which on early cars had cloth trim, although leather became standard in 1987. Originally intended as a UK market only model, interest was high enough for Bentley to offer the Eight in Europe and North America too.…

I just flicked though the superb Rolls-Royce Bentley Driver magazine and on the last page read your article about winter driving (Mar/ Apr issue, 2023). As you can see in the photo attached, I got caught in the snow while in Bristol (I live in London) in my Silver Cloud 3 and use my cars in all weathers. So, I agree that many are missing out when put off by the weather. I know lots of people who simply won’t even venture out in the rain. I don’t have a ‘normal’ car, so my fleet gets a lot of use. Keep up the good work.…

The Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit lasted from 1980 to 1989 before the Silver Spirit II marked some significant changes, but throughout those nine model years, Rolls-Royce would often introduce upgrades when they became available, as had been company practice for decades. The first fuel-injected example, chassis 20001, was completed in mid-1987, when the cars changed from a twin exhaust to a singlepipe outlet. Here are some other changes introduced at that time: Re-styled seats with adjustable head restraints and electric position adjustment, now memory-controlled, that includes door mirror settings Bosch-controlled antilock braking system One-piece airdam Layout changes to dashboard and centre console Firmer suspension settings, TurboR Catalytic converter (from chassis 20240, late 1987) Basic performance remained similar, with slightly slower acceleration (0-60mph in 10.6s rather than 10.2s) but a higher top…

One of the Camargue’s most hi-tech features was its advanced airconditioning. Rolls-Royce claimed it had taken 10 years of development to perfect and it seems that problems during testing on prototype D4 during 1973, after everything else on the car had been resolved, contributed to the Camargue’s delayed launch. It reputedly cost the same price as a small saloon car to build. The system was fully automatic, and while this wasn’t new (Jaguar, for example, having come up with something similar in 1973), where the Camargue went further was that it was also split-level, distributing air at between 17 to 33 degrees Celsius (63 to 91 degrees Fahrenheit) at face and floor levels. To make this possible, four sensors were fitted inside and out, one of which even compensated for…

We’re very grateful to Bernard Preston, Product Planning Director at Crewe for many years, for contacting Nick McGrath, an engineer directly involved in the Stretched Car Project with Jankel. Their memories confirm some of what’s described in our main article and add new details. Bernard writes: ‘I became Product Planning Director in early 1987. By then the project was under way and we were concentrating on the Corniche replacement, early planning on Spirit replacement, progressing new V8 and early work to replace the Jankel stretch with a Mulliner Park Ward stretch. We of course were worried about the engineering integrity because when you cut a car in half, you cut all the systems as well, hydraulic, electrical and so forth and it was essential to maintain our reputation whilst allowing…

like everything to work,’ says Stuart Dobbie. ‘If something was originally fitted to a car when it was new, then it should still be working perfectly today.’ This straightforward, no nonsense, no ifs, no buts philosophy would doubtless have met with the approval of Sir Henry Royce himself. And in 2010 it led to Stuart purchasing this handsome Rolls-Royce 20/25hp which, at the time, was not in excellent condition and came with items on board which were not functioning as they should. Take, for example, the trafficators on BXY 74 which were malfunctioning on purchase but, after the necessary attention, soon worked perfectly and always add such charm to old cars as well as providing some amusement, I always find, for younger audiences. Sensibly, given today’s volume of traffic, Stuart…

I’d like to share with you a story of how I became the custodian of a Bentley, following in the footsteps of my father, who has owned his Rolls-Royce 20hp for 64 years. I grew up as young lad in the 1980s with a father who had a 1927 ‘Twenty’ Park Ward limousine which he acquired in the late Fifties at the age of 21. It was acquired in barn-find condition and my father restored it, getting it back on the road, at least for a few years. Like most young lads I was absolutely mad about cars so I’m sure you’ll appreciate how frustrated I was at having never seen it - the car had been laid up in a barn somewhere all my life. All I had seen…

THE FINAL PAGE For something that started life as little more than a re-body of the Silver Shadow II, the SZ in both RollsRoyce and Bentley form took the company on some wild adventures. There were fascinating side-alleys like the stretched limousines that Marinus Rijkers has researched in this issue (see p.66), and technological changes and facelifts galore to keep the car vaguely contemporary into the late 1990s. See our accounts of the arrival of the Arnage and Silver Seraph (starting on p.88) for views on that. The biggest, most influential move of all was without doubt the introduction of turbocharging. As we’ ve covered in previous issues, the sudden injection of performance credibility rescued the Bentley brand from a near-death experience. It allowed Rolls-Royce Motors to stun the world…

The long-established Rolls-Royce and Bentley specialist Fiennes Restoration Ltd entered administration on February 1st 2023, with the loss of up to 40 jobs. Fiennes, which was split some years ago into separate specialist areas, had a parts-supply business which is currently up for sale, with offers due by a closing date of Friday March 24th. The car sales business, Fiennes Showroom, has also gone, as has Fiennes Engineering, the part concerned with engineering work to all components apart from engines. The engine building specialist, Fiennes Performance, remains unaffected and is still trading as normal. Ben Edwards, Managing Director of Fiennes Performance, has hope for the survival of the parts business. ‘We’ve had significant interest from alternative specialists, including enquiries about the intellectual property rights and branding, so the parts business…

S2 CONTINENTAL ‘SURVIVOR’ WAS CHAUFFEUR-DRIVEN A two-door car is an odd choice for anyone intending to ride in the back, but that was the role chosen for this exquisite 1961 two-door coupé by H.J. Mulliner. It was ordered with some interesting features, most notably a removable head-rest on just one side of the rear seat - the nearside - where the first owner also had a reading light fitted. Why choose such an arrangement over a limousine, a standard saloon or a four-door Flying Spur? Perhaps the appeal of the two-door Continental, probably the most expensive new car in the world, provoked the greatest pride of ownership, or perhaps the owner simply fell for the looks. We could understand the latter quite easily, especially nowadays: the highly original form in…

Where and when did your interest in Rolls-Royce, and particularly the 40/50hp, begin? ‘My great uncle was a chauffeur for the Mackintosh family and when I was growing up, he would visit my home town of Halifax, always in a new Bentley. Sometimes he would give me a lift to school in the car and that sparked my interest in them. My wife and I bought a Silver Cloud III in the 1980s then a Silver Shadow II and in 1996 I bought a 1938 Wraith, in scrapyard condition. In 1994 I saw a new book, The Edwardian Rolls-Royce by Fasal and Goodman. I was blown away by the early photographs in that book, many by coachbuilders and many of Silver Ghosts in their first ownership. That caught my interest…

Richard Gunn ably covers the fascinating story of how RollsRoyce came up with a design that was so out of kilter with the rest of the model range, and even the historical oeuvre of coachbuilders and designers of “standard” RollsRoyce models. We should remember that the Camargue was a product fresh from the political paroxysms of the 1960s and economic shocks of the early part the 1970s, emerging into a world where the status quo had been thoroughly upturned. This found its way inevitably into art, popular culture and design. It is only now - a whole 50 years later - that a fresh wave of enthusiastic owners are able to embrace the design and the context into which it was born. As an investment, the value of the Camargue…

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 fullsize. The higher the resolution, the larger we can use your images. If you’d prefer to send non-digital…

If your car is in storage or simply unused for more than a few weeks, you run the risk of suffering damage due to corrosion caused by the ethanol in modern fuels absorbing water from the atmosphere. This is separate to the issue of ethanol itself reacting with certain substances, such as brass and many plastics, but potentially just as serious, as the acids formed when hygroscopic ethanol fuel absorbs water vapour have the potential to damage the whole the fuel system, including the tank itself. Castrol’s Classic Etha-Guard Plus swiftly counteracts ethanol’s hygroscopic nature, stabilising both E5 and E10 biofuels. It prevents moisture from saturating the ethanol and forcing it to drop out of safe suspension within the petrol, thereby protecting the vehicle’s fuel system against corrosion and acidity.…

I was looking through a copy of Autocar from February 1978 and this news story caught my eye. I thought the phenomenon of a ‘recall’ was a more recent one, but I see Rolls-Royce were obliged to do it for 2500 cars around the world fitted with cruise control some 45 years ago. It must have been a rare piece of bad PR for the firm, not least because there is no mention of any ‘fix’ - just that cruise control systems were disconnected, and new cars sent out to their owners with non-functional cruise control. Does anyone in RR&BD’s readership own a Silver Shadow II, Silver Wraith II, Camargue or Corniche from 1977 or early 1978 with cruise control that’s never worked? Perhaps we now know why!…

II felt the need to write to assure you and your excellent staff that my interest and enthusiasm for the magazine has not waned. I still eagerly look forward to receiving the next issue; even with the postal dispute the magazine manages to arrive promptly. As ever, the last two issues were of the usual high standard of variety, interest and enjoyment, and the Mar/ Apr issue promises to be just as interesting, informative and entertaining. I have had a quick look through and I’m looking forward to reading the feature ‘Quality of Life’ on p.38, that gorgeous bronze Corniche. The road test of the Bentley Continental Flying Spur on p.66 looks interesting. Also, I particularly like the look of that Empress on p.16 and the lovely Bentley on p.22.…

It may seem strange that the Camargue was theoretically available only in Rolls-Royce form, given that its sportier coupe appearance and enhanced performance might have made Bentley badging more appropriate. However, some Winged B variants were created. All the prototypes sported Bentley grilles during pre-launch testing and, in addition, D1 was also fitted with a turbocharger at one point, as part of a proposal for a high-performance Bentley version. While that only came to fruition with the Silver Spirit/ Mulsanne generation, the single Bentley Camargue Turbo proved capable of 145mph. In 1985, a single Bentley Camargue, albeit normallyaspirated, was officially produced as a special order for a customer. The Forest Green machine, registered B199 MDF, created a few headaches at the factory when it came to making the bonnet line…

When the Rolls-Royce factory commissioned Robert Jankel Design (RJD) to stretch Silver Spurs into limousines, the initial stretch was 36 inches, as we explored in the previous article. The Royal Blue car in this article is from 1984, and is the 24th example built with this 36-inch stretch. Like the large majority of Jankel’s output at this time, this car is in left-hand drive with European specifications. Indeed, at this time only one limousine had been built for the British market. Most cars were sold to the Swiss and French market, though soon after the official launch in February 1984, the American market took over much of the production. Not all, though. In April 1984 Rolls-Royce Motor Cars European Division in Lausanne, Switzerland, ordered a standard Silver Spur. The car…

Some 70 racers, officials and guests were brought up to speed with the latest Club motorsport plans and regulations at the annual Competitions Day gathering at the Clubhouse in Wroxton at the end of January. Those who enjoyed success at the BDC Silverstone race meeting last season were honoured at the day’s traditional awards presentation ceremony. Competitions Captain Ben Eastick, who presided over the meeting together with Club President Duncan Wiltshire, kicked off proceedings on a positive note when he told attendees: ‘The Club is in rude health in terms of Competitions. And we’ve got some exciting plans ahead for the next two years.’ Looking back at the 2022 season, Ben commented: ‘Last year was full of ups and downs but generally quite encouraging.’ Hailing BDC Silverstone as a ‘great…