Rolls-Royce & Bentley Driver November - December 2021

The process of replacing any automotive design that’s achieved ‘legend in its own lifetime’ status during a lengthy career is fraught with danger. When the car in question is as upmarket and prestigious as a Rolls-Royce, however, the stakes are even higher. How will fans of the long-running original react to its successor? In the case of the 2000-model Corniche, the risk was reduced by the fact that five years had passed since the previous generation had met its demise. Time is a healer, as the saying goes, and the gap between the old and new Corniche was an advantage. What made the Corniche V (as it’s now generally referred to) particularly interesting, however, was its role as the last new Rolls-Royce from the marque’s historic Crewe headquarters. That it was…

110-YEAR ANNIVERSARY History repeated itself recently when a world-renowned Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost re-enacted its astonishing run in the 1911 London-Edinburgh Trial. Chassis number 1701, originally designed as an ‘Experimental Speed Car’, won that event locked in top gear for the entire 799-mile return trip between the two capitals. Given the primitive state of Britain’s Edwardian roads, its average speed of 19.59 mph was highly impressive – and its then unheard-of fuel efficiency of over 24mpg even more so. To prove that the car had not been modified in any way, it achieved 78.2mph on a half-mile speed test conducted immediately after the event. And it later became the first Rolls-Royce to exceed 100mph at Brooklands. The recent re-enactment was as faithful to the 1911 event as possible, with the Silver Ghost departing from…

As with the finest penthouse or multi-million-dollar yacht, the ultimate luxury of a convertible isn’t in the practical but something rather less tangible. That the Silver Shadow-based drophead-coupé – later relaunched as the Corniche – ran from 1967 to 1995 with remarkably few major updates shows how impervious to material change it could be. Its appeal lay far deeper than any need to remain on trend or to bring aesthetic updates purely for the sake of them. The eventual loss of the Corniche IV in 1995, however, meant the only soft-top emanating from Crewe in the second half of the decade was the Bentley Azure, a model developed from the Continental R coupé. And this left the Rolls-Royce marque without a convertible for the first time in several decades, the company’s…

COACHBUILT BENTLEY For sale with Vintage & Prestige at the time of writing is this 1948 Bentley MkVI with Freestone & Webb ‘razor-edge’ coachwork. Chassis number B389BC was originally purchased by A Mr Ibbitson of Hepworth to celebrate his company going public that year. His firm dated back to the 1890s and was a cloth manufacturer. This rare coachbuilt MkVI featured an elegant and rather modern body style for the time, looking particularly handsome in its Mason’s Black and Ivory two-tone colour scheme. The paintwork is described as “finished to an excellent standard” thanks to its current owners having commissioned an extensive restoration, with the ash frame and aluminium coachwork being fully rebuilt over a three-year period. The interior has also been fully refurbished with fresh Wilton carpet, new headlining in West…

Although this is a recurring theme when writing about classic cars for a living, especially when the majority of them are British in origin, history has taught us that if the UK’s motor industry has one strength, it’s creating success from unlikely origins. Think of the MGF, Land Rover Discovery and countless others. And so it is with the pair we have here, each of which adopted an ageing design and created a car that went on to win universal praise. In the case of the Bentley, no vehicle this large and this heavy has any logical right to offer such cross-country pace, and yet the basic design underpinning the unlikely hot rod stems from the 1965 Silver Shadow. The Daimler, meanwhile, was derived from the Jaguar XJ40, which may have…

TRAVEL WALLET This high-quality zipped Bentley travel wallet is a thoughtfully-designed item, offering separate compartments for cards, banknotes and receipts, while the interior design is said to be inspired by the shape of a modern-day Bentley dashboard. Made from soft grained calf leather (sourced responsibly by a Spanish tannery) with a silky leather lining, it features a palladium metal Bentley logo on the outside. The wallet measures just over 20cm in length. Quote code BL2139 when ordering. Price: £475 From: IntroCar Web: introcar.com Tel: +44 (0)208 546 2027 IN-CAR STORAGE This stylish leather travel tray – an official Bentley Motors item – is perfect for storing small items in your car whilst on the move. Its popper-fastened corners make it quick and easy to assemble, and there’s even a choice of colours: Black, Portland, Magenta or Moroccan…