Unique Information Entrepreneur

Haynes International Motor Museum

Silver Jubilee

Silverstone Classic

Mavis

Packard Bentley

Coffee Croissant & Cars #06/14

Avenue Drivers Club

4th Of Four

 

Bentley 4 1/2 Litre #TX3246

GALPOT Weekly #47

Welcome to GALPOT Weekly #47 a review of the last seven posts at "Gettin a li'l psycho on tyres"



The week started with a visit to Dunsfold Aerodrome for Wings and Wheels, my favorite surprise from the show was this 1970 Surtees TS7 Grand Prix designed by Sahab Ahmed and Peter Connew.



On Tuesday I celebrated the 55th Aniversary of E Day with a look at a 1958 Edsel Ranger.



W.O. Bentley described Wednesdays featured car seen above as a Pervesion and Corruption, he also inadvertently created an incorrect myth about these cars never having won a race.



Thursdays post was about this one and a quarter litre MG YB, a pre '39/45 war design that did not go into production until 1947. MG posts will be returning to Tuesday as usual next week.



Among the most alluring of prototype sports car designs is the 1969 Ferrari 312P Berlinetta, chassis #0872 as seen above has a class winning history.



Yesterday's post featured a more humble design from 1969 the wedge shaped Lotus 61 Formula Ford racer belonging to hill climber Les Buck.



Unique amongst Rolls Royce Silver Ghosts must be this 1921 copper bodied example with coachwork by Brockman which was seen by Geoffrey Horton at Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks for joining me on this "GALPOT Weekly #47" blog, I hope you have enjoyed catching up with the last seven posts from the "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" blog with the links provided and that you will join me daily during the week ahead. Don't forget to come back now !

GALPOT Weekly #34

Welcome to GALPOT Weekly #34 a review of the weeks blogs at "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres'.



Last week started with a look at some of the vehicles that turned up at the 25th Anniversary Party of Middle Barton Garage, which included a magnificent Bentley, the fearsome Tornado FIAT 600D GT Lotus TC that once belonged to David Render.



Diamond Jubilee celebrations were marked on Tuesday with a look at an oddly named Austin A40 Somerset Coupé that is said to have been driven by HRH Queen Elizabeth II while on a trip to Malta in 1952.



Of all the cars I have owned the minimalist cheap and rugged Citroën 2CV's were easily the most fun, the 1954 Citroën 2CV I looked at on Wednesday is considerably more utilitarian than any of those I have owned.



Americana Thursday's featured car was the UK assembled 1938 Ford V8 30 Saloon, seen above, which apart from the Right Hand Drive was identical to the US 1938 Ford de Luxe Sedan.




Ferrari Friday's blog was all about the nature of what is perceived when looking at vehicles like the Ferrari 330 GT above.



Yesterday I looked at this cute little Lotus Mark 6 which was restored over a period of 30 years.



Today's post looks at some of the action and vehicles that were present at the Yanks and Gary's 34th Picnic held at Shakespeare County Raceway a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks for joining me for this "GALPOT Weekly #34" I hope you have enjoyed catching up with the blog using the links provided and that you will join me in the week ahead at "Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres" which starts with a Bangers and Smash edition from Aldershot Raceway and ends with a 007 @ Beaulieu edition next Sunday. Don't forget to come back now !

Comfortable presence or large and in charge - Bentley Azure

This was the first time I saw and indeed heard of a Bentley Azure, though all I heard when I first became acquainted with this one was a faint whisper of a seemingly far off air conditioning unit, I was surprised when I turned around and found this gargantuan vehicle pulling up right next to me.



Since 1998 Volkswagen have been the owners of the Bentley marque having purchased it from Vickers and in the process separated Bentley from, former owner since 1931, Rolls Royce which was sold to the Bavarian Motor Works.



This second generation (2006 - 2009) Azure is powered by a 450 hp 6,750 cc / 411 cui, twin turbo V8, with origins that can be traced to the V8's used in the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II, Phantom V and Bentley S2 of 1959. The power is transmitted to the rear wheels with the aid of a 6 speed automatic gearbox made for this model only.



Handling of this 2,801 kg / 6,175 lb vehicle is said to be free of pitch and roll.



The engine is capable of propelling the Azure up to 60 mph from rest in just 5.6 seconds, and on to 168 mph. Unsurprisingly the Azures fuel consumption is amongst the worst on record at between 9 - 15 miles per US gallon, if you need to ask these figures I guess you do not own the requisite oil field or two to keep the Bentley Azure in motion anyway.



This vehicle is longer wider and obviously taller than an Audi R10 TDI Le Mans race car in fact it is larger than several mini buses with an overall length of 5.342 m / 210 inches, a width of 2.057 m / 81 inches, and wheelbase of 3.061 m / 120 inches. More than comfortable for four adults and their luggage to waft down to the South of France for a weekend on the beach.

Hope you have enjoyed today's XXXL edition of Gettin' a lil psycho on tyres and that you'll join me for a look at a slightly more modest black model built in the foot hills of the Zhiguli Height mountains in Toliatti tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !

Real Fast Lorry - Bentley 3/4.5 litre Fixed Head Coupe 1924

For a carceaologist like myself vintage Bentley's, referred to by Ettore Bugatti as 'the fastest lorries in the World' are a bit of a nightmare because the original bodywork of many of them has long since rotted away, many of those bodies have been replaced with replica Van den Plas Le Mans bodies. A few of Bentley's have chassis with not much in the way of original fabric either.



One disputed Bentley chassis recently turned up in the law courts which had chassis members from three different models front, middle and rear ! Unless you have an exceptionally strong belief in the concept of 'entity' you may struggle to accept that some vintage Bentley's are vintage and or indeed Bentley's at all.



Gareth Graham is seen here driving a vehicle owned by BJA Collings, not to be confused with the BBC comedy 'Stig' character Ben Collings, during the VSCC meeting at Loton Park in September.

The Fixed Head Coupe featured today has a 1924 chassis but with a 110 hp 4,398 cc / 268 cui 4 cylinder engine that was not available with these 3 litre chassis until 1927. If the vehicle is on its original licence plates it was first registered in Essex.

Hope you have enjoyed today's vintage edition of 'Getting a lil' psycho on tyres', and that you will join me tomorrow for a look at a gargantuan contemporary Bentley. Don't forget to came back now !

The Spirit that never breaks down - Rolls Royce Silver Spirit.

The radiator grill design and tragic Spirit of Ecstasy mascot makes Rolls Royce one of the few instantly recognisable brands no matter what age or model. The mascot on this model instantly retracts if dislodged allegedly preventing injury to pedestrians and making the item much harder to collect by even the most determined fans of the Beasty Boys.



The Silver Spirit was a development of the Silver Shadow with a new body and suspension that brought RR into the 1980's.



Sufficiently powered by a 6750cc / 411 cui V8 the Silver Spirit and slightly longer Silver Spur no longer featured the Citroen licensed self levelling suspension of the Silver Shadow but one using a Girling automatic hydraulic ride height control system riding on gas charged shock absorbers.



The Registration of this vehicle suggests that this might be a 1984 model but the alloy wheels to my not so well trained eye look to be of a more recent vintage. The Silver Spirit/Spur series is the twin of the Bentley Mulsanne / Eight series.



The Silver Spirit is the only Rolls Royce model that has ever come in to my hands, albeit briefly in my capacity as quality controller at a Volvo Garage, it certainly is an impressive machine to be seen driven around in, the ride quality is superb but the feel of the car with its spindly steering wheel and column shift left me feeling I was driving a very well appointed 1972 Volvo 144.

It should always be remembered that a Rolls Royce never 'breaks down', but if not looked after properly it might 'fail to proceed'.

Erratum: in response to a question about the Citroen SM suspension on October 20th I stated that 'Rolls Royce / Bentley took out licenses to use similar (Citroen hydropneumatic self levelling) systems on the Silver Shadow/T, Silver Spur/Mulsanne' in fact as I have written above the Silver Spirit/Spur have a Girling self levelling systems. Apologies for any confusion that arose.

Hope you have enjoyed your stay, don't forget to come back now !

The Ultimate Laxative - Napier Bentley

This year marked the first time I have witnessed a hill climb event in fact I liked it so much the first time I went to two the first at Prescott and the second at Loton Park. Both were VSCC run meetings and highly entertaining despite the fact that no over taking is guaranteed.



The reason I enjoy these events is because of the breath taking variety of vehicles many by manufacturers long since disappeared and probably most models are completely unknown to me. Falling into the category vehicles unknown to me is this beautiful Napier Bentley driven by Christopher Williams which races in the Pre 1941 Racing Cars over 3000cc 183 cui class.



The car easily qualifies for the big engined class as it is powered by a Napier Lion Marine engine rescued from a WW2 Motor Torpedo boat. The 550hp engine is a 24,000 cc / 1464.5 cui, Arrow 12 with 3 banks of 4 cylinders that was originally developed in 1917 for aircraft applications being used in over 160 different aircraft types, the engine was also used to power Sir Malcom Cambell to over 250 mph in 1932, and John Cobb to 394 mph in 1947.



This car was originally built by David Llewellyn in 1968 with a Sunbeam chassis but after an accident the Sunbeam chassis was replaced by a 1929 chassis from an 8 litre Bentley. Chris Williams , see the man in the bowler hat, has been looking after it since 1999.



It would appear a sense of humour is essential to drive such a fearsome beast...



....easily capable of spinning its wheels in any gear.

Just noticed that Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres has somehow made it through it's first month and has just had it's 1,000 th page view ! Thanks to everyone who has popped by and especially all those who have contributed to making this so much fun, looking forward to tomorrow's instalment of Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres already, don't forget to come back now !

Everything stops for the - Bentley T

Today I am looking at this Bentley T twin to the most successfull Rolls Royce in history the Silver Shadow.



The only discernible difference between the Shadow and the T was the grill which was, simpler to manufacturer, lighter, smoother and largely responsible for the Bentley at £ 5375 being £50 cheaper than the Shadow when introduced in 1965.




The T was the first Bentley to feature a monocoque construction. The car was 'adequately' powered by a 6230 cc / 380 cui Rolls Royce V8, power output was never mentioned in connection with Rolls or Bentley at this time, presumably because 'adequate' in connection with a vehicle weighing 2 tons avoided any embarrassing direct power to weight ratio comparisons.



Where the T really scored over the Shadow other than marginally more discrete badging was exclusivity, between 1965 and 1977 16,717 Series 1 Shadows were built against just 1,703 Series 1 T's

Thanks for joining me, don't forget to come back now !