Tabla de contenidos para Issue 47 - Mar/Apr 2025 en Rolls-Royce & Bentley Driver

In the world of Rolls-Royce and Bentley classics, you will always find differences of opinion. While most might argue that a Silver Shadow or Silver Spirit is worthy of classic status, some traditionalists will suggest that anything without a separate chassis isn’t. And while many of us might crave a ‘Standard Steel’ Silver Cloud or S-series when funds allow, there will be other aficionados who argue that a true Rolls-Royce or Bentley must have coachbuilt bodywork. Interestingly though, disagreements can occur even when it comes to much more recent models, such as the Bentley Arnage. Launched in early 1998, the year in which the future ownership of Rolls-Royce and Bentley became an expensive spat between two German automotive giants, the Arnage hit the market with a 4.4-litre twinturbocharged V8 supplied…

Bentley Motors has announced the alignment of its business operations in the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa and India into a combined region, now becoming the EMEA region – the biggest for the marque. It will comprise 95 retail partners in 41 markets and represents approximately one-third of Bentley’s sales volume globally. Leading the new region will be regional director Richard Leopold (pictured), who has over 17 years of experience with Bentley Motors and a deep understanding of complex markets, having already commanded each market under this new regional structure. Leopold comments: “I am extremely excited to continue to collaborate closely with our retail partners to drive the growth of our business across the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa and India under this new guise. This journey will not only…

The Wings and Wheels event is set to take place on May 16th-18th, with an array of activities to interest and entertain all those taking part. Arranged by the RREC’s East Midlands Section in and around the Derby area, it all kicks off on the Friday, with participants being invited to enjoy any or all of the following. There’s a visit to the Rolls-Royce Learning and Development Centre, a tour and demonstration of car maintenance at Great Northern Classics (which has its base in the refurbished Rolls-Royce Light Alloy Foundry), and a visit to the legendary Rolls-Royce headquarters on Nightingale Road. The Friday evening will then see the Section hosting a dinner in Derby, with the guest speaker being local historian Richard Felix, who will transport attendees back to the…

With the Arnage, Bentley began a new chapter in more ways than one. Along with its Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph sibling, this was the first truly new car in terms of platform and engineering to come out of Crewe since the Silver Shadow and T-series of 1965. The Arnage’s looks might have been evolutionary (with hints of the old S-series of the 1950s in Graham Hull’s brilliant styling), but it was under the bonnet where revolution could be found thanks to the traditional Rolls-Royce L-series being dropped in favour of a BMW-supplied 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 – a unit that was good for 354bhp. Complications over the sale of Rolls-Royce Motors during the Arnage’s launch year caused much consternation, with Volkswagen and BMW battling it out for custody of the marques. It…

You’ll already have noticed that the star of this article is, of course, no ordinary 1984 Silver Spur. It’s one that was sensationally reworked by Hooper & Co (Coachbuilders) Ltd, a company famed for its extensively modified SZ models in both Rolls-Royce and Bentley guises. This particular conversion was known as the St James – a Silver Spur with an extraordinary specification and an exhaustive list of upgrades. While it is special in itself to meet such an unusual car, even more special is the fact that this Silver Spur St James has only 2320 miles (3733km) on its odometer. This car is truly as new in both its mechanical and cosmetic condition. And so, as a result, our chance to get behind the wheel reveals exactly what it must…

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars achieved global sales of 5712 vehicles in 2024, it has revealed, with the success of the new Cullinan Series II and Ghost Series II models – together with their Black Badge derivatives – helping to achieve the third-highest annual total ever achieved by the company. With 2024 marking the first full year of Spectre sales, Rolls-Royce’s inaugural all-electric model proved to be a major success. It was the firm’s biggest seller throughout Europe, and worldwide was second only to the Cullinan. The Ghost was the third most successful model globally, with the Phantom retaining its role as the company flagship – and the most exclusive model in the range. North America proved to be the largest sales region for Rolls-Royce last year, while several other regions –…

Douglas Newton writes: “I am a retired professional technical illustrator and have a 1950 Bentley MkVI that I have owned for 23 years. A few years ago, I originated a cutaway technical illustration of my Bentley that shows the engine and all of the major components. I have subsequently sold limited edition A2-size (594 x 420mm) black and white prints to many enthusiasts around the world.” The prints are available framed or unframed. They are printed in black lightfast ink on to acid-free 120gsm art paper. Each print is numbered and signed, and supplied with a certificate of authenticity. The prints are sold at £80 each plus postage and packing. Douglas can also add the customer’s own registration number to the illustration at an additional cost. Using the same illustration,…

In the world of petrolheads, it’s not unusual to find a classic Rolls-Royce amongst a private collection of high-powered sports cars and Italian-built supercars. The Crewe machine might not offer the same level of driving thrills, neck-jarring performance or as-if-on-rails handling as its low-slung compatriots, but it’s still appreciated for its combination of unique qualities. And that’s certainly the case with Rick Parfitt Jnr… or rather, it was until late last year, when the glorious 1984 Corniche shown here ended up in the hands of a new custodian. More of that later, as first we need to discover what prompted Rick – son of the globally famous rock band member of the same name, and a successful racing driver and musician in his own right – to invest in a…

This issue’s Auction Tracker covers the full-year period from January 1st to the end of December 2024. Trends are assessed on a 12-month rolling basis versus the numbers published last time (to the end of October – the 2m trend) and year-on-year versus 2023 (12m trend). MARKET DECLINE The concerns I raised in my last column about whether the market resilience for Rolls-Royce and Bentley could hold have proven to be well founded, with the number of motor cars sold and total market value both falling, as shown in the first graph. Against the full year 2023 (the 12m trend), the total number of motor cars offered is down 4 per cent and the number sold is down by over 5 per cent, which means that the sale rate is…

Clive Morley has been named as the BDC’s Racing Driver of the Year for 2024 – completing a unique hat-trick for the popular racer. In being awarded the Frank Clement Memorial Trophy, Clive became the first driver to achieve the accolade three times, having previously won in 2020 and 2021. Son Stuart, meanwhile, has himself claimed the trophy twice, in 2017 and 2023. Clive, who convincingly won the special pre-war Bentley race at BDC Silverstone in August (the 40-minute encounter held to celebrate the centenary of the marque’s first Le Mans victory in 1924), was presented with the trophy at the club’s third annual Competitions Dinner. The evening, to celebrate the past motorsport season, attracted more than 70 BDC competitors, members and guests, and was again held at the Royal…

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 FUNCTION FIRST I was delighted to read the extremely well-researched article [on the coachbuilt McLeod Bentleys] by Richard Gunn in the Jan/Feb 2025 issue. I first became aware of Captain Roderick G. McLeod and his designs for ‘shortened’ Bentleys in a book I inherited, Bentley: Fifty Years of the Marque (Johnnie Green, Dalton Watson Ltd, 1978). I just about fell off my chair, because my father was a Roderick M. Macleod who was also born in Australia – albeit 31 years after the Captain in 1923. My father did a traineeship as a mechanical draughtsman with minimal formal training and more of the…

+44 (0) 1455 292949 www.flyingspares.com I’ve been meaning to get the timber door cappings and the strip in front of the dashboard’s top roll refinished for some time. I found a clever chap who makes and restores furniture, who made a nice job of the one door capping I removed as a test piece. “See you soon,” I said, “with the other pieces.” That was back in September. Time marches on, especially if you’ve consigned your car to winter storage a half-hour drive away from home. In the end, three months had evaporated before I was back in the presence of JUD 1D, safely tucked up under a dust cover while the snow lay six inches deep outside the building. The mission was a simple one, in concept. Start the…

As revealed in the news pages of our last issue, what’s expected to be the biggest gathering of SY-generation Rolls-Royces and Bentleys will take place in 2025, with the RREC planning an event at the historic Brooklands Museum to mark the Silver Shadow family’s 60th anniversary. Heading up the special event – which takes place on August 16th-17th – is Michael Marshall-Clarke, an RREC Board Director and the proud owner of a 1974 Silver Shadow. Among the highlights of the weekend are a black tie dinner in the historic Brooklands Clubhouse and a road run through the scenic Surrey Hills. The gathering is open to all SY-generation cars, comprising the Silver Shadow and Shadow II, Bentley T-series and T2, MPW/Corniche, Silver Wraith II and Camargue. “You don’t have to be…

Although there was little to differentiate the new-for-1971 Corniche from its Silver Shadow Mulliner Park Ward two-door saloon and drophead predecessors, the change of name and associated updates were important, coming at a time when Rolls-Royce faced financial difficulties and needed all the positive press associated with a new model launch. Exterior differences between the Corniche and its forebear included a mildly redesigned radiator grille, rectangular reversing lamps, fog lamps, special wheel trims and a different dashboard, while the engine was subtly reworked to produce “adequate plus 10 per cent” power. There was no need for major change thanks to the already handsome looks of the MPW cars, styled by John Blatchley and incorporating subtle elements of historic Rolls-Royce design. Running gear was also carried across from the standard saloon,…

This is chassis B107WG, completed in July 1954 with body 2228 from James Young, a bold full-width design with some intriguing features. It was ordered by one R.F. Knowlson on behalf of the Production Tool & Alloy Company Ltd of Sharpenhoe, Bedford, through Jack Barclay Ltd of Berkeley Square. Indeed, Mr Barclay’s signature is on the order sheet. Originally painted in two-tone beige, it cost the first owners a significant £6430 10s 2d, which was getting on for twice the price of a Standard Steel R-Type saloon. It was a bold choice, then, and one that few other clients made. The only other manual-transmission R-Type with the C20 body was the chassis made immediately before this one, B105WG (they used odd numbers only), which was also sold to a successful…

'I like flying the flag for the BMW-powered version,” smiles John Neal, proud owner of one of the particularly early Arnages featured here, having purchased the Sherwood Green example – first registered in May 1998 – back in 2022. “I’ve always liked the Arnage, and it seemed like my ideal next car, but I was only willing to consider a BMW-engined example.” In Arnage circles, this could be seen as going against the trend, given how so many enthusiasts favour the subsequent models that featured the venerable L-series V8, which first took a bow in the Silver Cloud II and Bentley S2 of 1959. But John is quick to defend the original Arnage, which made its debut in the spring of 1998: “It was designed to have the BMW V8,…

At the end of last year, Rolls-Royce unveiled a special one-off version of its Phantom Extended model. Commissioned to commemorate 60 years since the release of the 1964 James Bond movie Goldfinger, the 2024 Phantom Goldfinger paid homage to the car owned by the film’s eponymous villain. While Sean Connery, on his third outing as Britain’s least-secret secret agent, may have wielded what would become the movie’s best-known set of wheels in the lithe form of his weaponised Aston Martin DB5, his nemesis also boasted stylish and prestigious transport: a 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III with Sedanca de Ville coachwork by Barker & Company. And although Auric Goldfinger’s Phantom may have been a little more sedate than 007’s gadgetladen DB5, it managed to conceal a few secrets pivotal to the plot.…

Welcome to this, our 10th Rolls-Royce & Bentley Driver Technical Guide. Yes, we’ve hit double figures -and we’re grateful for all your feedback so far. Having looked at a plugs and filters service on a 1998 Silver Seraph in the last issue, we’re staying with the servicing theme again, this time focusing on a stunning 1962 Silver Cloud III. I say stunning, but unfortunately there’s a catch. When I first saw it, I was blown away – a really early example in silver and black with a green hide interior. Incredible, right? On further investigation, however, it turns out that the 32,737 stated mileage is too good to be true, as the car has actually done 132,737 miles. The sills and wings are pretty rusty too, to the extent that…

END OF THE ARNAGE We’re going back 17 years via these two photographs, which were issued by Bentley Motors to mark the announcement of the Arnage Final Series for the 2009 model year. This was a special-edition version to commemorate the end of the highly successful Arnage saloon after a decade in production, as well as half a century of the L-series V8 engine and 90 years of Bentley Motors itself. The original Arnage was launched just prior to Volkswagen’s takeover of the marque in 1998, with the German firm investing heavily in a series of steady upgrades and enhancements throughout the car’s career. It could so easily have discontinued the Arnage that it inherited, focusing instead on next-generation models like the Continental GT and Flying Spur. But it’s a…