1936 - 1939 Bentley 4¼ Litre
Image by Georg Schwalbach (GS1311)
The 3½ Litre (and later 4¼ Litre) was presented to the public in September 1933, shortly after the death of Henry Royce, and was the first new Bentley model following Rolls-Royce's acquisition of the Bentley brand in 1931.
Bentley sold only the bare chassis with scuttle radiator and grille for coachbuilders to construct on it a body to the buyer's requirements. Any amendment to those provided features was most unlikely to be sanctioned by Bentley. Many distributors ordered their preferred bodies as showroom stock ready for immediate sale.
Bentleys of this era are Derby Bentleys because they were built in the Rolls-Royce factory located in Derby, England. Those of Bentley's previous independent era are Cricklewood Bentleys.
Beginning in March, 1936, a 4¼ Litre version of the car was offered as replacement for the 3½ Litre, in order to offset the increasing weight of coachwork and maintain the car's sporting image in the face of stiff competition. The engine was bored to 3½ in (88.9 mm) for a total of 4.3 L (4257 cc/259 in³). From 1938 the MR and MX series cars featured Marles steering and an overdrive gearbox. The model was replaced in 1939 by the MkV, but some cars were still finished and delivered during 1940-1941.
1234 4¼ Litre cars were built, with Park Ward remaining the most popular coachbuilder. Many cars were bodied in steel rather than the previous, more expensive, aluminium over ash frame construction.
A Drophead 4¼ Litre was featured as James Bond's car in the 1983 movie Never Say Never Again
(Wikipedia)
1984 - 1995 Bentley Continental (01)
Image by Georg Schwalbach (GS1311)
The Rolls-Royce Corniche was also sold as a Bentley, though that model became known as the Continental in 1984. The first car to wear the Corniche name was a 1939 prototype based on the Bentley Mark V which was never produced because of the onset of World War II.
(Wikipedia)
Bentley gold
Image by Manik.
1984 - 1995 Bentley Continental (02)
Image by Georg Schwalbach (GS1311)
The Rolls-Royce Corniche was also sold as a Bentley, though that model became known as the Continental in 1984. The first car to wear the Corniche name was a 1939 prototype based on the Bentley Mark V which was never produced because of the onset of World War II.
(Wikipedia)
1962 - 1965 Bentley S3 Continental Mulliner Park-Ward Coachwork
Image by Georg Schwalbach (GS1311)
In 1959, Rolls-Royce acquired H. J. Mulliner & Co., coachbuilders (HJM). In 1961, HJM was merged with Park Ward, which had been in the possession of Rolls-Royce since 1939, to form Mulliner, Park Ward Ltd. (MPW). When production of the S3 Continentals commenced there were more differences than the adaption of the previous HJM design by Mulliner Park Ward: The cars were built at the former Park Ward premises in Willesden, North London. The HJM facilities were abandoned.
The S3 Continental was strictly coachbuilt. Most bodies were of the altered HJM style, available in fixed head or drop head coupe form. Of the 328 coachbuilt S3 (Continentals included here), nearly 100 were by MPW. Again, fixed head or a drop head coupe configurations were available. The most prominent visual difference from the s2 configuration was the four canted headlights.
For the first time, this body was offered on the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, as well as the S3 chassis. The final S3 was delivered in 1966, when the new Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and Bentley T-series were readily available. Like earlier Continentals, the sportier S3 bodywork was manufactured entirely from aluminum, unlike the heavier, steel bodied standard saloon. This, combined with higher gearing and the better compression ratios made for a markedly faster car. Four-doored Continentals bodied by H. J. Mulliner were known as the "Flying Spur", although four-door Continentals by other coachbuilders are sometimes erroneously referred to as "Flying Spurs" as well; the term only correctly refers to Mulliner's versions. Another strikingly elegant four-door saloon for the S3 Continental came from James Young).
Despite being highly desirable, the considerably more expensive Continentals (a premium of 40-50%) were produced in much smaller quantities than the standard S3 saloon, which outsold it by a factor of four.
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