Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) NotaMog...BUT..?

Imagine that radiator looming over you as it comes up behind. I'm minded of the old Brockbank cartoon 'Citron Presse'

https://www.tm-img.com/image/t2kB6

Navigator to Bentley driver, "can you hear gunfire somewhere"

I`m so very pleased you enjoyed the vids guys.

Dave as to the on track speeds of the wonderful Bentleys, if you beam into the the Mother Gun vid at 14:34, freeze frame and expand the image you get a view of oil pressure gauge and the speedo, the latter being quite confusing as it is obviously spun round, as can be the habit of racers to make the needle prominent in the drivers eye view at critical engine/road speeds, and perhaps marked up accordingly, perhaps more so in vintage race machines than others, though Porsche ever mounted the rev counter front and centre in their cars for much the same reason. Apologies if you already knew all of that Dave, but I just thought it was worth mentioning. I think we have our share of vintage Bentley expertise on here for someone wiser than I to suggest the actual road speed. I think aircraft analogue instruments may be configured similarly to have all their needles pointing as in a row in the same direction when all is well, thus any needle/gauge reading off can be quickly spotted..?

Bentley, I have oft typed that it was following a Bentley roaring down the side of Loch Tay that caused me to eventually end up owning my old +8... (-:

I suspect when one reaches a certain time in life it is possible that the latest and greatest in the world space ship like sports cars may all begin to look just so very similar to each other, and thus cause one to contemplate an alternative perhaps when in search of a more involving driving experience..? Being a CARsonova, I have been fortunate to own a few interesting vehicles over the years, and for some time have been and still am a fan of air cooled Porsches, though there was something about Morgans that would pique my interest from time to time, even in my twenties, more than likely when a Morgan article would turn up the classic press, thus I suspect the seed was sown relatively early on.

There was I on my BMW R850R catching up on and following this Vintage Bentley down the loch-side road, it`s pilot in full view while he was straightening out the open bends in the snaking Tarmac, the Bentley with it`s rear axle hopping and skipping over the uneven road surface in places, with me following on at a reasonable distance and thinking "I want some of that." I ever a m/cyclist, but being in my late fifties at the time with my old knees ever stiffening when out in the cold as I was that day, I suspect following the Bentley caused me to contemplate my seemingly ever growing appreciation relative to the mix of automotive history, heritage, and hand built craftsmanship that had perhaps taken root in my mind having read car mags that would contain the occasional story of daring do in something old and bold....A Vintage Bentley would be sheer perfection, but quite beyond my pay grade, but a Morgan, less so.. The rest as they say is history, but that wonderful Bentley created a fan for life...(-:

Having become frustrated with the ever advancing digital technology in general and exponentially so in the workplace, the idea that the simplicity of vintage design would likely be like cockroaches and still be running around perhaps long after chips might suffer degradation for some reason or other, or no longer have their software supported such as I had witnessed numerous times, on what had been very expensive and one time leading edge kit... Yeah, old Tec has it`s advantages too..

Now and again I wander around the web looking to find folk who are happy to share their vehicular experiences, and Vintage Bentleys are high on the list alongside Morgan and others, be they vintage or not. Brian/Mossy, being an example in terms of his TR engined Morgan +4 vids..some of which are in the vid section on this forum.

www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/forums/41/1/movie-video-forum

Along with the two Bentley links I posted initially, I also discovered the one below which is more sedate and gives a feeling for a club gathering where folk chat about their Bentleys and their experiences with them over the years, similar to weekends I have been fortunate to share and enjoy amongst Morgan folk and others over the years, the vid also gives a bit of insight to the variety of engine and body variation specifications amongst the Bentley boys and girls..original and not so original.. or should the term be historically correct, which obviously matters more to some folk than others...?

https://youtu.be/kWptdoSSGPc

I have tried to make a vid of a run in my old +8 over one of my favourite local roads though failed miserably on the sound quality, I had bought an extension and a remote mic with a sock to try to get rid of the wind-noise as opposed to the rumble and occasional pop`n bang, but Covid beat be to it, killing off the opportunity to have another go. Though on the vid the drive looks faster than it felt at the time of filming it..?

Bentley girls... Well yeah, there have been and are quite a few of them just as with Morgans...

https://youtu.be/eioG_OwTZyI

Now having rambled on as is ever my habit, a bit of thread drift on a thread I started myself...

Having spent some considerable time in and around folk who share similar automotive interests, reading the classic press and club mags etc.etc.etc. I have logically witnessed the evolution relative to the increasing values attributable to old cars and m/cycles over quite a number of years, and it seems obvious/logical (?) that Baby Boomers and the good fortune found in their lifetime has played it`s part...? As part of my clearing out processes whereby an accumulation of Classic press and club magazines caused me to look back as far as the 70`s in some cases and observe the age of those enjoying their cars, and in the main they seemed to be in their twenties and thirties..?

Having the good fortune to enjoy a great weather day out at the large Vintage/Classic car event at Glamis in 2019, it seemed that those on the many and varied stands were at least aged fifty plus if not quite a bit more.. Thus my observations seem to suggest to me that as we BB`s managed to buy our first houses in our 20`s, and as we aged may have been fortunate to have company as well as state pensions, perhaps even golden handshakes to clear-off during the de-layering or down sizing of UK industry, add to that, it also seems possible we were perhaps competing with each other in terms of buying housing and the acquisition of interesting vehicles, thus causing the market value to rise considerably in the passage of time...? If that might be the case,then given the generations following on do not seem to have such a widespread financial set of advantages, it seems possible that as we BB`s loose our grip on the perch, the "investment" value of Classics may be negatively affected...Perhaps more so given the Covid factor, whatever that turns out to be, and of course climate change issues... ?

As one who ever planned for the worst while hoping for the best, long before Bojo claimed that as being his thinking on the best route out of crisis, I ever tended to plan a bit on the negative side, so perhaps best to stick your fingers in your ears, close your eyes, and sing la, lala, lala..if your preference might be to think positive...

Thinking positively, that I feel my Morgan has more than paid for it`s self during my ownership of it and at the age I find myself.... What`s more to want...?... A Bentley perhaps...

Thank you very much, George! That gives the term "green hell" another adventurous touch.

This red 3 liter blower without brakes in front, what an exciting drive next to a beautiful woman! No time to be afraid.

Hi chaps - what are the best books covering Bentley in the 1920s and '30s?

Start by looking here maybe? https://www.bdcl.org/club/shop/bdc/books

I must admit, there are some tempting titles.........

Thanks Dave!

Jon, I have a copy of BENTLEY A Racing History, which is a Haynes publication. A large, quite heavy and detailed tomb with many images, the quality of some early ones is less than ideal, as if they may have been enlarged just a tad too much, but none the less all part of the history.

I guess the other Book that might be thought to be a prerequisite for a true Bentley enthusiast may be Full Throttle, the biography of Tim Birkin.

I suspect there will be leather bound copperplate top end books available, though the Haynes publication seems not to lack detail.

The English High Court Case of Vintage Bentley Old Number One, makes for interesting reading, and a transcript was available on GoMoG last time I looked... Perhaps providing an insight to the application of law to the concept of originality and the value thereof relative to vintage race cars and old machines in general...?

Good luck in your search Jon.

+1

An excellent read.