Very nice. Mind you, it was hardly his sole means of transport!
I was amused by the reference to 'his working life as a top advertising executive' - you never seem to hear of the other grades, in the same way that tobacco and whisky are always made of the 'finest' ingredients. No doubt written by a 'top journalist' at Wapping Central...
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>>cost him £150 back in 1956
>>Petrol was just six shillings (30p) a gallon when Mike bought the second-hand Bentley
In that case petrol must have gone down in price in the sixties.
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Petrol did go down in price in the late fifties/early sixties.
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Can I just be boring and contradict the 'top journalists' at The Sun. If it's 1931 it certainly isn't veteran, it isn't even vintage.
Having said that, it's a lovely old bit of kit and a nice change from all the 3 Litres (and others) that now sport Le Mans-style coachwork.
Sad to note the first, brainless, inevitable comment. I suppose I shouldn't cavill, I don't often come into contact with Sun readers.
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"a massive bill for a complete mechanical overhaul ten years ago... the Bentley is (sic) still runs like clockwork"
I should hope so (even though his wife complains of "passing Mike the spanners the whole time")!
As for vintage and veteran, I'm not sure I would expect a Sun journalist to know that there was a difference, let alone that neither applied.
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It went up for a few months in Dec 56 because of Suez. For most of that year it was 4s/7d (for the good stuff that you'd want to put in a Bentley) according to this:
www.ukpia.com/Portals/0/Repository/Documents/IP%20historical%20series.pdf
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When I post an article like the above, its not for its literal exactitude, or its chronological accuracy,
I post it for the shear luv of cars, like that one.
Why, I may even have to pay a visit to Lancashire Teddy one day, with a copy of The Sun under my arm,
and get behind the wheel of his Jowett (if allowed)
:D
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Thank you, Dog, for passing that on to us. I quite agree - let's not quibble but just enjoy the story of an obviously nice bloke who loves his car and enjoys his life. Those of us who are lucky enough to have 'fun cars' know how he feels.
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Very handsome beast. Those 3 litre saloons and coupes could be picked up for a song when I were a nipper... of course they were only 20 or 25 years old then and most people saw them as rather thirsty and expensive-to-run old cars. What they fancied was a nice Standard Vanguard or Austin A70 with all the mod cons. Philistines.
However I must take issue with MH: a 1931 Bentley is definitely 'Vintage'. In fact any pre-Rolls-Royce Bentley counts as vintage. The Rolls-Royce ones that appeared from 1933 or so count as PVT - post-vintage thoroughbred. These are just words though.
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I have to say, thats one ugly beast. It looks rather like someone grafted a creosoted garden shed on the back end of an old traction engine boiler. I wonder if thats where ssangyong got inspiration?
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>> grafted a creosoted garden shed on the back end of an old traction engine boiler.
An accurate description of fabric body aesthetics Zero. But they had their virtues - light weight and easy cheap repairs. Of course they were vulnerable to nasty folk with stanley cutters (or even fingernails).
But ugly certainly won't do as a sole epithet for that car. As you know perfectly well of course, if that doesn't seem over flattering. Old Bentleys don't usually sound very nice from outside, all that gear whine perhaps from the valve train, but they probably sound and feel much better from inside, they went well for cars of their class and vintage, and last for ever if maintained.
You'd have been perfectly happy with an Austin A70. Or perhaps an A90 Atlantic.... State of the art mechanics old boy, tchah!
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he drives a boring modern charabang AC he wouldnt know a decent car or bus if it hit him sideways..............
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I really dont find any car built before 1945 mechanically or aesthetically pleasing. (there are of course exceptions)
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Oh Zero, you have zero soul. Think of a 1939 V12 Lagonda convertible....
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>> Oh Zero, you have zero soul. Think of a 1939 V12 Lagonda convertible....
Nope. leaves me cold.
I was trying to think of the exception. Its the Traction Avant.
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What about the first Lancia Aprilia Zeddo? Rear transaxle, crash gearbox though requiring a modicum of skill and musical ear in the driver, narrow-angle V4, semi-monocoque body like the Light 15 Citroen, and going one better by having double-wishbone independent suspension all round (Citroen has a beam rear axle with trailing arms)...
Alas they rusted, so are as rare as hens' teeth now. Bit like the Traction come to think of it.
As for your bald and bigoted assertions, I take them here as elsewhere with the precribed grain of NaCl... I can think of literally dozens of pre-1945 motors that would have you creaming in your dry goods* if you saw them in the flesh.
* A vulgar expression I owe to the noted American writer William Burroughs
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>> What about the first Lancia Aprilia Zeddo?
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Lancia_Aprilia_1937.jpg
this one?
Exception granted.
>> As for your bald and bigoted assertions, I take them here as elsewhere with the
>> precribed grain of NaCl... I can think of literally dozens of pre-1945 motors that would
>> have you creaming in your dry goods* if you saw them in the flesh.
dozens? I doubt it.... Try me.
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That's a very smart one. The ones I remember were rat look, with patches of primer. Even better in a way.
They had massive finned brake drums, as did the Traction at the front anyway. I'm afraid that apart from rusting, they were dearer than Citroens coming from a classier manufacturer.
I don't know how many dozens - certainly one or two. But don't try to update your files the easy way. Ransack your own cellar. There's plenty in there probably. You've just let it get covered in rat poo and cobwebs.
Probably half a dozen twenties and thirties Alfas just for a start, even if you don't like Benz Nazi zeppelin thingies. And some of those twenties Lancias and the very similar OMs.... the list is endless really. Yes, dozens.
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I gather that anything built after 1930 but before 1940 is 'post-vintage thoroughbred' but only if one of a few marques, including Bentley, of course.
I checked here before writing my earlier post:
www.sunbeam.org.uk/Vintage1.htm
The VSCC clearly regards 1930 as a turning point, after which standards took a dive!
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I view vintage cars with a certain fondness as I would a Dutch Old Master,
If I was rich & eccentric (I'm 50% there) I'd take the missus to Tesco in a Vintage Bentley,
But, all things considered, I'd probably find this a tad more practical, and just as eccentric ~
www.bethwiseman.net/images/025.resized.jpg
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>> I'd take the missus to Tesco
>> in a Vintage Bentley,
>> >>
There's an elderly couple I have seen shopping at Lidl's in a vintage Rolls-Royce shooting brake. It has that well-maintained yet shabby look of a car that has been used daily all its life.
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>> But, all things considered, I'd probably find this a tad more practical, and just as
>> eccentric ~
>>
>> www.bethwiseman.net/images/025.resized.jpg
>>
Just the job for.............Clip clop, clip clop...BANG.....clip clop, clip clop !
An Amish drive-by shooting !
Ted
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>> Why, I may even have to pay a visit to Lancashire Teddy one day, with
>> a copy of The Sun under my arm,
>> and get behind the wheel of his Jowett (if allowed)
....and you'd be very welcome...........but, please, not when you're moulting !
Teddy
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>>.but, please, not when you're moulting<<
Aw shucks ... you say the sweetest fings steady Eddie.
:D
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The purchase price of £150 was the equivalent of 15 weeks average gross wage in 1956.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Thu 1 Jul 10 at 09:16
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Car owner still drives 1st car bought 50 years ago - J Bonington Jagworth
