When is a Vintage Bentley a real Vintage Bentley? And when is it a reproduction or fake?
Well known dealer and restorer Stanley Mann recently quoted auto historian Clare Hay's views on this subject. Read this piece and also the opinions of our readers. [More]

James E. Pearce - Master Coachbuilders
In the finest tradition of Vintage Bentley coachbuilding
The 'James E. Pearce' coachbuilders company was started by Jim Pearce in London in the late 1950s. His son David Pearce worked alongside Jim for over 30 years, and in the year 2000 Jim was able to retire as David took over the ownership and running of the business providing the same impeccable service to customers all over the world. [More]

The Life and Times of Chassis 348
When I was asked to write an article telling the story of our 3 litre Bentley, chassis 348, I answered “Ok, but once her 90th birthday present restoration is complete.” That has given me a 2-year reprieve, but now the time has come to put pen to paper, or should I say finger to keyboard? So, where to start? I have known the car since my father, Edgar Ridgen, called in to my boarding school in Timaru when first taking her home to Greendale, after purchasing her in 1976. But of course 348’s story starts a bit earlier than that; shall we say October 1923, her delivery date...[More]

Bentley Blue Train dominates Schloss Bensberg Classics
Some 85 years after the famous victory that made its name, the Bentley ‘Blue Train’ is still enjoying winning ways, picking up four prestigious awards at the Schloss Bensberg Classics event in Germany. The Speed Six ‘Blue Train’ coupe, owned by Mr Bruce McCaw, dominated the field at the invitation-only event, which is one of Europe’s premier classic concours shows. It was named ‘Best in Class: The Style of Speed’; ‘Best of Show: Public Vote’; ‘Best of Show: Jury Vote’; and ‘Best in Special Category: Pre-War Closed Models’. [More]

British Speed in Italy: Bentley marks anniversary with Mille Miglia Run
In 1930, ‘Bentley Boy’ Tim Birkin claimed his aborted attempt on the Mille Miglia in his legendary Blower was due to a lack of “due preparation”. 85 years on, Bentley has ensured all plans are in place for a successful Blower run in the 2015 event. ‘Bentley Boys’ the Hon. Sir Henry (Tim) Birkin and Bentley Chairman Woolf Barnato were to be the first British drivers to attempt the thousand-mile Italian test of endurance, in a supercharged ‘Bentley Blower’ known as the No. 2 ‘Birkin Blower’. [More]

Bentley on a Shoestring
Years ago I owned a Bentley, NF 3906; and I spent many hours bringing it back to life. The story has never been told because Brian Morgan had written his account of a rebuild in ‘The Review’ and it made me ashamed at my feeble effort. However whilst browsing through an old copy of ‘The Review’ (January 1961), I found an article 'GT 8773 is tidied up'. In it I noticed some parallels with my efforts with NF 3906. Also in a recent 'Review' an article on ‘Why I own a Bentley’ with a footnote from the Editor 'Any more reasons'. That footnote more or less tipped the scales and although I don’t now own a Bentley, I did once and here’s why and how. [More]

The Story of the First 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1923
The year 2013 was the 90th anniversary of the very first 24 Hours of Le Mans. At 4 PM on May 26, 1923, shortly after the onset of a rain shower, the starter's flag fell. And as the assembled cars — of which only one, a Bentley 3.0 Sport, wasn't built in France — scrabbled away on the roughly surfaced road, the rain turned to hail. [More]

Oil filter and circulation system in Vintage Bentleys
Should the oil filter and circulation system on an early 3 Litre (or any other Vintage Bentley) be maintained as original or can it, or should it be improved or replaced? There have been several attempts in the past and apparently with good results. One disadvantage is that originality is altered. In some cases, drastically. There have been several replacement filter systems suggested in the past. Going a step further are the modifications that were done to The Great American Racer, an early 3 Litre owned by Dick Burdick that has made several rally runs across the United States. The objective was to limit engine wear and increase reliability with a modern oil pump/filter system on chassis 392. [Updated with reader comments]

QUESTION 0024: Hi, I'm very curious to know whether there was any set shade of green for vintage Bentleys. [More]