Gentlemen?,
I've been a Bentley fan for a long while and the very first car I ever owned was a 1952 Bentley MKVI, a nice one owner, 60,000 miles, "standard steel" or non-custom bodied- purchased for £400 in 1974.
Driving the MKVI had a particularly pleasant and secure feel about it. Though it was right-hand-drive, it still also the gear shift lever on the right, specially placed so the driver's ankles would hit the lever getting in and getting out. Yes, it was both the first standard-bodied and the last manual shift Bentley. There was all that wood and leather and wool carpeting- even the trunk had that wonderful musty, damp wool aroma. Anyone who misses being in England can instantly conjure it up in portable form by keeping an old British car around- and keeping it damp. Well, it will be permanently damp regardless.
And, the MKVI Bentley, though big and heavy compared to almost everything else, was one of the fastest regular production cars made > in 1949 the fastest was the Jaguar XK120, then the Bentley, and then the Cadillac Series 62> before Cadillacs became so bloated. The MKVI was probably not longer than a modern day Mustang and rather tall, but just felt like an extremely fast and nimble tank.
I drove this car around Cambridge (England) for only four months because the insurance cost as much per year as the car- 4.5 Litres was considered a lot of HP for an 18-year old in the land of the 1 Litre, but almost none of the thirty-five or so cars I’ve had since, including XK140MC, Mercedes 300SEL 6.3, and 1928 and 1936 Packards had that same combination of security, dignity and speed. The Mercedes 6.3 was probably closest.
The MKVI though was an exception to the trend of Bentley’s being the lower-key Rolls and in fact you could buy a Rolls that was the same car as the MKVI called the Silver Dawn> only the grille was changed and it had one SU instead of the Bentley’s two. For a long while though, really from the late 30's until the VW takeover, Bentley was no longer the “businessman’s express” and gentleman’s racer, they were dull and most people’s memories had to do more with the lack of reliability and the amazing repair costs than the pleasant sensations of driving. The joke of Rolls and Bentley’s in the 70's was that you needed a mechanic named Nigel in the boot and a Morris Minor on davits as a life raft.
So good then that VW chose to revive the sporting image with a 12-potter of more than adequate HP, and racy wheels and striking Aston Martin’s grandfather’s looks. Since the Continental GT arrived in whatever, 2003 or so, no matter it’s a VW (as is the Bugatti Veyron) I’m again a “Bentley Boy”. Now, if only I could find a good one-owner, used one for £400,..
BambiBoom
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