Misplaced Pages

#881118

93-472: The Bentley Mark VI is an automobile from Bentley which was produced from 1946 until 1952. The Mark VI 4-door standard steel sports saloon was the first post-war luxury car from Bentley. Announced in May 1946 and produced from 1946 to 1952 it was also both the first car from Rolls-Royce with all-steel coachwork and the first complete car assembled and finished at their factory. These very expensive cars were

186-412: A 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 -litre, 4.6 L (4,566 cc/278 cu in) version of the engine was introduced. The increase in displacement was accomplished by increasing the bore from 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 -inch to 3 5/8 inch. The later version is sometimes casually referred to as the "big bore" engine, the earlier version as the "small bore" version. The 4 1/2 L version of the engine is as well equipped with

279-469: A front for Rolls-Royce Limited . Not even Bentley himself knew the identity of the purchaser until the deal was completed. Barnato received £42,000 for his shares in Bentley Motors. In 1934 he was appointed to the board of the new Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd. In the same year Bentley confirmed that it would continue racing. Rolls-Royce took over the assets of Bentley Motors (1919) Ltd and formed

372-599: A "standard" ready-to-drive complete saloon car. The first steel-bodied model produced was the Bentley Mark VI : these started to emerge from the newly reconfigured Crewe factory early in 1946. Some years later, initially only for export, the Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn was introduced, a standard steel Bentley but with a Rolls-Royce radiator grille for a small extra charge, and this convention continued. Chassis remained available to coachbuilders until

465-422: A "two-tube" shock absorber, this device consists of two nested cylindrical tubes, an inner tube that is called the "working tube" or the "pressure tube", and an outer tube called the "reserve tube". At the bottom of the device on the inside is a compression valve or base valve. When the piston is forced up or down by bumps in the road, hydraulic fluid moves between different chambers via small holes or "orifices" in

558-529: A 31% rise in global sales in FY21 despite shutdowns caused by the global coronavirus pandemic. Sources Volkswagen AG Annual Reports Grand tourer Shock absorber Pneumatic and hydraulic shock absorbers are used in conjunction with cushions and springs. An automobile shock absorber contains spring-loaded check valves and orifices to control the flow of oil through an internal piston (see below). One design consideration, when designing or choosing

651-456: A PSD shock absorber, which still consists of two nested tubes and still contains nitrogen gas, a set of grooves has been added to the pressure tube. These grooves allow the piston to move relatively freely in the middle range of travel (i.e., the most common street or highway use, called by engineers the "comfort zone") and to move with significantly less freedom in response to shifts to more irregular surfaces when upward and downward movement of

744-447: A Rolls-Royce or Bentley radiator. Though he stretched the demand to 2000 per year, Pressed Steel were "nonplussed" by the small demand. Chassis continued to be supplied to independent coachbuilders, which produced four-door saloon, two-door saloon and drophead coupe models. Out of the coachbuilt cars the most sought after now are the 241 cars built by H.J. Mulliner. A single 1950 Standard Steel bodied MkVI chassis B39HP registration LLP 769

837-463: A Sports Saloon for the owner of James Young's, James Barclay. The early R Type Continental has essentially the same engine as the standard R Type, but with modified carburation, induction and exhaust manifolds along with higher gear ratios. After July 1954 the car was fitted with an engine, having now a larger bore of 94.62 mm (3.7 in) with a total displacement of 4,887 cc (4.9 L; 298.2 cu in). The compression ratio

930-466: A Vokes 30 (later: Vokes 62) full flow oil filter (some earlier 4 1/4 L cars have since been modified to a full flow filtration system). Carburation in RHD ( right hand drive ) cars were two horizontal constant-vacuum SU carburetors (type H4 up to B81HP, type H6 from B83 HP on). LHD ( left hand drive ) cars had a single dual downdraught Stromberg carburetor type AAV26M and a different inlet manifold as fitted in

1023-601: A car chassis (with a dummy engine) at the London Motor Show . Ex– Royal Flying Corps officer Clive Gallop designed an innovative four-valves-per-cylinder engine for the chassis. By December the engine was built and running. Delivery of the first cars was scheduled for June 1920, but development took longer than estimated so the date was extended to September 1921. The durability of the first Bentley cars earned widespread acclaim, and they competed in hill climbs and raced at Brooklands . Bentley's first major event

SECTION 10

#1732772579882

1116-551: A complete disappearance of the "comfort vs. control" tradeoff, it also reduced pitch during vehicle braking and roll during turns. However, ASD shocks are usually only available as aftermarket changes to a vehicle and are only available from a limited number of manufacturers. Coilover shock absorbers are usually a kind of twin-tube gas charged shock absorber inside the helical road spring. They are common on motorcycles and scooter rear suspensions, and widely used on front and rear suspensions in cars. The principal design alternative to

1209-502: A compression valve, whose role has been taken up by the dividing piston, and although it contains nitrogen gas, the gas in a mono-tube shock is under high pressure (260-360 p.s.i. or so) which can actually help it to support some of the vehicle's weight, something which no other shock absorber is designed to do. Mercedes became the first auto manufacturer to install mono-tube shocks as standard equipment on some of their cars starting in 1958. They were manufactured by Bilstein , patented

1302-444: A correspondingly effective shock. The next phase in shock absorber evolution was the development of a shock absorber that could sense and respond to not just situational changes from "bumpy" to "smooth" but to individual bumps in the road in a near instantaneous reaction. This was achieved through a change in the design of the compression valve, and has been termed "acceleration sensitive damping" or "ASD". Not only does this result in

1395-532: A genuine success; long-term, their weakness lay in the inferior steels forced on them by government's post-war controls. In 1944 Rolls-Royce executive W. A. Robotham saw that there would be limited postwar demand for a Rolls-Royce or Bentley rolling chassis with a body from a specialist coachbuilder , and negotiated with the Pressed Steel Company a contract for a general-purpose body to carry four people in comfort on their postwar chassis behind

1488-477: A great future for racing due to its light weight and easy fitment. One of the earliest hydraulic dampers to go into production was the Telesco Shock Absorber, exhibited at the 1912 Olympia Motor Show and marketed by Polyrhoe Carburettors Ltd. This contained a spring inside the telescopic unit like the pure spring type 'shock absorbers' mentioned above, but also oil and an internal valve so that

1581-434: A horse power value for the car (other than Tax Horsepower of 29.4 hp according to the old RAC formula ) but an Autocar Magazine road test reproduced in 1950 reported that top gear provided "flexibility down to 6 mph (10 km/h)" and the ability to "climb a hill of 1 in 9 maximum gradient, complicated by bends", all of which supported the manufacturer's contention that power, along with low speed torque, were adequate. In 1951,

1674-455: A location for a shadow factory to ensure production of aero-engines. Crewe, with its excellent road and rail links, as well as being located in the northwest away from the aerial bombing starting in mainland Europe, was a logical choice. Crewe also had extensive open farming land. Construction of the factory started on a 60-acre area on the potato fields of Merrill's Farm in July 1938, with

1767-510: A logical purchaser because BMW already supplied engines and other components for Bentley and Rolls-Royce branded cars and because of BMW and Vickers joint efforts in building aircraft engines. BMW made a final offer of £340m, but was outbid by Volkswagen AG , which offered £430m. Volkswagen AG acquired the vehicle designs, model nameplates, production and administrative facilities, the Spirit of Ecstasy and Rolls-Royce grille shape trademarks, but not

1860-441: A lower frontal area and of significantly lighter construction, the first – made by H J Mulliner – developed in conjunction with Evernden and Blatchley. The first still luxurious car was more than 10% lighter than the standard car. They were the most expensive production cars in the world and the world's fastest 4/5-seater saloons with a top speed above 120 mph. These chassis were produced between June 1952 and April 1953 and bear

1953-497: A military background. They kept the marque's reputation for high performance alive; Bentley was noted for its four consecutive victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans , from 1927 to 1930. Birkin developed the 4½-litre, lightweight Blower Bentley at Welwyn Garden City in 1929 and produced five racing specials, starting with Bentley Blower No.1 which was optimised for the Brooklands racing circuit. Birkin overruled Bentley and put

SECTION 20

#1732772579882

2046-406: A result of the slump in sales, production at Crewe was shut down during March and April 2009. Though vehicle sales increased by 11% to 5,117 in 2010, operating loss grew by 26% to € 245 million. In Autumn 2010, workers at Crewe staged a series of protests over proposal of compulsory work on Fridays and mandatory overtime during the week. Vehicle sales in 2011 rose 37% to 7,003 vehicles, with

2139-486: A shock absorber, is where that energy will go. In most shock absorbers, energy is converted to heat inside the viscous fluid. In hydraulic cylinders , the hydraulic fluid heats up, while in air cylinders , the hot air is usually exhausted to the atmosphere. In other types of shock absorbers, such as electromagnetic types, the dissipated energy can be stored and used later. In general terms, shock absorbers help cushion vehicles on uneven roads and keep wheels in contact with

2232-623: A subsidiary, Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd. Rolls-Royce had acquired the Bentley showrooms in Cork Street, the service station at Kingsbury, the complex at Cricklewood and the services of Bentley himself. This last was disputed by Napier in court without success. Bentley had neglected to register their trademark so Rolls-Royce immediately did so. They also sold the Cricklewood factory in 1932. Production stopped for two years, before resuming at

2325-458: A time of steel shortage across Europe which translated into a serious shortage of new cars for sale on the UK market. A Used Car report in 1951 of a three-year-old example with 10,450 miles (16,815 kilometres) on the odometer noted that a car which had, when new, retailed for £4,038 including sales taxes, was now offered for sale at £5,335. This was seen as a comment on the quality of the car but also on

2418-404: Is a dramatic reduction in "foaming" or "aeration", the undesirable outcome of a twin-tube overheating and failing which presents as foaming hydraulic fluid dripping out of the assembly. Twin-tube gas charged shock absorbers represent the vast majority of original modern vehicle suspension installations. Often abbreviated simply as "PSD", this design is another evolution of the twin-tube shock. In

2511-419: Is a hydraulic shock absorber, which usually includes a piston, a cylinder, and an oil-filled chamber. The piston is connected to the piston rod, which extends into the cylinder and divides the cylinder into two parts. One chamber is filled with hydraulic oil, while the other chamber contains compressed oil or air. When there is an accident or vibration in the vehicle, the piston moves into the cylinder, forcing

2604-514: Is compatible with electronic control. Primary among benefits cited in Multimatic ’s 2010 patent filing is the elimination of performance ambiguity associated with flexible shims, resulting in mathematically predictable, repeatable, and robust pressure-flow characteristics. An extra tube or container of oil connected to the oil compartment of the (main) shock via a flexible pipe (remote reservoir) or inflexible pipe (piggy-back shock). Increases

2697-400: Is constantly evolving due to the continuous improvement of vehicle dynamics and passenger comfort. In common with carriages and railway locomotives, most early motor vehicles used leaf springs . One of the features of these springs was that the friction between the leaves offered a degree of damping, and in a 1912 review of vehicle suspension, the lack of this characteristic in helical springs

2790-432: Is done via opening a check valve that provides pressure by diverting transmission oil to the dampers. A pedal-operated central lubrication system type Bijur-Girling allows oil to be applied to moving parts of the suspension from a central reservoir by using a foot pedal. The 12.25 in (311 mm) drum brakes were assisted by the traditional Rolls-Royce mechanical servo at the transmission. Employing its experience with

2883-540: Is known as the 4 + 1 ⁄ 2  L and features a twin exhaust in RHD cars. In LHD cars the (much less restrictive) twin exhaust system was only fitted with the introduction of the R-type. In addition for "standard steel" Mark VI saloons the single hinged ventilation flap centrally mounted on the top of the bonnet, directly ahead of the windscreen was replaced, on later cars, with two hinged ventilation flaps, mounted at or slightly below knee height, one on each side of

Bentley Mark VI - Misplaced Pages Continue

2976-480: The 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  Litre called it "the silent sports car", a slogan Rolls-Royce continued to use for Bentley cars until the 1950s. All Bentleys produced from 1931 to 2004 used inherited or shared Rolls-Royce chassis, and adapted Rolls-Royce engines, and are described by critics as badge-engineered Rolls-Royces. In preparation for war, Rolls-Royce and the British Government searched for

3069-458: The coachbuilder of choice. Coachwork for most of these cars was completed by H. J. Mulliner & Co. who mainly built them in fastback coupe form. Other coachwork came from Park Ward (London) who built six, later including a drophead coupe version. Franay (Paris) built five, Graber (Wichtrach, Switzerland) built three, one of them later altered by Köng (Basel, Switzerland), and Pininfarina made one. James Young (London) built in 1954

3162-547: The 1924 Le Mans win by John Duff and Frank Clement , Barnato agreed to finance Bentley's business. Barnato had incorporated Baromans Ltd in 1922, which existed as his finance and investment vehicle. Via Baromans, Barnato initially invested in excess of £100,000, saving the business and its workforce. A financial reorganisation of the original Bentley company was carried out and all existing creditors paid off for £75,000. Existing shares were devalued from £1 each to just 1 shilling, or 5% of their original value. Barnato held 149,500 of

3255-554: The Bentley Continental was introduced at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show : The Continental Supersports . This new Bentley is a supercar combining extreme power with environmentally friendly FlexFuel technology, capable of using petrol (gasoline) and biofuel (E85 ethanol). Bentley sales continued to increase, and in 2005 8,627 were sold worldwide, 3,654 in the United States. In 2007, the 10,000 cars-per-year threshold

3348-522: The Bentley badge. Under Vickers, Bentley set about regaining its high-performance heritage, typified by the 1980 Mulsanne . Bentley's restored sporting image created a renewed interest in the name and Bentley sales as a proportion of output began to rise. By 1986 the Bentley:Rolls-Royce ratio had reached 40:60; by 1991 it achieved parity. In October 1997, Vickers announced that it had decided to sell Rolls-Royce Motors. BMW AG seemed to be

3441-652: The Continental manufactured in Zwickau and for the Bentayga manufactured at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant . The joining and eventual separation of Bentley and Rolls-Royce followed a series of mergers and acquisitions, beginning with the 1931 purchase by Rolls-Royce of Bentley, then in receivership. In 1971, Rolls-Royce itself was forced into receivership and the UK government nationalised

3534-551: The Gabriel Snubber started being fitted in the late 1900s (also the similar Stromberg Anti-Shox). These used a belt coiled inside a device such that it freely wound in under the action of a coiled spring but met friction when drawn out. Gabriel Snubbers were fitted to an 11.9HP Arrol-Johnston car which broke the 6 hour Class B record at Brooklands in late 1912, and the Automator journal noted that this snubber might have

3627-546: The Gurney Nutting coupé racing along a road parallel to the Blue Train, which scenario never occurred as the road and railway did not follow the same route. The original model was the three-litre, but as customers put heavier bodies on the chassis, a larger 4½-litre model followed. Perhaps the most iconic model of the period is the 4½-litre "Blower Bentley", with its distinctive supercharger projecting forward from

3720-526: The Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn and Silver Wraith. A four-speed synchromesh manual transmission was fitted in all Bentley MK VI with the change lever to the right of the driver on RHD cars and on the column on LHD versions. 4 + 1 ⁄ 4 -litre cars had chassis numbers from B 1 AJ through B 400 LJ, with the final two letters indicating the series in which it was built. The "big bore" cars serial numbers begin with B 1 MB (although B 2 MD

3813-465: The Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn was not changed after the modification that started with the "E" series in these cars. A very few Mark VI engines and chassis were modified to provide higher performance and sold to be bodied by selected coachbuilders as the first Bentley Continentals (see below). The Mark VI 4 + 1 ⁄ 4 -litre used an F-head straight-6 engine 4.3 L (4,257 cc/259 cu in) in size. The manufacturer refused to disclose

Bentley Mark VI - Misplaced Pages Continue

3906-772: The Rolls-Royce works in Derby. Unhappy with his role at Rolls-Royce, when his contract expired at the end of April 1935 W. O. Bentley left to join Lagonda . When the new Bentley 3½ litre appeared in 1933, it was a sporting variant of the Rolls-Royce 20/25 , which disappointed some traditional customers yet was well received by many others. W. O. Bentley was reported as saying, "Taking all things into consideration, I would rather own this Bentley than any other car produced under that name". Rolls-Royce's advertisements for

3999-782: The UK as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic . On 3 November 2020, Bentley announced that all new cars sold will be electric by 2030. This announcement also follows after the United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in February 2020 that he approved legislation that will ban and phase out non-electric vehicles (including Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid vehicles) from the UK by 2030 with hybrids being banned by 2035. Sources Volkswagen AG Annual Reports and press releases Bentley recorded

4092-437: The action of the auxiliary spring in the unit itself. The first production hydraulic dampers to act on the main leaf spring movement were probably those based on an original concept by Maurice Houdaille patented in 1908 and 1909. These used a lever arm which moved hydraulically damped vanes inside the unit. The main advantage over the friction disk dampers was that it would resist sudden movement but allow slow movement, whereas

4185-409: The bonnet, ahead of the front doors. The oil filler cap is another way to identify engine type; a plastic cap is typical of a "small bore" engine, a metal cap of a "large bore" engine. The chassis used leaf springs at the rear and independent coil springing at the front. A control on the steering wheel centre adjusts the hardness of the rear springing by hydraulically adjusting the rear dampers . This

4278-543: The bottom of the grille. Uncharacteristically fragile for a Bentley it was not the racing workhorse the 6½-litre was, though in 1930 Birkin remarkably finished second in the French Grand Prix at Pau in a stripped-down racing version of the Blower Bentley, behind Philippe Etancelin in a Bugatti Type 35 . The 4½-litre model later became famous in popular media as the vehicle of choice of James Bond in

4371-418: The cars. BMW paid Rolls-Royce plc £40m to license the Rolls-Royce name and logo. After negotiations, BMW and Volkswagen AG agreed that, from 1998 to 2002, BMW would continue to supply engines and components and would allow Volkswagen temporary use of the Rolls-Royce name and logo. All BMW engine supply ended in 2003 with the end of Silver Seraph production. From 1 January 2003 forward, Volkswagen AG would be

4464-415: The centre of the screen. A 4.6-litre, factory bodied car tested by The Motor magazine in 1951 had a top speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 15.0 seconds. A fuel consumption of 16.5 miles per imperial gallon (17.1 L/100 km; 13.7 mpg ‑US ) was recorded. The test car cost £4,473 including taxes. The Mark VI was introduced at

4557-576: The chassis numbers BC1A to BC26A, with the prototype, totalling 27 cars. The engine compression was reduced on the last 8 cars. The bulk of the chassis were clothed by H J Mulliner but some were bodied in Europe. Only the 27 cars were built before the R designation was added to the chassis series identification. Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs . Headquartered in Crewe , England,

4650-562: The company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North London, and became widely known for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924 , 1927 , 1928 , 1929 and 1930 . Bentley has been a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group since 1998 and consolidated under VW's premium brand arm Audi since 2022. Prominent models extend from the historic sports-racing Bentley 4½ Litre and Bentley Speed Six ;

4743-516: The company—splitting it into an aerospace company (Rolls-Royce Plc) and an automotive company (Rolls-Royce Motors Limited, including Bentley). Rolls-Royce Motors was subsequently sold to engineering conglomerate Vickers, and in 1998 Vickers sold Rolls-Royce to Volkswagen AG, including Bentley with its name and logos (but not the name "Rolls Royce"). Before World War I , Walter Owen Bentley and his brother, Horace Millner Bentley, sold French DFP cars in Cricklewood, North London, but W.O, as Walter

SECTION 50

#1732772579882

4836-542: The continuing shortage of cars for sale. By the end of 1952 order-books had shrunk and the Mark VI was replaced by the R-Type , featuring an extended boot/trunk supported by a chassis that was extended by six inches behind the rear wheels. In addition, an automatic transmission option was now available, an automatic choke along with other less visible modifications were added and former export-only options were now available to

4929-414: The design and first appeared in 1954s. Because the design was patented, no other manufacturer could use it until 1971 when the patent expired. Spool valve dampers are characterized by the use of hollow cylindrical sleeves with machined-in oil passages as opposed to traditional conventional flexible discs or shims. Spool valving can be applied with monotube, twin-tube, or position-sensitive packaging, and

5022-460: The end of 2006 after around 1,000 cars, with all car production reverting to the Crewe plant. Bentley presented Queen Elizabeth II with an official State Limousine in 2002 to celebrate her Golden Jubilee . Production of the two-door convertible Bentley Azure finished in 2003. It was replaced by a large luxury coupé powered by a W12 engine built in Crewe and named Bentley Continental GT . It

5115-569: The end of production of the Bentley S3 , which was replaced for October 1965 by the chassis-less monocoque construction T series . The Continental fastback coupé was aimed at the UK market, most cars, 164 plus a prototype , being right-hand drive. The chassis was produced at the Crewe factory and shared many components with the standard R type. Other than the R-Type standard steel saloon, R-Type Continentals were delivered as rolling chassis to

5208-594: The first Rolls-Royce Merlin aero-engine rolling off the production line five months later. 25,000 Merlin engines were produced and at its peak, in 1943 during World War II , the factory employed 10,000 people. With the war in Europe over and the general move towards the then new jet engines , Rolls-Royce concentrated its aero-engine operations at Derby and moved motor car operations to Crewe. Until some time after World War II , most high-end motorcar manufacturers like Bentley and Rolls-Royce did not supply complete cars. They sold rolling chassis , near-complete from

5301-419: The front with concealed hinges, a sliding sunroof , a permanently closed windscreen with an electric defrosting and demisting unit hidden in the scuttle and a second heater that made use of the coolant and was fitted with an electric fan beneath the left front seat. Twin screen wipers were fitted and provision was made for the fitting of a radio with a short and flexibly mounted aerial that could be swung up above

5394-410: The ground. In a vehicle, shock absorbers reduce the effect of traveling over rough ground, leading to improved ride quality and vehicle handling . While shock absorbers serve the purpose of limiting excessive suspension movement, their intended main purpose is to damp spring oscillations. Shock absorbers use valving of oil and gasses to absorb excess energy from the springs. Spring rates are chosen by

5487-508: The home-market. The R-type led up to the introduction of the completely redesigned S series in 1955. Bentley Mark VI Production volumes: A Mark VI chassis (at first referred to within the works as Corniche II) was developed by Ivan Evernden and J P Blatchley in 1950 and 1951 carrying a larger engine with a higher compression ratio and modified fuel and exhaust systems, a close ratio gearbox and much higher final drive ratio. By special arrangement with Bentley 2-door bodies were fitted having

5580-524: The hydraulic fluid through small holes, creating resistance and dissipating energy in the form of heat. This dampens oscillations, reducing further bouncing or wobble of the car. Shock construction requires a balance of features such as piston design, fluid viscosity, and overall size of the unit to ensure performance. As technology developed, other types of shock absorbers emerged, including gas and electric shock absorbers, that provided improved control and flexibility. The design and manufacture of shock absorbers

5673-430: The hydraulic piston that absorbs and dissipates vibration. Now, composite suspension systems are used mainly in 2 wheelers and also leaf springs are made up of composite material in 4 wheelers. Shock absorbers are an important part of car suspension designed to increase comfort, stability and overall safety. The shock absorber, produced with precision and engineering skills, has many important features. The most common type

SECTION 60

#1732772579882

5766-431: The instrument panel forward. Each chassis was delivered to the coachbuilder of the buyer's choice. The biggest specialist car dealerships had coachbuilders build standard designs for them which were held in stock awaiting potential buyers. To meet post-war demand, particularly UK Government pressure to export and earn overseas currency, Rolls-Royce developed an all-steel body using pressings made by Pressed Steel to create

5859-766: The manufacturer based on the weight of the vehicle, loaded and unloaded. Some people use shocks to modify spring rates but this is not the correct use. Along with hysteresis in the tire itself, they damp the energy stored in the motion of the unsprung weight up and down. Effective wheel bounce damping may require tuning shocks to an optimal resistance. Spring -based shock absorbers commonly use coil springs or leaf springs , though torsion bars are used in torsional shocks as well. Ideal springs alone, however, are not shock absorbers, as springs only store and do not dissipate or absorb energy. Vehicles typically employ both hydraulic shock absorbers and springs or torsion bars. In this combination, "shock absorber" refers specifically to

5952-691: The model on the market before it was fully developed. As a result, it was unreliable. During the March 1930 Blue Train Races , Barnato raised the stakes on Rover and its Rover Light Six , having raced and beaten Le Train Bleu for the first time, to better that record with his 6½-litre Bentley Speed Six on a bet of £100. He drove against the train from Cannes to Calais , then by ferry to Dover , and finally London, travelling on public highways, and won. Barnato drove his H.J. Mulliner –bodied formal saloon in

6045-491: The more recent Bentley R Type Continental, Bentley Turbo R , and Bentley Arnage ; to its current model line, including the Flying Spur , Continental GT and Bentayga which are marketed worldwide, with China as its largest market as of November 2012. Today most Bentley models are assembled at the company's Crewe factory , with a small number assembled at Volkswagen's Dresden factory , Germany, and with bodies for

6138-408: The new Continental GT accounting for over one-third of total sales. The current workforce is about 4,000 people. The business earned a profit in 2011 after two years of losses as a result of the following sales results: On 23 March 2020, Bentley announced to halt production due to COVID-19 pandemic . In June 2020, Bentley announced that it will cut around 1,000 (one quarter of 4,200) job places in

6231-622: The new shares giving him control of the company and he became chairman. Barnato injected further cash into the business: £35,000 secured by debenture in July 1927; £40,000 in 1928; £25,000 in 1929. With renewed financial input, W. O. Bentley was able to design another generation of cars. The Bentley Boys were a group of British motoring enthusiasts that included Barnato, Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin , steeple chaser George Duller, aviator Glen Kidston , automotive journalist S.C.H. "Sammy" Davis , and Dudley Benjafield . The Bentley Boys favoured Bentley cars. Many were independently wealthy and many had

6324-419: The oil damped in the rebound direction. The Telesco unit was fitted at the rear end of the leaf spring, in place of the rear spring to chassis mount, so that it formed part of the springing system, albeit a hydraulically damped part. This layout was presumably selected as it was easy to apply to existing vehicles, but it meant the hydraulic damping was not applied to the action of the main leaf spring, but only to

6417-658: The original novels , but this has been seen only briefly in the films . John Steed in the television series The Avengers also drove a Bentley. The new eight-litre was such a success that when Barnato's money seemed to run out in 1931 and Napier was planning to buy Bentley's business, Rolls-Royce purchased Bentley Motors to prevent it from competing with their most expensive model, the Phantom ;II. Bentley withdrew from motor racing just after winning at Le Mans in 1930, claiming that they had learned enough about speed and reliability. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 and

6510-414: The piston and via the valve, converting the "shock" energy into heat which must then be dissipated. Variously known as a "gas cell two-tube" or similarly named design, this variation represented a significant advancement over the basic twin-tube form. Its overall structure is very similar to the twin-tube, but a low-pressure charge of nitrogen gas is added to the reserve tube. The result of this alteration

6603-465: The piston starts to occur with greater intensity (i.e., on bumpy sections of roads— the stiffening gives the driver greater control of movement over the vehicle so its range on either side of the comfort zone is called the "control zone"). This advance allowed car designers to make a shock absorber tailored to specific makes and models of vehicles and to take into account a given vehicle's size and weight, its maneuverability, its horsepower, etc. in creating

6696-455: The pressure tube in response to changes in road smoothness. The two pistons also completely separate the shock's fluid and gas components. The mono-tube shock absorber is consistently a much longer overall design than the twin-tubes, making it difficult to mount in passenger cars designed for twin-tube shocks. However, unlike the twin-tubes, the mono-tube shock can be mounted either way— it does not have any directionality. It also does not have

6789-478: The race against the Blue Train. Two months later, on 21 May 1930, he took delivery of a Speed Six with streamlined fastback "sportsman coupé" by Gurney Nutting . Both cars became known as the " Blue Train Bentleys "; the latter is regularly mistaken for, or erroneously referred to as being, the car that raced the Blue Train, while in fact Barnato named it in memory of his race. A painting by Terence Cuneo depicts

6882-521: The resulting Great Depression throttled the demand for Bentley's expensive motor cars. In July 1931 two mortgage payments were due which neither the company nor Barnato, the guarantor, were able to meet. On 10 July 1931 a receiver was appointed. Napier offered to buy Bentley with the purchase to be final in November 1931. Instead, British Central Equitable Trust made a winning sealed bid of £125,000. British Central Equitable Trust later proved to be

6975-605: The rights to the use of the Rolls-Royce name or logo, which are owned by Rolls-Royce Holdings plc. In 1998, BMW started supplying components for the new range of Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars—notably V8 engines for the Bentley Arnage and V12 engines for the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph , however, the supply contract allowed BMW to terminate its supply deal with Rolls-Royce with 12 months' notice, which would not be enough time for Volkswagen to re-engineer

7068-529: The rotary friction dampers tended to stick and then offer the same resistance regardless of speed of movement. There appears to have been little progress on commercialising the lever arm shock absorbers until after World War I , after which they came into widespread use, for example as standard equipment on the 1927 Ford Model A and manufactured by Houde Engineering Corporation of Buffalo, NY. Most vehicular shock absorbers are either twin-tube or mono-tube types with some variations on these themes. Also known as

7161-611: The sole provider of cars with the "Bentley" marque. BMW established a new legal entity, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited, and built a new administrative headquarters and production facility for Rolls-Royce branded vehicles in Goodwood , West Sussex, England. After acquiring the business, Volkswagen spent £ 500 million (about US$ 845 million) to modernise the Crewe factory and increase production capacity. As of early 2010, there are about 3,500 working at Crewe, compared with about 1,500 in 1998 before being taken over by Volkswagen. It

7254-526: The spring and vehicle combination bounced with a characteristic frequency, these auxiliary springs were designed with a different period, but were not a solution to the problem that the spring rebound after striking a bump could throw you out of your seat. What was called for was damping that operated on the rebound. Although C.L. Horock came up with a design in 1901 that had hydraulic damping, it worked in one direction only. It does not seem to have gone into production right away, whereas mechanical dampers such as

7347-566: The steel bodies made in short runs since 1936 by then partly-owned subsidiary Park Ward the Car Division of Rolls-Royce offered their lowest priced chassis with a factory-supplied body all-steel so it could be exported all over the world. The factory bodies with a Gurney-Nutting - Blatchley refined shape were made by Pressed Steel Ltd of Cowley and sent to the Bentley works at Crewe for painting and fitting out with traditional wood and leather. They featured rear hinged "suicide" doors at

7440-452: The twin-tube form has been the mono-tube shock absorber which was considered a revolutionary advancement when it appeared in the 1950s. As its name implies, the mono-tube shock, which is also a gas-pressurized shock and also comes in a coilover format, consists of only one tube, the pressure tube, though it has two pistons. These pistons are called the working piston and the dividing or floating piston, and they move in relative synchrony inside

7533-547: Was a variant of the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith of 1946 and, with the same standard steel body, became the cautiously introduced Silver Dawn of 1949. In 1952 both Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn and Bentley Mk VI standard steel bodies were modified to incorporate a boot of about twice the size and the result became known as the R type Bentley based on the Chassis number at which the change took place. The name of

7626-443: Was also fitted to many cars. One of the problems with motor cars was the large variation in sprung weight between lightly loaded and fully loaded, especially for the rear springs. When heavily loaded the springs could bottom out, and apart from fitting rubber 'bump stops', there were attempts to use heavy main springs with auxiliary springs to smooth the ride when lightly loaded, which were often called 'shock absorbers'. Realizing that

7719-434: Was broken for the first time with sales of 10,014. For 2007, a record profit of € 155 million was also announced. Bentley reported a sale of about 7,600 units in 2008. However, its global sales plunged 50 percent to 4,616 vehicles in 2009 (with the U.S. deliveries dropped 49% to 1,433 vehicles) and it suffered an operating loss of € 194 million, compared with an operating profit of € 10 million in 2008. As

7812-627: Was confirmed in April 2005 a four-seat convertible Azure derived from the Arnage Drophead Coupé prototype would begin at Crewe in 2006. By the autumn of 2005, a convertible version of the successful Continental GT, the Continental GTC , was also presented in the autumn of 2005. These two models were launched in late 2006. A limited run of a Zagato modified GT was also announced in March 2008, dubbed " GTZ ". A new version of

7905-813: Was known, always wanted to design and build his own cars. At the DFP factory, in 1913, he noticed an aluminium paperweight and thought that aluminium might be a suitable replacement for cast iron to fabricate lighter pistons. The first Bentley aluminium pistons were fitted to Sopwith Camel aero engines during the First World War. The same day that the Paris Peace Conference to end World War I started, Walter Owen ("W.O.") Bentley founded Bentley Motors Limited, on 18 January 1919 and registered Bentley Motors Ltd. in August 1919. In October he exhibited

7998-496: Was raised to 7.25:1. The problems of Bentley's owner with Rolls-Royce aero engine development, the RB211 , brought about the financial collapse of its business in 1970. The motorcar division was made a separate business, Rolls-Royce Motors Limited, which remained independent until bought by Vickers plc in August 1980. By the 1970s and early 1980s Bentley sales had fallen badly; at one point less than 5% of combined production carried

8091-403: Was reported that Volkswagen invested a total of nearly US$ 2 billion in Bentley and its revival. As a result of upgrading facilities at Crewe the bodywork now arrives fully painted at the Crewe facility for final assembly, with the parts coming from Germany—similarly Rolls-Royce body shells are painted and shipped to the UK for assembly only. Demand had been so great that the factory at Crewe

8184-427: Was supplied new converted internally by Mulliner into a six-seater limousine supplied to L.S. Lambourne Esq. The ex factory price was £2595 plus £140 for the outsourced conversion by Mulliner of the front seat to accommodate the wind up glass division in the custom bench seat. This first Bentley factory finished car was given the name Bentley Mark VI standard steel sports saloon. This shorter wheelbase chassis and engine

8277-410: Was the 1922 Indianapolis 500 , a race dominated by specialized cars with Duesenberg racing chassis. They entered a modified road car driven by works driver Douglas Hawkes , accompanied by riding mechanic H. S. "Bertie" Browning. Hawkes completed the full 500 miles (800 km) and finished 13th with an average speed of 74.95 miles per hour (120.62 km/h) after starting in 19th position. The team

8370-424: Was the first big bore Mark VI built) and ended with B 300 PV (although B 301 PU was the last one built). Each alphabetic series only contained either even or odd numbers, and 13 was always skipped for the odd-numbered sequences. The 4.3 L (260 cu in) was referred to as the 4 + 1 ⁄ 4  L and can be quickly identified from its single exhaust in RHD cars. The 4.6 L (280 cu in)

8463-533: Was the reason it was "impossible" to use them as main springs. However the amount of damping provided by leaf spring friction was limited and variable according to the conditions of the springs, and whether wet or dry. It also operated in both directions. Motorcycle front suspension adopted coil sprung Druid forks from about 1906, and similar designs later added Friction disk shock absorber rotary friction dampers, which damped both ways - but they were adjustable (e.g. 1924 Webb forks). These friction disk shock absorber s

8556-474: Was then rushed back to England to compete in the 1922 RAC Tourist Trophy . In an ironic reference to his heavyweight boxer 's stature, Captain Woolf Barnato was nicknamed "Babe". In 1925, he acquired his first Bentley, a 3-litre. With this car, he won numerous Brooklands races. Just a year later, he acquired the Bentley business itself. The Bentley enterprise was always underfunded, but inspired by

8649-617: Was unable to meet orders despite an installed capacity of approximately 9,500 vehicles per year; there was a waiting list of over a year for new cars to be delivered. Consequently, part of the production of the new Flying Spur , a four-door version of the Continental GT, was assigned to the Transparent Factory (Germany), where the Volkswagen Phaeton luxury car was also assembled. This arrangement ceased at

#881118