Bentley Boy!

[SpikyMikey]

It didn't get a choice! I'm strict, but fair for its own good. The car cover dates back to 2007, the dog box was bought for a W211 before that. They have done service with umpteen cars since then. They do tend to out live the cars I have by many years.

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

Having been in motorsport, the deadline was always the next race. Right up to the Covidian era, I never remember them re-scheduling any race nor do I remember missing any so I have yet to hear this wonderful whooshing sound....how exactly does it sound ?

The work-based deadlines I'm sometimes presented with are so ridiculous that the sound is sort of "Haa,haa"

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Perhaps they sound like the targets that I'm regularly told are essential to get through life.

What are they? I fear I am missing out.

 

[SpikyMikey]

What are they? I fear I am missing out.

Never fear, they don't apply to a mega-celeb such as yourself Mr D.

 

[Mactech]

Plus ca Change
2008
Dark blue, light interior, V6 diesel, 20" wheels.



Used mainly by my wife auditing nursing services nationwide, and whenever we were taking the dogs with us. I was running an S class at the time.

2015
Dark blue, light interior, V8 diesel, 21"wheels.


Used as our long distance car. Wonderful to be in, but gone within a year and stands as the most unreliable car I have ever owned.

2024
Dark blue, light interior, V8 diesel, 21"wheels



So far the heaviest, most expensive, most powerful and best car I have owned.

Maybe I need to get out more....

 

[SmartAmg]

Plus ca Change
2008
Dark blue, light interior, V6 diesel, 20" wheels.

View attachment 161801Used mainly by my wife auditing nursing services nationwide, and whenever we were taking the dogs with us.

2015
Dark blue, light interior, V8 diesel, 21"wheels.

View attachment 161804
Used as our long distance car. Wonderful to be in, but gone within a year and stands as the most unreliable car I have ever owned.

2024
Dark blue, light interior, V8 diesel, 21"wheels

Third ones not bad, s'pose.

 

[Chrishazle]

Never been tempted by the first, had a version of the second (Vogue, previously owned by a rock group drummer) until fuel costs became excessive and front end lift at in excess of speed limit gave me a fright (swopped for a Rover 827 Vitesse and literally halved our fuel costs!), would love the 3rd but can't afford it so just jealous (not really, just pleased for Alastair and his wife!!).

 

[ToeKnee]

Never been tempted by the first, had a version of the second (Vogue, previously owned by a rock group drummer) until fuel costs became excessive and front end lift at in excess of speed limit gave me a fright (swopped for a Rover 827 Vitesse and literally halved our fuel costs!), would love the 3rd but can't afford it so just jealous (not really, just pleased for Alastair and his wife!!).

I've had a couple of 827 vitesse's, lovely car in their day. I'd have one again.

 

[Mactech]

I've done over 500 miles in the last 5 days in the Bentley. Over to Aylesbury to see Steve Hackett at Friars where I used to do the sound in a previous life.
Hackett was on the first date of his current tour and whilst the concert was good, there were a few areas where they will get slicker as the tour progresses.


The Bentley on the other hand was at its very best, and despite having to negotiate the dreaded A421 closure both ways, it glided to and from Buckinghamshire with an assured and dignified air.

Down to Brooklands museum (right by Mercedes world) on Sunday for a celebration of the life of astonishing aerodynamicist Ron Ayers. (Google him!) Father of the Bloodhound missiles of the Cold War era, the only person to be able to keep a 'vehicle' on the ground in excess of the speed of sound and then the Diesel landspeed record where I had the privilege of working with him.
It was great afternoon finding out what a profound influence he had on the word of aerodynamics. The first car he ever designed turns out to be the fastest ever vehicle on earth. Not bad for a beginner!
I had a really good time catching up with many of the Dieselmax team, and then returning home in what I perceive to be the best diesel powered car I have ever driven

 

[GeeJayW]

I've done over 500 miles in the last 5 days in the Bentley. Over to Aylesbury to see Steve Hackett at Friars where I used to do the sound in a previous life.
Hackett was on the first date of his current tour and whilst the concert was good, there were a few areas where they will get slicker as the tour progresses.

View attachment 162264
The Bentley on the other hand was at its very best, and despite having to negotiate the dreaded A421 closure both ways, it glided to and from Buckinghamshire with an assured and dignified air.

Down to Brooklands museum (right by Mercedes world) on Sunday for a celebration of the life of astonishing aerodynamicist Ron Ayers. (Google him!) Father of the Bloodhound missiles of the Cold War era, the only person to be able to keep a 'vehicle' on the ground in excess of the speed of sound and then the Diesel landspeed record where I had the privilege of working with him.
It was great afternoon finding out what a profound influence he had on the word of aerodynamics. The first car he ever designed turns out to be the fastest ever vehicle on earth. Not bad for a beginner!
I had a really good time catching up with many of the Dieselmax team, and then returning home in what I perceive to be the best diesel powered car I have ever driven

Cool, did you tie up with Andy (pretty sure he went the same gig)?

 

[Mactech]

Cool, did you tie up with Andy (pretty sure he went the same gig)?

Oh yes! He'd bought the tickets about 18 months ago and I stayed with him. He's due up here later this month. We both like a bit of Genesis

 

[ToeKnee]

Oh yes! He'd bought the tickets about 18 months ago and I stayed with him. He's due up here later this month. We both like a bit of Genesis

I never took you for an old testament kinda guy?

 

[GeeJayW]

Oh yes! He'd bought the tickets about 18 months ago and I stayed with him. He's due up here later this month. We both like a bit of Genesis

Me too, always keen on some prog. Glad you were able to meet up. I’ll get back to Friars one day, hopefully in the not too distant future.

 

[C43AMG]

2000 miles in the Bentayga now and I've bought my first Bentley spare part.

View attachment 161490

After running all through the holidays without the luggage cover in place due to the dogs being on board, I discovered one of 4 small buffers which separate the tailgate from the rear edge of the luggage cover was missing. Ordered and sent from Bentley Cambridge for the grand sum of £8....well it is flock covered rubber of a very specific compound....
I was so pleased with the Bentley B1 spec Pirelli tyres that I figured I should try to source some for the future without paying almost £400 each.
Even Camskill could only manage £372 plus postage
However, a little searching around the web and I have managed to source a couple of new tyres (date codes of 23) for 60% of that cost....one from Italy!
They are now in stock in my own garage until the car needs any more new boots.
Bentley ownership can be expensive, but it doesn't need to be outrageous!

Have you heard of the Pirelli PNCS which is Noise Cancelling System,which have very good reviews, supposedly reducing noise by half. Harry Metcalf had some fitted to his Mclaren and was impressed

 

[Mactech]

Have you heard of the Pirelli PNCS which is Noise Cancelling System,which have very good reviews, supposedly reducing noise by half. Harry Metcalf had some fitted to his Mclaren and was impressed

Yes, it is acoustic foam band inside the tyre and they work very well. I had the Goodyear version on my A8, but was surprised that the Bentayga B1 tyres do not use this. Bentley were working with Pirelli back in 2014 (before I left Bentley) on these tyres.
I can't find a Bentayga sized tyre with this system, but I have to say what Bentley and Pirelli have certified for the production car is a fantastic all round tyre.....even without the acoustic foam band.

 

[TC350]

Down to Brooklands museum (right by Mercedes world) on Sunday for a celebration of the life of astonishing aerodynamicist Ron Ayers. (Google him!) Father of the Bloodhound missiles of the Cold War era

Your missile man account reminds me of the time when the Blue Steel missile was presented to the public at the Royal Tournament in the early 60s. My oldest brother was a Squadron Leader in the RAF at the time and had responsibility for the RAF display team that year. (He was the guy in uniform who stood watching then turned to salute the royal box at the end of the display. Each day he'd then go up to the box for a chat with Liz or whoever was there.)

Amongst John's responsibilities was the Blue Steel missile, for all its time at Earls Court for the Tournament, as well as its journey from and to the RAF base. Following the low loader carrying the 10m long missile through Kensington on the way back they were stopped by heavy traffic outside Harrods. John thought this was an ideal photo opportunity, so he jumped out of his car and snapped a few shots with Harrods in the background.

What he hadn't given any thought to at the time was how this may look to nosey/caring members of the public. One called the police after seeing a man in a dark grey coat leaping out of a German car (John's own VW Beetle) with foreign number plates (he was based in Germany at the time) and secretly photographing a British nuclear missile. He and the police had a good chuckle about it when he was stopped many miles later.

 

[Mactech]

Your missile man account reminds me of the time when the Blue Steel missile was presented to the public at the Royal Tournament in the early 60s. My oldest brother was a Squadron Leader in the RAF at the time and had responsibility for the RAF display team that year. (He was the guy in uniform who stood watching then turned to salute the royal box at the end of the display. Each day he'd then go up to the box for a chat with Liz or whoever was there.)

Amongst John's responsibilities was the Blue Steel missile, for all its time at Earls Court for the Tournament, as well as its journey from and to the RAF base. Following the low loader carrying the 10m long missile through Kensington on the way back they were stopped by heavy traffic outside Harrods. John thought this was an ideal photo opportunity, so he jumped out of his car and snapped a few shots with Harrods in the background.

What he hadn't given any thought to at the time was how this may look to nosey/caring members of the public. One called the police after seeing a man in a dark grey coat leaping out of a German car (John's own VW Beetle) with foreign number plates (he was based in Germany at the time) and secretly photographing a British nuclear missile. He and the police had a good chuckle about it when he was stopped many miles later.

Yes, I think there are quite a few parallels with the missile tales. Driver of all three of Ron's record breaking cars (Thrust, Dieselmax and Bloodhound) have been driven by Wing Commander Andy Green who was very conveniently Base Commander at RAF Wittering at the time of Dieselmax.
He had a very useful test facility at his command, which we used to prove the car to over 200mph....and we avoided all the Harriers

 

[Gollom]

Yes, I think there are quite a few parallels with the missile tales. Driver of all three of Ron's record breaking cars (Thrust, Dieselmax and Bloodhound) have been driven by Wing Commander Andy Green who was very conveniently Base Commander at RAF Wittering at the time of Dieselmax.
He had a very useful test facility at his command, which we used to prove the car to over 200mph....and we avoided all the Harriers

Used Noble (Thrust) as a "talking head" a few times. He recounted how when he asked the Concorde stewardess how fast they were flying and when she said Mach1 his retort was "That all? I've driven faster than that!" Factual or not, it was still a good story

(Speaking of talking heads, we once hired Maggie Philbin for a sales conference in Manchester. All was going well until during a lull in her spiel, someone shouted out "Is Keith (Chegwin) coming for a drink later?" Cruel I know and she was NOT amused)

 

[Mactech]

Used Noble (Thrust) as a "talking head" a few times. He recounted how when he asked the Concorde stewardess how fast they were flying and when she said Mach1 his retort was "That all? I've driven faster than that!" Factual or not, it was still a good story

(Speaking of talking heads, we once hired Maggie Philbin for a sales conference in Manchester. All was going well until during a lull in her spiel, someone shouted out "Is Keith (Chegwin) coming for a drink later?" Cruel I know and she was NOT amused)

Yes, Richard was there on Sunday, fashionably late as ever! Bluster and bravado are his mainstays. He was one of the driving forces behind many LSR attempts and was the record holder prior the Andy Green's supersonic breakthrough.
But no, he was incorrect with the boast on Concorde. Typical!
He could have got away with 'nearly as quick as that'....