Bentley Continental: A Guide to the Bentley Continental Models

I collect books on classic cars and British cars are my favourite --- be they Austin, Morris, Riley or Jaguar. I consider books on post war Rolls Royce and Bentley cars a prize catch but they are often difficult to obtain with prices being sky high more often than not. I was therefore happy to see a reasonably priced book --- this one --- on Amazon suddenly become available. However, my delight was short lived on reading the consistently negative reviews of this book, particularly one titled "I didn't listen ". So many of them can't be wrong, I thought disappointedly. Hence I passed this book over several times thereafter. About 10 days ago, in a fit of desperation, I decided that "poor quality black and white photos " or not, I had to add the book to my collection of Rolls Royce books. In favor of the decision was the fact that 1) the book was a new edition and possibly improved, 2) it was in new condition and 3) it didn't cost the moon. I have a few Rolls Royce books with black and white photos only, one such being Graham Robson's Rolls Royce And Bentley ( A Collector's Guide ). One more such book on Bentley wouldn't do my collection any harm, I reasoned. I gritted my teeth and ordered the book. It arrived this morning. I opened the book and as expected, there were the black and white photos. No problem, it's the car that's important, I thought. The photos were not too bad. I kept turning the pages. Then suddenly, surprise. 8 color pages. Well, I thought, that was unexpected. But that must be it for the whole book. I kept turning the pages. Another 8 pages in color. I reached the GT on pp 88, a model I'm not particularly fond of and don't consider a true, classic Bentley in the strict sense of the word, despite its remarkable performance. And there, yet again. Another 8 pages in color! So, a total of 24 pages in color when everyone had said none. In the event, I hadn't taken any risk at all. I was prepared to add this "poor quality " book to my collection come what may and it unexpectedly turned up trumps. I can add it to my collection as usual now. Evidently, the author-publisher has taken the previous criticisms to heart and has republished the book in a gesture that can only be admired. How many other authors would take such a step?To get to the text, there is a short description of the Bentley Continental models--- very short--- and page after page of chassis numbers. The H.J. Mulliner Bentley Continental R Type cost £7,600 at launch in 1954, a huge price at the time. No figures for speed and acceleration of the car are quoted but the power of the engine has surprisingly been revealed, as 153 bhp. It is strange to see such a car labeled a Bentley S1 on pp 41. A total of 208 cars of the model was built, mostly by H.J. Mulliner. There is a short description of the coachbuilders Mulliner, Park Ward and James Young in the book. The Continental S1 cost £5,500 in 1957. It was interesting to see the Continental S2's speedometer marked right up to 140 mph. There are no spec panels except for the Bentley Continental R and the GT ; the author goes overboard in the technical coverage and spec of the latter. It is very detailed indeed. The Bentley Continental SC cost £245,000 in 1995, according to the author. It was the last Bentley model to be made before the marque passed to VW in 1999. Performance apart, I personally feel the GT is the ugliest post war Bentley ever built and find it gross. I couldn't bring myself to read the final chapter in the book on it.I found few of the photos in the book really bad ; most were not half as bad as the reviewers had made them out to be. Maybe some photos have been revised in this new edition. If you still have any gripes about the photos, the color pages will seal your lips. I was lucky to get my copy before the price went up --- it has risen the equivalent of about £4 since I ordered it. Free yourself of your shackles and buy this book. Make sure you order the 2022 edition. It is wholeheartedly recommended. Kudos to the author for coming good at such expense and so spectacularly. 5 stars without question to him and the book.

splendid

Don't bother with this. I am very surprised it has been published. Absolutely minimal text apart from chassis and engine numbers and bare specs. Otherwise just lots and lots of very poor quality small scale monochrome photos. If I could give this a zero rating I would. Thank goodness for Amazon's very fair return policy, which I have only had to use three times in the last 20 years, one of which was for a defective item.