2 Without a Shadow of doubt Relieved at the Silver Shadow s successful launch to its agents, Rolls- Royce got on with the task of building cars for sale. The design and test departments, instead of being able to relax their work schedule, were immediately subjected to further pressure. Solutions had to be found to the many problems encountered by the engineering department, service section and, ultimately, the customer. Testing the Silver Shadow and Bentley was, therefore, all the more important once the car was in production and, to this end, experimental cars were put through their paces with a great sense of purpose and urgency. Derek Coulson (DC) and J. (Mac) Macraith-Fisher (McF) were responsible for development, and well remember the many hours spent trying to find solutions to particular Last of the original SY experimental cars, 50-B, was built in October 1966 and used for testing purposes. Wearing registration ALD 50B, the vehicle had coachwork built by Pressed Steel and was painted Astral Blue. Under the bonnet was a 7 litre engine, which was replaced with a 6¼ litre unit soon after testing at MIRA began. 50-B served a number of purposes, not least in connection with the MPW two-door models and, later, with the Delta project, which materialised as the Camargue. (Courtesy Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd.) 53
Many hours were spent perfecting the frontal appearance of the Silver Shadow and its Bentley equivalent. John Blatchley s styling paid careful attention to detail, such as discreet positioning of the Rolls-Royce emblem. T-Series cars carried the Bentley emblem, of course. (Courtesy Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts Club) 3 Whispering power The mid-sixties was a time of reward and disappointment at Rolls-Royce: reward because of the achievements that culminated in production of a car which, for Rolls-Royce, was quite new in its engineering concept, and disappointment at the level of losses in the motor car division. Losses had been expected during this period because of the enormous cost of development of the Silver Shadow, and the board of directors, which had been kept fully informed at all times, had given its approval. As the Silver Shadow and its Bentley equivalent went into production, the cars futures were overseen by the company s general 90
In 1977 a revised version of the Silver Shadow was introduced. Designated Silver Shadow II, the styling incorporated plastic-faced bumpers and an air dam beneath the radiator (not on American cars, though). Specification also included rack and pinion steering and automatic air conditioning. (Courtesy Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd.) go ahead as planned. Geoffrey Fawn had already been recalled to Derby in January and David Plastow (DP) was appointed managing director, a promotion from the post of marketing director which he had held since 1967. These were challenging times for both Rolls-Royce and the new MD, and David Plastow worked in close association with Rupert Nicholson. The collapse of the company also affected Rolls-Royce in America. Rolls- Royce Inc. became Rolls-Royce Motors Inc. and, because the new company was interested in motor vehicles only, instead of aero engines primarily and cars as an off-shoot, sales of vehicles increased dramatically. From 700 cars a year, sales increased to over 1000 cars per annum. As for the aero division of Rolls-Royce, this was nationalised and effectively separated from the car making business. Rolls- Royce Motors Ltd. was formed and, eventually, floated on the British stock market as a public company; David Plastow retained his position as managing director of the newly created concern and Ian Fraser was nominated chairman. The launch of the Corniche, which was known as Gamma within the Crewe factory, went ahead as scheduled and, as it happened, the new car acted as something of fillip to company morale. Unveiled at a special celebration in Nice on the French Riviera, the party of motoring journalists invited to the ceremony might have wondered at the seemingly incongruous timing for such a spectacular occasion. Any such thoughts soon evaporated, however, when David Plastow explained that the entire event had been staged for less than half the cost of a Corniche. Had the model not been launched with such high profile there could 111
In February 1996 members of the styling, development and body engineering departments during the 1950s and 60s were reunited at Pyms Lane so this photograph could to be taken for this book. From left to right are: Martin Bourne, Macraith Fisher (on step) Eric Langley, Derek Coulson, John Gaskell, Jock Knight (on step), Roger Cra ster, John Astbury, Bill Allen, George Ray, and John Cooke. The car is the last production Corniche. (Courtesy Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd.) have made an impression for, soon afterwards, in 1969, the styling house was approached to produce a two-door coupé of such design and proportion it would be immediately recognised as the flagship of the Rolls-Royce fleet. In fact, the Camargue, as the concept ultimately evolved into, was revered to such an extent that it became the company s most important model, superseding even the Phantom VI and winning the accolade of most expensive car on the British market. Code named Delta, the project as a whole began to develop at a somewhat turbulent time in Rolls- Royce history: John Hollings had taken over from Harry Grylls and John Blatchley had retired; Fritz Feller was appointed chief stylist and, in place of Doc Llewellyn-Smith, who had departed the motor division, was Geoffrey Fawn, who took over day-today running of the company. There were two reasons why Sergio Pininfarina was commissioned to style the Delta project: firstly, it was considered that Rolls-Royce s own styling team was too busy expanding the Silver Shadow theme and, secondly (which may have been the main factor), Geoffrey Fawn had decided the company would benefit considerably from having a car designed by a prestigious Italian styling house. The news that Delta was being styled outside Rolls-Royce was greeted with little enthusiasm from within the ranks at Crewe. Certainly, the stylists who had achieved so much throughout the development period of the Silver Cloud and Silver Shadow felt let down at not being given the chance to offer designs. The feeling of being let down is probably an 159
Thirty years after the Silver Shadow and T Saloons went out of production, the Bentley Mulsanne made its debut, thus recalling an appellation applied to Crewe Bentleys in the 1980s and 90s. Successor, therefore, to the SY, SZ and Arnage cars, the new generation Mulsanne is powered by the V8 engine which is a modified version of that designed by Jack Phillips and which has propelled eight-cylinder Crewe Bentleys from 1959 to the present day. (Bentley Motors press picture) coachbuilding skills are seen at motor shows around the world. Bentley s return to racing has been a phenomenal achievement, due to the company s engineering commitment and the skills of Team Bentley, both coordinated from Crewe under the direction of Project Barnato, a name most keenly associated with Bentley Motors and the Bentley Boys. In June 2003 Bentley was victorious at Le Mans, mirroring its success there 73 years earlier. A celebratory dinner at London s Savoy Hotel marked the occasion four days later on June 18th. The car that made the headlines, though, was the Continental GT - the long-awaited Mid-Size Bentley, which for 2011, was redefined. Work began on the original project to develop the car in late summer 1999, the person in charge being Dirk van Braeckel, Bentley s newly appointed design director. While the Continental GT body-in-white is produced at Volkswagen s hi-tech plant at Mosel, the car was designed at Crewe, where it was built. The Continental GT s engine shares some basic family resemblance with that of the Audi A8 and VW Phaeton, but the 6-litre W12 s 552bhp maximum power - at just 1600rpm, incidentally - is unique to Bentley. Maximum speed is stated at 198mph (316.8km/h) but testing prototype cars produced a true speed of 200mph (320km/h). The Continental GT offers formidable performance, with 0-60mph (0-96km/ h) achievable in under 5 seconds. What would you have to pay for a supercar like this? The launch price was set at 110,000, which, at the time, was around 40,000 less than any other model in the Bentley catalogue. 175