| Author | Message | ||
     Bill Coburn Moderator Username: bill_coburn Post Number: 588 Registered: 4-2003 |
‘Well you have found us! We hope you are an owner of a post-55 car and might find the contents of this spot helpful in understanding and maintaining your car. The standard bodied Silver Cloud in its Bentley, long and standard wheelbase versions together with a handful of coachbuilt vehicles is often considered the last model produced by the Factory in the original ethos of the Marque. Of the over 14000 cars of this series produced perhaps at least half have survived and most of those hopefully are in the hands of owners who love and care for them. Loving and caring for them sadly is becoming a somewhat daunting task. To start with these cars were probably never intended to reach the ripe old age of fifty which many of them will do in the next few years. In other words they are probably well beyond their use-by-date to use a ‘modern’ term. Rear axles are starting to need urgent overhaul, spring shackles are losing their rubbers and the seeming indestructable front suspension is getting very very loose. The later cars with vee eight engines are becoming a real challenge and rather alarmingly, early last year word had it that the Factory no longer had any engines for these cars! In addition many spares are no longer available not only because stocks are exhausted but in quite a few cases no-one it seems is either capable of remaking them or is prepared to do so. This is not the end of the World, the pre-war car owners have been working with these constraints for fifty years and will probably start making snide remarks to us as we mutter about our difficulties. The encouragement bit is that there are resources mainly in the various Clubs and web sites to help us in our task. In our own Club we now have a new Registrar, Steve Redford who is a denizen of Queensland. Steve unfortunately at the moment of his appointment is moving house so is somewhat committed. I should re-word that. ‘He is moving his house’ a task most of us would never attempt. I have suggested that when towing is involved, not to use his Cloud! Given the above, as I have a personal interest ( I own a dismantled S2) I volunteered to work this space for Steve. I hope to put all sorts of goodies in here for your benefit but if there is any question you have, email me through the site and I will endeavour to help. At the same time if you wish to contribute about your car please do so through the same channels. |
