| Author | Message | ||
     Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 930 Registered: 6-2009 |
Hello All, Just spent the weekend taking SRH33576 on a road trip totaling 620 miles to the RROC-US Annual Meet Judging Day on Saturday. As is typical at any meet, there were too many marvelous cars to mention. However, one was an utter standout, and won Best in Class for being so: a one-off DHC recreation of the Embiricos Bentley. Here are a few exterior and interior shots:           Brian, who hasn't given SRH33576 this much exercise is this short a time span since 2007 | ||
| Jan Forrest Grand Master Username: got_one Post Number: 586 Registered: 1-2008 |
What's tucked up, nice and cosy, under that long bonnet? | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 935 Registered: 6-2009 |
Jan, All I can say is a Bentley engine. This car was built using an "era appropriate" Bentley chassis that had originally been bodied as a saloon. Apparently the wood had all rotted and the sheet metal was in very rough shape, too. I understand that the person who commissioned this still has some of the original body panels, but what he'll ever do with them remains a mystery. There's almost certain to be an article on this car in an upcoming edition of The Flying Lady. Brian | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 938 Registered: 6-2009 |
The chassis is a 4 1/4 Bentley. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 939 Registered: 6-2009 |
Some additional details just in: This one-off DHC in the style of the Embiricos Bentley Coupe was designed by and is owned by Gary Moore who lives in California. The project took in excess of 20 years to complete and was placed on chassis B25GP. When you look at this car the workmanship is absolutely top-notch. It's exciting to see and wonderful to know that a car that would otherwise have been parted out or consigned to the scrap heap has been given such a stellar new life. Brian | ||
| Bob Reynolds Prolific User Username: bobreynolds Post Number: 134 Registered: 8-2012 |
The craftsmansip might be great, but it looks hideously ugly to me. Sorry, but somebody had to say it.  | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 942 Registered: 6-2009 |
chacun à son goût | ||
| Jan Forrest Grand Master Username: got_one Post Number: 595 Registered: 1-2008 |
I consider it to be 'of its era' much like the Deusenberg/Cords. Hideously ostentatious, but just short of being ugly or ungainly. | ||
| Bob uk Unregistered guest Posted From: 94.197.122.72 |
The original Embiricos I thought looked a bit rough and maybe not as good quality as a Bentley should have. This one is much nicer. One embirico I saw in a book had bolts showing on the body. It looked more le mans special than a road car. (Message approved by david_gore) | ||
| Bill Coburn Moderator Username: bill_coburn Post Number: 1538 Registered: 4-2003 |
Interesting that the chassis was from a 41/4 Mk VI Bentley. One of the bits of used Factory linen at the time of manufacture of this model was the failure of the chassis!! Post-war Australia enjoyed one financial boom - from the wool of sheep! So farmers with great flocks of the beasts made great stacks of moula!! Petrol rationing was still in force and whilst, thank God we did not suffer the horrors of bombing or invasion, the 'war effort' as it was known really sorted out the standard of living in this country. So a MkVI Bentley was even more impressive to view than any car produced today in todays traffic! Impoverished farmers suddenly loaded with cash bought them and later the Silver Dawn and even imported a few coachbuilt cars. Having always rounded up the sheep with a horse or pre-war buck-board and impressed by the unfortunate press-generated laudatory qualities of this magnificent machine from Crewe, they decided that a car so well made, would be even better to round up the woolies! So the term 'paddock-bashing' entered the lexicon. Needless to say the Factory was horrified but simply had to work in the background to persuade owners to stick to main roads. Many will have read of the pre-war advice limiting the maximum speed Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars could be driven continuously. Germany's construction of the now legendary Autobahns originally without restriction must have been intoxicating to the rev-heads of the day! It must have been a bitter pill for the publicists for the car at the time. So back to the sheep farmers and their post-war Bentleys; the dealers suddenly had cars coming in for a service with (gasp) cracked chassis! Urgent telegrams to Crewe drew a blank apparently so the Sydney service manager devised a means of reinforcing the chassis frames so that they did not break. Drawings of the modifications were sent to the Factory and according to the service manager at the time, not even receipt of them was acknowledged. However, some little time later when the engine on these cars was bumped up to 4 1/2 litres it was noticed that all the OZ mods were incorporated in the production cars. The Embiricos project is indeed commendable; that I had the fortitude to persevere for so long for such a project. Instead I have grabbed an opportunity to air a little ancient history that may be of interest to MkVI owners and admirers! | ||
| Omar M. Shams Grand Master Username: omar Post Number: 424 Registered: 4-2009 |
ugly??? this masterpiece? wow!! this confirms that beauty must be in the eye of the beholder. I see this car as prettier than the lot of all our cars put together. we all have our opinions eh? | ||
| Bob uk Unregistered guest Posted From: 94.197.122.92 |
It is an ugly very high quality good looking car. I think personally that the design lack that fluid look of a Delage. Often the designer see am element of another design that they like and design that bit to thier design. Sometimes less is more. Check out MPW S2 fhc between 1958 and 1965 and how fluid the lines are, one cannot find any view from any angle that is not fluid. Best colour dark blue. (Message approved by david_gore) |
