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  Photos by Randall Cordero

Driver's Notebook: Bespoke Bentley

Christian Gulliksen

August 3, 2004

For four-odd decades, sedans from Rolls-Royce and Bentley were virtually interchangeable, distinguished from each other only by unique grilles and badges. The differences between the cars, even with limited-run custom bodies, were fairly incidental. This is why, on the surface, a scene from the 1964 picture Paris—When It Sizzles appears to be almost absurd. William Holden’s character—a screenwriter—envisions a scene in which a white Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud pulls up to a building; he quickly dismisses the Rolls-Royce as too ostentatious and mentally replays the scene, much to his satisfaction, with a white Bentley S-Type, differentiated from the Rolls-Royce only by the shape of its grille. Somehow along the way, a Rolls-Royce came to be seen as showy, a Bentley as understated. The rationale is, I believe, simple to explain. The typical Rolls-Royce owner could not fathom intentionally surrendering the prestige of a Flying Lady for what he perceived as a second-tier Winged B. The Bentley buyer engaged in the reverse snobbery of flouting that logic.

In the 1960s the Bentley’s low-key image went largely unappreciated, especially in the United States, and this S3 Continental with Flying Spur coachwork was built for the home market, with right-hand drive. Unlike the upright sedan bodies usually fitted to the S3 chassis—all sweeping fenders, plunging beltlines, and bustled trunks—the Flying Spur provided a more modern take on a classic style. It was still out of step with 1960s thinking, which had gone to low, wide, sleek design, but its less formal lines blended more comfortably with the era’s stylistic sensibilities. Especially with the Bentley grille, the Flying Spur was elegant without being grand, a quality rarely captured by any automobile.  (Click image to enlarge)

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The unostentatious luxury of the Hotel Bel-Air, tucked in a canyon north of Sunset Boulevard, is an ideal complement to the Bentley Flying Spur.  (Click image to enlarge)

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On a fine spring morning, I called on Heritage Classics to drive this fully restored Bentley and found it waiting, resplendent, on the showroom floor amid a cavalcade of stunning automobiles from the same era—an Aston Martin, a few Ferraris, and several Mercedes-Benzes, among them. The staff fired the Bentley up and maneuvered it onto Santa Monica Boulevard, where Heritage owner Irving Willems handed the keys to me. I slid into the low-backed bucket seat, covered in cranberry leather and positioned close to the floor, and noted the fairly sporting driving position facing a traditional black steering wheel, large and thin-rimmed. The cabin is cozy, able to seat four comfortably without much room to spare, and while nicely trimmed with high-quality leathers and the expected wood veneers, it is more functional than plush. The gear selector on the steering column notched effortlessly into Drive, and I was ready to pull away from the curb.