Classic Car of the Month: Bentley R-Type

   The Car of the month is an automobile that screams elegance. England is no stranger when it comes to luxury cars. In my opinion, I consider the U.K. a leader in luxury automobiles. I could name numerous classic vehicles (so don't argue with me).

   The Classic Car of the Month is Bentley R-Type.As many people know Bentley and Roll Royce are rivals in the luxury automobile world. But many people don't know that Rolls Royce actually own Bentley a long time ago. When Rolls Royce owned Bentley, it sort of had Bentley in the back burner. Bentley would get the detuned engines. This killed many sales for Bentley because it was getting the hand me down parts from Rolls Royce putting the automobile maker into a lower class. Nobody wants to buy 2nd best. Bentley needed an automobile to change that image that public had about them.

    The Bentley R-type came out in 1952. Originally it was supposed to be called the "Corniche II. The model only lasted for three years.Only2,320 R-types were built and for the rare Bentley R Continental 206 making it a very limited luxury car. It was the first Bentley to carry the Continental name. This automobile took luxury to a different level. It had an all-aluminum body which was rare for a vehicle for that time. The R-type was predecessor of the Bentley Mark VI. It was coach built by H.J. Mulliner and only five were built by Park Ward. Franay of Paris built five, Graber of Switzerland three, and even Pininfarina

The car is very influence by its predecessor the Bentley Mark VI

Bentley R-Type coach built by Pininfarina 

 The automobile had a unique shape, it was a given an aerodynamic body that was tested in the wind tunnel of Rolls-Royce aero engine division. It was front engine rear drive. Under the hood it was packing a 4.6 liter inline six, which later in 1955 would get bump into 4.9 liters. That was producing about 150 hp that came from a Rolls Royce. This big boy was no slug on the road it ran 0-60 in 13.5 seconds and a top speed of 118 mph making it the fastest four door vehicle in the 50s. The engine was connected to the new GM four-speed Hydra-matic automatic transmission which was a standard in most cars. The body of R-type was very similar to the Mark VI (mainly the front part), it had the same body layout, suspension and steering and braking parts.

Beautiful Interior