Bentley R-Type, 1953
Bentley R Type
Bentley R Type•
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Chassis No.: B157UL
- Exterior: Brown
- Interior: Brown
- Right hand drive
- 4.6L inline 6-cylinder engine
- Automatic transmission
- Two-tone Brown paint
- Brown leather upholstery
- Burl wood dash and window surrounds
- Front and rear bumper guards
- Lucas fog lights
- AM radio
- Smiths instrumentation
- Wide whitewall tires
- Rear tray tables
Even as bombs rained down on Britain’s industrial heartland, engineers at Rolls-Royce and its Bentley subsidiary were planning for a new world order. In 1945, chauffeur-mechanics and those who could afford them were thin on the ground. Thus the new Bentley MkVI of 1946, the first car to be produced at the Crewe plant that turned out aero engines during the war, was not only aimed squarely at the owner-driver, but also designed with reliability and ease of maintenance to the fore. It was also the first to be offered with “Standard Steel” factory bodywork, although chassis were still available to bespoke coachbuilders.
The MkVI far outsold all previous Bentleys with 5,201 produced through 1952, when it was replaced by the R-type, which featured a more-flowing rear end and larger trunk on a longer chassis with an impressive standard specification that included automatic choke, a sliding sun roof, radio and heater. As on the MkVI, the R-type offered the sophistication of driver-operated ride-stiffness control. The all-around drum brakes—hydraulic at the front and rod-operated with gearbox-driven servo at the rear—were considered among the best in the business.
The final flourish was the option of an automatic transmission; in fact, the GM 4-speed Hydra-Matic unit so suited the R-type that it soon became standard. And that’s what we have here, a 1953 right-hand drive automatic R-type, a blend of modernity and tradition with leather upholstery, burled-walnut dash, AM radio and rear picnic tables. The Standard Steel body, favored by all but a very few customers, is tastefully finished in two-tone brown complemented by wide whitewall tires and Lucas fog lamps. In short, it’s a manifesto of sporting refinement that set the tone for generations of Bentleys to come.
