These days, we were examining details of the Continental R Mulliner coupe that was taken from Bentley factory’s design display for our use. Photographer Colin Curwood remarked that “This is a fairly agricultural piece of kit, isn’t it?”, and by today’s standards he is right, but when the Continental R Mulliner came to market in 1951, this was the fastest four-passenger car anywhere in the world, and it was above any contemporary farm equipment in design terms, whether in aesthetic value or in quality of manufacture. Also, it was better to drive than any 50s car. This is the reason why the 208 Continental Rs built is worth between $400,000 and $800,000. This is the going rate for an Continental R with H. J. Mulliner fastback bodywork.
Bentley R-type Continental
When this car appeared, there were no speed limits outside towns, whether in the UK or in most of Western Europe. Also, there was no traffic like today, and because air travel was almost nonexistent, it was recommended to travel by car if you had the money for the gas. For example, if you want to go from London to Cote d’Azur, a fast car was much better and comfortable than a train. However, there are some drawbacks to long-distance travels by car, as Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus discovered when a Facel Vega lost control due to worn tires.
Bentley R-type Continental - driving
In 1948, the first spectacular postwar luxury cars appeared in America. The ’48 Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles had antiquated, prewar L-head engines, the first had a V8 engine and the second one a straight eight, a configuration essentially unknown to today’s new-car buyers. Their shapes were certainly dazzling to the world, and it’s obvious that they inspired the design of the Continental R, more than some “aerodynamic” Bentleys did. The majority of British cars were inspired from early 30s models when the R-type coupe was designed. They had separate fenders front and rear, and universal adoption of “pontoon” body forms was some way off. Also, American design leadership was very strong then.
Bentley R-type Continental
You could say that the H. J. Mulliner design looks like a 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline coupe, with inboard headlights and a vertical grille, but this means to ignore Bentley’s influence for the superior fit and finish, the extra liter-plus in the six-cylinder engine and the powerful symbol of their traditional radiator grille stands proudly upright. The majority of upper-class European and British carmakers never adopted the American style of grilles stretching the full width of the front end, as they done by the early 50s. It’s easy to see that traditionalists were right.
Bentley R-type Continental engine
I wanted very much to drive the amazingly fast and also expensive Continental R in 1952, as everyone else did. I thought that this would never happen, but last winter, my editors contacted Bentley, and they agreed to make available the factory-owned 1954 once the weather will allow it. That happened this year, at Le Mans 24-hour race.
Bentley R-type Continental emblem
When the moment finally arrived, Bentley invited me to accompany them to Le Mans in a small fleet of Bentley Mulsannes, and the 1930 Bentley 8L sport sedan, chassis number 2, that was W. O. Bentley’s personal car until he left the company Rolls-Royce in 1935. Although he wanted to take the car with him, he was denied.
Because he understood the vital importance of heritage, now-retired VW chairman Franz-Josef Paefgen acquired both of these historic cars, when he headed Bugatti and Bentley. The right-hand Mulliner coupe found in Australia, was originally delivered to Switzerland. Some Swiss postal buses are right-hand driven even today, because when you’re driving in the Alps, a foot over the edge and a thousand-foot drop awaits you. Although Curwood’s commentary was justified, JAS 949 introduced a repainted older car in excellent condition.
Bentley R-type Continental
The Continental R is a big coupe built on a sedan chassis, and its charm is mostly related to the bodywork and also the fact that it’s 4566-cc six-cylinder engine (later 4887-cc) and suitable gear ratios made it the fastest car in those days. The car had 6.70-16 tires, and it could reach a 120-mph speed in normal on-road driving. If you think that this isn’t impressive, think again, because in those times, the largest six-cylinder engine available was Hudson’s 5051-cc, 160-hp “Twin H-Power” that could only propel the Hudson Hornet to 100mph.
Bentley R-type Continental
Park Ward of London built six bodies of Continental, Graber of Switzerland built three, Franay of Paris built five, and Pininfarina built a single body on the R-series Continental chassis, but most of the bodies were constructed by H. J. Mulliner. Most of the cars were right-hand drive and were sold in Britain, and only forty-three of them were built with left-hand drive. In the US I’ve seen only one of them at a concours d’elegance. Although most of the factory-bodied sedans were badged as Bentleys, the R-type chassis was basically of Rolls-Royce conception.
Bentley R-type Continental door-handle
In the cabin you’ll find wood-veneer furnishings and supple leather, all elegant and nice as you find in a Bentley. Your attention will first be drawn by the right-hand gear lever tucked between the driver’s seat and the door. The car has a 4-speed gearbox, unsynchronized as was in those times. The minor controls were spattered illogic and totally unergonomic. Although they have tuffetlike convexity in the cushions, the seats actually have a very simple form. Another thing that will dazzle you is the very old-fashioned black steering wheel, which is very simple and has an imposing diameter.
Richard Charlesworth, Member of the Royal Victorian Order and director of the company, was the man appointed to oversee the precious relic and how we use it. He’s like any American would imagine an imperious Englishman, but he’s actually very friendly, warm and a genuine enthusiast who knows Bentley’s history very well. He is also a skilled driver, when he drove the 8L, and he also showed me the car controls, so I knew enough to let me have some car-to-car photography.
Bentley R-type Continental gas
In order to have an idea of how good the Bentley was in its time, you should have had direct experience of its rival cars when they were new. Today’s drivers that have the features from present cars like strong braking, assisted steering and predictable roadholding, will see the Continental as an old crock, which has some nice woodwork. They would be seriously mistaken, because although the steering requires some physical effort at low speeds, it is very precise as no car from the ’52-’55 time was, and also the car tracks dead straight even on high-crowned rural roads. When shifting gears, there was no slop that was contemporary, although it has remote linkage.
Bentley R-type Continental gear-shift
We didn’t manage to attain anything approaching to the 120 mph top speed that the car should’ve reached, but we saw how easy and what a pleasure it was to drive it. The car is quite safe, and the twelve-inch drum brakes are also good, but not like the brakes we got used to in the last decades.
A new Mulliner Continental R had a price of 6298 pounds (including UK purchase tax), that’s around $19,350. When the Mulliner coupe was created, the most expensive car was the handbuilt 1953 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, which had a price of $7750, double than the price of series-built Model 62 coupe. Now, the price is greater, the car being valued at 325,000 pounds ($535,000), and a ’53 Eldorado was recently sold at Amelia Island for the price of $132,000.
Bentley R-type Continental
David E. Davis, wrote 21 years ago about the distressing tendency of Ayrton Senna, who evoked God in every contest, envisioning Him as a “sort of Edwardian English squire” that wears tweeds. Davis said that “He drives one of the old fastback Bentley Continentals, and He drives it both vigorously and well”, and now I can see why he chose this car when he could’ve had any car he wanted. Since they made de Continental, Bentley made progress in engineering, design and added features, but this car does encompass the qualities of a great car which are: predictability, precision, performance, personality and pride. I think that God would be happy forever with a Continental R, right?
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