INSIDE BENTLEY’S TOYBOX

Part of the original Crewe factory site has been repurposed as a home for some of the most significant Bentley models from the last 103 years of company history. The Heritage Garage complements the existing Bentley Lineage exhibition in CW1 House, providing a showcase for the 42-carstrong Bentley Heritage Collection.

The Heritage Garage will house 22 cars from the Collection, currently spread from 1919 onwards. By the summer, the Collection will be split across three different areas. Significant Cricklewood models (1919-31) and Derby-era Bentleys (1931-39) will live in a soon-to-be-redeveloped display in CW1 House, while the Heritage Garage houses Crewe-built models. The new facility means that every member of Bentley’s Heritage Collection is now kept on the Bentley campus, for the first time ever. Visitors to Crewe, whether customers, VIPs or media guests, will now be able to view an unbroken chain of Bentley production models, all kept in perfect working order and road-legal condition.

The Head of Bentley’s Heritage Collection, Mike Sayer, said ‘Having now rebuilt the Collection to fully chart our history, we have an ongoing commitment to add to it with each significant new model we launch. For example, the Collection now includes the 2019 Bentayga Hybrid, which was both the first-ever plug-in hybrid Bentley and an important step in our ‘Beyond100’ strategy towards electrification.’

IS THIS THE EX-DYNASTY SILVER CLOUD?

This Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III is currently undergoing recommissioning and light restoration work at a garage in Scotland. It has served on wedding fleets in recent years, undergoing a colour change from white to silver a few seasons ago. The legend that goes with this example is that it was the car featured in the opening credits of the 1980s American soap opera, Dynasty. Sure enough, from Season Three, a white Silver Cloud III appears behind Joan

Collins near the end of the credits. Efforts to confirm the story by those working on the car have so far come to nothing, but if any reader knows a way to discover the chassis number of the car used in the show, we would be interested to hear about it. When the current jobs are completed (which include minor repairs and a repaint for one front wing, plus service work), the Silver Cloud will be offered for sale as a road-ready, usable car. Interested parties should contact the magazine.