vLane Blog

Old school Bentleys on the road

From Fred Cox, Featured Contributor
Posted on July 1, 2009

Filed under safety, speed, Classic, Bentley, lifestyle, tires, windshield, rubber, rims, maintenance, Vintage Motorsports, brakes, shock absorber, exhaust, headlights, antique, sports sedan, performance, muscle car, Cash for Clunkers

It's not often you see a museum worthy car being driven at all, much less on the road where gawking drivers can run into them, but here are a couple of 80 year old Bentleys in all their glory.

I was lucky enough to come across these on Vancouver Island last week. They had just returned from an adventure up the West Coast of Canada and Alaska with other Bentleys of various vintages. According to the event's website, one of these cars had 13 tire changes, so it wasn't easy going by any means.

These were the days before almost any safety rules or equipment existed, so no bumpers, even. Active safety was the word of the day.

Leaf spring suspension, bicycle style spoke rims, tire tubes, points, etc. all make these beasts a bear to run and maintain. Note the covers for the headlights, to protect against gravel.

These 21" rims and huge drum brakes are more to handle the rough roads and huge weight of the cars than for style or sidewall stiffness.

For the ultimate in wind resistance reduction, there's a single lowerable windscreen, and two small ones that give minimal protection for the driver and passenger.

The fuel tanks are not integrated into the body. Perhaps tanks of the day needed frequent repair, so they were designed for easy replacement.

Of course, these cars do not qualify for the Cash for Clunkers program, since they are more than 25 years old.

Fred Cox is a featured contributor for vLane.