The Bentley Mark V was

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

's second

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, Nort ...

model. Intended for announcement at the Earl's Court Motor Show set down for late October 1939Martyn Nutland ''Bentley Mk VI: Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, Silver Dawn & Silver Cloud; Bentley ...'' it had much in common with its predecessor.

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

was declared on 3 September 1939 and a few days later Bentley announced it had ceased production of civilian items. The Mark V was sold only as a bare

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpar ...

to be fitted with a body from an owner's own choice of

coachbuilder A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...

. It proved to be the last Derby Bentley; after the war production moved to Crewe.

Chassis

It was a new design with very deep side rails to reduce flexing and to cope with the changed loads resulting from a totally redesigned independent front suspension in place of the beam axle.

Engine

Essentially the same as the Bentley 4¼ which it replaced, but with the number of timing gears reduced. See: The Rolls-Royce Motor-Car, Anthony Bird and Ian Hallows, B. T. Batsford, London 1972 page 282. Without a beam axle the engine could be mounted further forward and particular care was taken to mount it so as to minimise noise and vibration to the passengers. The engine displaced 4¼-litres (4257 cc/259 in³) with an 88.9 mm (3.5 in) bore and 114.3 mm (4.5 in) stroke.

Gearbox

Syncromesh A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system, where gear change ...

was provided on all ratios but first and reverse. Previously it had been provided on just third and fourth speeds. This proved a very welcome refinement adding greatly to the pleasure of driving the car. The gear change lever was moved backwards closer to the driver by the seat squab, cutting back on the chances of finding cold steel up the trouser leg as the driver tried to get in or out. The

clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

employed an improved design. A new divided transmission shaft eased potential vibration problems.

Suspension

This was the first Bentley to dispense with a leaf-sprung front beam axle. It followed Rolls-Royce's lead from 1936 and instead used a new design of

independent front suspension Independent suspension is any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically (i.e. reacting to a bump on the road) independently of the others. This is contrasted with a beam axle or deDion axle system in ...

in its completely new chassis. Low rate open coil springs sat within pairs of triangulated wishbones holding the front wheels at their outer point. The upper wishbones acted on a piston-type hydraulic

damper A damper is a device that deadens, restrains, or depresses. It may refer to: Music * Damper pedal, a device that mutes musical tones, particularly in stringed instruments * A mute for various brass instruments Structure * Damper (flow), a mechan ...

, the arms at the bottom were set wide apart so that the rearward one could act as a

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...

member under braking. These assemblies on each side were linked by a strong

anti-roll bar An anti-roll bar (roll bar, anti-sway bar, sway bar, stabilizer bar) is a part of many automobile suspensions that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It connects opposite (left/right) whee ...

Brakes

By Girling using Rolls-Royce's mechanical servo assistance. 57% of the effort was now applied to the front of the car.

Production

Thirty five MK V Chassis were manufactured numbered B-2-AW through to B-70-AW with even numbers only being used. Eighteen chassis were scrapped. * Mark V: seventeen cars completed (seven cars remain). * Corniche MK V: One car completed. The chassis number given was 14-BV. A lighter gauge steel was used to save weight.

Designation Mark V

Some consider Marks I, II and III to have been Rolls-Royce development vehicles and therefore Mark IV the first Derby 3½-litre and 4¼-litre Bentleys. Mark V follows naturally from that but Mark VI became the last.

Experimental department

A lightweight and aerodynamic Corniche model was planned, but the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

halted development work and the concept finally emerged more than a decade later as the

Bentley Continental Bentley Continental refers to several models of cars produced by Bentley Motors. Originally, it referred to a special chassis for engines more powerful than the usual offering, supplied to a selected number of coachbuilders for the fitting of v ...

in 1952. Weight was critical, tyre designs of the day could not safely support bigger cars at the continuous high speeds then becoming achievable on the Continent's new motorways. This first 4-door sports saloon had a body designed by

Georges Paulin Georges Paulin was a French Jewish dentist, acclaimed and inventive automobile designer and coachwork stylist, and died as a hero of the French Resistance during World War II. Born 1902 in a working class section of Paris, Paulin was a pioneer ...

and built by Vanvooren of Paris. While in France it was seriously damaged when rolled-over. Left on the quayside at Dieppe it is believed it was destroyed by bombing though the chassis may have returned to Derby.Martin Bennett, John Blatchley, ''Bentley Continental: Corniche & Azure 1951-2002'', 2009, Veloce A copy of this car is currently being recreated by the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust in Derby. A special streamlined mascot was designed by Georges Paulin after being commissioned by Alex Harvey Bailey. A photograph of the original car may be seen through an external link -see below.

Gallery

Stewart 002.jpg Derby MK V rear.JPG Derby Bentley MK V dashboard.JPG Bentley MK V interior.JPG

References

The Rolls-Royce Motor-Car, Anthony Bird and Ian Hallows, B. T. Batsford, London 1972 page 282.

External links

B-24-AW starting up after a period of nearly 40 years

Bentley Corniche prototype coachwork by Vanvooren 1939
{{Bentley ownership & road car timeline Mark 5 1940s cars Cars introduced in 1939