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| Bentley S1 cars in South
Africa (1955 to 1959) |
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| The April 1955 launch
of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud and Bentley S series marked yet another
important change in the company’s strategy. For the first time the two
cars were, apart from the radiator, the exact same machines. The new
Silver Cloud was henceforth to be seen as the equal, in performance
terms, of what had once been the “silent sports car”, while the image
of the Bentley was now seen as matching that of Rolls-Royce. |
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| In an October 1955
road test The Auto Car summed it up beautifully; “When a model is
offered at such a high price the smallest detail that is not of the
very highest standard must be criticized. The Bentley was all the more
impressive, therefore, for proving to be remarkably free from the minor
defects that are frequently overlooked by even the most thorough
manufacturers. The latest Bentley model offers a degree of safety,
comfort and performance that is beyond the experience and perhaps even
the imagination of the majority of the world’s motorists” |
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| The Autocar added;
“The interior is utterly silent at 100mph when the windows are closed.
One is conscious of the speed only by watching the speedometer or the
rapid approach of the horizon, the occupants of the car conversing in
drawing-room tones, marveling at the almost eerie silence” |
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| 1955 Bentley S1 Chassis no: B430AN First owner: C.W. Coats, Southern Rhodesia |
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| 1956 Bentley S1 Chassis no: B100CK |
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| 1956 Bentley S1 Chassis no: B492CK First owner: RC Bett, England |
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| 1956 Bentley S1 (Concours winner) Chassis no: B199CM First owner: LJD Phillimore, Southern Rhodesia |
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| 1956 Bentley S1 Chassis no: B433EK First owner: Lady Oppenheimer, South Africa |
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| 1957 Bentley S1 Chassis no: B527EK First owner: Delivered in England in October 1957 to Leon Jacobson of the Anglo-African Shipping Co. (South Africa) Ltd. |
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| 1957 / '58 Bentley S1 Chassis no: B330FA First owner: BL Bernstein, South Africa |
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| 1958 Bentley S1 Chassis no: B446FA |
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| 1958 Bentley S1 Chassis no: B462FA First owner: Delivered in March 1958 to C. E. S. Lockwood, South Africa |
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| 1958 Bentley S1 Chassis no: B481FD First owner: Delivered in December 1958 to Mrs. Jane P Redrup, Southern Rhodesia |
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to PHOTO GALLERY |
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