sanded down once dry . ‘ We spent a lot of time softening the panel edges , so they don ’ t look carved out of filler ,’ Dave Lowe explains . ‘ And though we ’ re using modern two-pack finishes , we tried to do everything in the old Crewe way .’ That included a final sand down with 8000 grit abrasive followed by machine polishing . Brightwork and bumpers were cleaned and polished , but not re-chromed – preserving the original patina .
That story now begins a new chapter , as the T-Series is reunited with its former press office registration number of 1900 TU as the latest addition to the Heritage Collection . Along with the 45 other cars in the Collection , the T-Series will live on Bentley ’ s campus in Crewe , England , on permanent display and kept in running , road legal condition to enable driving when needed .
The Bentley T-Series
In 1958 , work began on designing the first monocoque Bentley and Rolls-Royce , destined to replace coachbuilt bodies underpinned by a separate chassis . The result was the car sold by Bentley as the T-Series and by Rolls-Royce as the Silver Shadow .
By 1962 , John Blatchley - famous for styling the R-Type Continental – had completed a new exterior design for a steel and aluminium monocoque body . The design improved on the passenger space of the preceding S3 , but with the overall car now seven inches shorter , five inches lower and three and a half inches narrower .
Using the freshly developed 225 bhp , 6.23-litre V8 engine , seven prototypes undertook significant testing including endurance runs of over 100,000 miles . At the time the engine achieved the highest specific output by weight of any production car in the world of 2.7 lb / hp ( 1.2 kg / hp ). Design innovations included separate sub frames to carry the engine and transmission , suspension , steering and rear axle assemblies , with ‘ Vibrashock ’ rubber sub frame mounts developed to isolate road noise and vibration .
The Bentley T-Series was hailed as a clear example of revolutionary engineering given it was the first Bentley to move away from a separate chassis build , and its relatively lightweight construction gave impressive performance for a four-sedan in 1965 , with a maximum speed of 115 mph and 0- 62 mph achieved in 10.9 seconds .
1,868 examples of the first-generation T-Series were produced , with a pre-tax list price of £ 5,425 and the majority being standard four-door saloons .