Bentley moved one of its ongoing restoration projects to high-end equipment. Found after decades untested, the first ever built T-Series sedan is being restored by the British company’s experts and apprentices, and it will return at the end of 2023.
Produced on September 28, 1965, about a week before the model was officially launched in Paris that year car show, the oldest T-Series is finished in Shell Gray with a blue interior. Bentley initially kept the car and used it as a test mule around the world. This large sedan was later sold privately with a blue California license plate and “Beverly Hills Motor Cars” license plate frame attached to the rear of the vehicle. It was last registered in 2015, according to the sticker on the number plate, although Bentley notes it has spent decades on the road.
Bentley bought the car and shipped it to its headquarters in the UK. It began tearing down the sedan in October 2016: A team of apprentices removed the exterior trim and began preparing the bodywork for a fresh paint job, but the project stalled. See, this happens even to luxury automakers – don’t feel bad about the Fox generation Mustang linger in the back of your garage. For collectors, projects tend to get delayed when, for better or worse, life hits. Bentley has encountered various obstacles: It has put the T-Series in a difficult position to launch its current range of models, including flying Spur and Continental GT. Nearly six years later, the company is heading back to the garage to perfect things.
It looks like the T-Series is stored in-house and devoid of the elements that could be its saving grace. The mechanics built a 6.2-liter, 225-horsepower V8, and they gave it a clean bill on health; The automatic transmission is also in good condition. There is still some body work to be done and the interior has been almost completely disassembled. Bentley estimates that the project will take around 18 months, so it should be completed by the end of 2023, and it plans to add the car to its Heritage Collection when it’s complete.
Despite being a relatively lackluster classic in 2022, the T-Series remains a hugely important part of Bentley’s legacy. This is the first Bentley to use a unibody architecture (its predecessors featured a body-on-frame construction), a move that makes sense as it signals the company’s departure from its position as a supplier. main level for drivers and it is equipped with rubber subframe mounts called Vibrashock designed to cancel out road noise and vibrations in the cabin. Times are quick too: it takes 10.9 seconds to hit 62 mph from a stop.
Bentley built exactly 1,868 first-generation T-Series units. However, V8 . engine powering the sedan remained in production until recently. Summon “Series“Internally, it has gone through countless evolutions over the course of 61 years and the end of its career in Mulsanne.
