Μια από τις πιο σπάνιες Bentley είναι η 4,5-λίτρων Embiricos, το αυτοκίνητο του Έλληνα εφοπλιστή και οδηγού αγώνων που κατοικούσε στο Παρίσι την δεκαετία του 1930. Το αυτοκίνητο βρέθηκε τον 15-γουστο στο εργοστάσιο της Bentley στο Crewe της Αγγλίας και η Bentley δεν έχασε την ευκαιρία να δηλώνει περήφανη γι’αυτό.
Το αυτοκίνητο κατασκευάστηκε στη δεκαετία του ’30, τότε που η Bentley άνηκε στην Rolls-Royce. Η Bentley είχε συνεργαστεί με τον ανεξάρτητο Γαλλικό coachbuilder, Pourtout Carrossier για τη κατασκευή του one-off αυτοκινήτου.
Το τελικό αποτέλεσμα είχε καλύτερη αεροδυναμική, ικανή ώστε να πιάνει τα 184,5 χλμ/ώρα. Πήρε άδεια να κυκλοφορεί κανονικά στους δρόμους και το 1939, ο Εμπειρίκος την πούλησε στον Soltan Hay, Βρετανός οδηγός αγώνων, ο οποίος με το αυτοκίνητο πήρε μέρος στον 24-ωρο αγώνα του Le Mans, μετά το τέλος του Δευτέρου Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου, με την καλύτερη θέση που πήρε να ήταν η 6η το 1949. Τα τελευταία χρόνια, η Embiricos βρίσκεται μέσα σε ένα μουσείο αυτοκινήτων της Καλιφόρνια.
Η Bentley εμπνεύστηκε από το αυτοκίνητο και το 1939, ο σχεδιαστής της Ivan Evernden, μαζί με την ομάδα του κατασκεύασαν το πρωτότυπο Corniche, το οποίο δυστυχώς καταστράφηκε κατά τη διάρκεια του 2ο Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου. Το επόμενο μοντέλο που βασίστηκε πάνω στην Embiricos ήταν η Type R Continental του 1952 με την Bentley να μας λέει ότι ακόμη και σήμερα, η Continental GT Coupe χρησιμοποιεί στοιχεία της Embiricos.
Επίσης η Bentley ανακοίνωσε ότι στο Pebble Beach θα παρουσιάσει για πρώτη φορά στο αμερικάνικο κοινό τη νέα Continental GT Speed καθώς και το πρωτότυπο EXP 9 F concept. Περισσότερες λεπτομέρειες μπορείς να βρεις στο δελτίο τύπου που ακολουθεί
[Πηγή: Bentley]
[learn_more caption=”Δελτίο Τύπου”]
BENTLEY MOTORS’ NORTH AMERICAN DEBUTS & NEWS AT PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE
- New Continental GT Speed makes N. American debut
- EXP 9 F luxury SUV displayed on Concept lawn
- Highly prized classic and vintage Bentleys to be auctioned
(Pebble Beach, 16 August 2012). As California’s Monterey Peninsula is primed for a week of displays and events involving some of the world’s most coveted, historic automobiles, Bentley Motors prepares to share a glimpse into the future with the North American debut of two new models – the Continental GT Speed and the EXP 9 F luxury SUV concept.
“Pebble Beach and the spectacular scenery of the Monterey Peninsula provide the perfect venue for automotive connoisseurs and enthusiasts from around the world to display and celebrate the very best of motoring,” said Christophe Georges, president & COO of Bentley Motors, Inc. “It also serves as an ideal backdrop for Bentley to showcase not only its latest production model, the Continental GT Speed, but also, with the EXP 9 F SUV concept, to provide a glimpse into Bentley’s future.”
Bentley’s fastest ever production model, the 616hp Continental GT Speed, will make its North American debut on the Pebble Beach concept lawn. The Continental GT Speed, Bentley’s performance flagship, is set to enter the market in October, and until then, Pebble Beach spectators will have to imagine its 4.0-second 0-60mph sprint and its 205-mph top speed during the static display.
The muscular, elegantly sculpted coachwork of the Continental coupe is enhanced with subtle design touches that reaffirm its sporting character. Most notable are the dark-tinted matrix front grille and lower air intakes, ‘rifled’ finish to the exhaust tailpipes and unique 21-inch alloy wheels.
For those looking even further into Bentley’s future, EXP 9 F SUV concept makes its North American premiere on the concept lawn of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. EXP 9 F highlights the marque’s desire to build the fastest and most luxurious SUV in the world, and the concept car combines a stunning interior at the pinnacle of craftsmanship and technology with a dramatic and purposeful exterior. With an exciting range of drivetrain options under consideration, any Bentley SUV would offer the thunderous performance for which the marque is renowned.
Pebble Beach is also renowned for its auctions of highly-prized classic and vintage automobiles. Featuring this year at the Pebble Beach auctions is an array of evocative Bentleys, among the most significant in the company’s history as outlined below:
Gooding and Company will auction three Bentleys between Saturday, August 18th and Sunday, August 19th –
- 1931 Bentley 4 1/2 Litre SC “Blower” Sports 2/3 Seater Boattail (presale estimate: $8-10 million). More information available here.
- 1928 Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Vanden Plas Le Mans Sports “Bobtail” (presale estimate: $5.5-7.5 million). More information available here.
- 1938 Bentley 4 1/4 Litre Drop Head Coupe (presale estimate $150,000 – $250,000). More information available here.
RM Auctions will auction one Bentley on Saturday, August 18th
- 2001 Bentley Speed 8 Le Mans Prototype Racing Car (presale estimate $1,900,000 and $2,500,000). More information available here.
FAMOUS BENTLEY 4¼-LITRE ‘EMBIRICOS’ SPECIAL MAKES STAR APPEARANCE AT CREWE FACTORY
(Crewe, England. 15 August 2012). One of the rarest and most valuable Bentleys in the world, the 4¼-Litre ‘Embiricos’ special, is making an historic appearance at the marque’s home in Crewe. Fresh from taking part in the Louis Vuitton ‘Serenissima Run’ in Venice and featuring at the Le Mans Classic as part of the Bentley lineup, this magnificent car takes pride of place in the Lineage Showroom at the firm’s Pyms Lane factory until September.
Throughout the 1930s Bentley Motors, then owned by Rolls-Royce, was producing fast, refined and well-built Grand Tourers from its Derby factory. While many customers sent their chassis to traditional coachbuilders such as Vanden Plas, H.J. Mulliner or Park Ward for elegant bodywork, enthusiasts from across the Channel, where the roads were longer and faster, were eager to explore the new world of aerodynamics. With the support of the factory, one such owner decided to investigate the possibility of a streamlined high-performance Bentley. The result was the most famous Bentley of the Derby era.
André Embiricos was a wealthy Greek racing driver living in Paris. Walter Sleator, the company’s Paris agent, put him in touch with Georges Paulin, a designer working for coachbuilders Pourtout Carrossier. Under Paulin’s guidance Pourtout produced a strikingly sleek, aerodynamic body for a 4¼-Litre Derby Bentley that would be suitable for fast touring and track records alike. To keep weight down the fastback body with split rear window was crafted in Duralumin, an age-hardenable aluminium alloy.
The ‘Embiricos’ Bentley fulfilled all the criteria for a Bentley high performance grand tourer, achieving a timed 114.64 mph (184.5 km/h) over an hour at Brooklands, yet being civilised enough for Embiricos to use as a road car. Embiricos sold his unique Bentley late in 1939 to H.S.F. Hay who raced it in three post-war Le Mans 24-hour races, achieving a commendable 6th place in 1949.
Although a one-off, reaction to the Embiricos Bentley encouraged the company to explore more streamlined styles for future production models. In 1939 Bentley designer Ivan Evernden worked with Paulin on a sleek Mark V prototype called Corniche. Unfortunately it was in France when WWII broke out and destroyed during a bombing raid on Dieppe while awaiting shipment to Britain. Post-war, many of the lessons of the Embiricos Bentley reached fruition in the glorious lines of the 1952 R Type Continental, and as such continue to be reflected in the iconic shape of today’s Continental GT coupe.
Richard Charlesworth, Director of Royal and VIP Relations and Head of the Bentley Heritage Collection, commented:
“It is an honour for Bentley to exhibit this unique Bentley for the first time, thanks to the generosity of its esteemed owner. Its sleek form was extremely advanced for the time, and its DNA can still be seen in modern Bentley coupes today. We are looking forward to showing the Embiricos to our factory visitors, and to the public at the upcoming Windsor Castle Concours of Elegance.”
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