Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit & Spur Bentley Mulsanne Eight Continental Brooklands

Features A beautiful book The full, definitive history of the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit now in its, enlarged, second edition Includes the complete story of the Bentley Mulsanne Ancestry Design and development Evolution Revival of the sporting Bentley Ownership of the best car in the world - what's involved Helpful hints on maintenance Full facts and figures. Description Complete history of the Silver Spirit and associated Bentley models to include ancestry, design, development and evolution. Technical facts combine with helpful information on ownership. Synopsis Introduced in 1980, the Silver Spirit and Bentley Mulsanne are the most successful post-war Rolls-Royces and their longevity means ownership of these fine cars is both an enjoyable and practical proposition. This complete history examines the cars' design and development along with a full technical appraisal and helpful ownership information. Independent Reviews Review from Classic Monthly, December 2005 In 1980, the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and Bentley T-Series were replaced by models which would represent the companies into the new millennium. This updated and enlarged second edition book charts the development of the Rolls Royce Silver Spirit and Spur in all three series, as well as all variations of the Bentley Mulsanne, Azure, Continental and Brooklands. A wealth of factory pictures and sketches show prototypes and variations of the respective models including limousines and proposed coupe models. Full of facts and figures this represents an indepth study that, while not budget priced, does deserve space in your motoring library. - Review from Old Cars Weekly, October 2006 Explore the inherent luxury of the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit and Silver Spur, as well as the Bentley Mulsanne, without feeling the strain on your pocket with this hardcover-book on the cars from Veloce Publishing. There's a hefty amount of text and both black-and-white and color photography to make buyers of this 208-page hardcover book feel as though they got their money's worth, just like the owners of these cars. - Review by Tom King, Editor of New Zealand Rolls-Royce & Bentley Club Do we need yet another book about Rolls-Royce and Bentley? I would argue a strong ?yes? when the quality of the production and writing are of Veloce Publishing and Malcolm Bobbitt?s standard. History is such a difficult subject to capture satisfactorily, and it becomes harder to interpret as it fades into the past and becomes beyond reliable memory. This is where truth is elusive, and charlatans may lurk. As soon as an assertion is published it can become the basis for history, no matter how spurious, and can then be quoted as a source. While primary source material and memories are available and fresh it is surely timely to make a record of events, and Malcolm Bobbitt has chosen his time wisely to record in detail the end of an era. He has followed his highly regarded ?Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow/Bentley T-Series, Carmargue & Corniche? for the same publisher with this fine book, and has placed the final two decades of the combined Companies and their products firmly in their context. To anyone confused by the array of models produced from 1980, not easily identified even at close quarters by the Companies? discreet badges, this book sets us straight. The production figures of each models are listed, and these make some models, such as the Silver Dawn, (see the cover picture of Ken Ricketts?s car) at only 237 between 1994 and 1998, particularly rare. The photographs, whether black and white or colour, illustrate production, development and design details, the cars? sumptuous interiors, and the complete cars of every conceivable variation. There are very few photographs showing the pixilation which can so irritate those of us whose close eyesight homes in on such compromises. The Company-sourced large format pictures, often using the Works? ?TU? prefix, are of the high standard those fortunate enough to own brochures have come to expect. The late Ken White used TU1800 on his Silver Shadow, surely the hippest use of a personalised plate that one could imagine. The original colour and black and white drawings executed by Graham Hull, Martin Bourne, and Robin Page are also used extensively. The record available in Mr Bobbitt?s book will certainly be a great help in future, when these cars are restored. There is an extensive section ?Living With a Silver Spirit or Mulsanne?, followed by ?Specifications?, ?Production Figures and Chronology?, and finally ?Clubs and Specialists?. My only criticisms of the book are the omission of our own fine specialists, Colin Gray and Bruce McIlroy, and the out of date address for our New Zealand Club. Veloce Publishing?s catalogue has a bewildering array of books for all motoring tastes, and they are providing us with a precious resource of motoring history, produced to impeccable standards of design, content, and materials. Batsford Books in the 1960s, Profile Publications in the 1970s, and Dalton Watson in the 1980s published worthwhile histories, but I am sure that the fine acid-free art paper of Veloce Publishing?s imprint will outlast the now rather yellow Batsfords and the Dalton Watsons now lacking somewhat in the structural integrity department. - This is an enlarged and updated?and slightly more expensive version of the original 2000 edition. The new book runs a few pages longer, largely due to layout changes. Not a single page looks the same; a few photos in the Shadow section have been swapped and one each of the Goodwood Phantom and the Continental GT have been added. The text is updated in as much as the 1998 split of the marques is given a few more words, as are the models that have been introduced since 2000 (Seraph, Arnage, etc.). Both topics are really peripheral to this book?s focus anyway, which is a thorough overview of the origins, design, and evolution of the SZ series. A good sense of context is created by embedding the specifics of this particular series into the larger picture of RRMC?s business activity, such as the RB.211 jet engine complications, the increasingly restrictive safety regulations especially in the US, and the revitalization of Bentley. A nice touch is the detail devoted to the people behind the SZ. One of the appendices enumerates assorted faults and flaws germane to the SZs and contains a VIN decoder as well as thoughts on practicality and collectability. Others contain a spec list, chronology, and addresses of the international RR/B clubs and current service/repair/parts facilities on three continents. The book title notwithstanding, the 1995?2002 Azure is mentioned only in passing, and of the Continentals only the SZ based R, T, and SC are briefly discussed, not the SY (Shadow/T)-based Bentley version of the Corniche. Those models have not yet been comprehensively covered in the literature and are really deserving of their own book.