"The Technical Facts of the Vintage Bentley"

247 pp., 5 1/2 in. by 8 1/2 in. (Bentley Drivers Club Ltd., ” Madges,” Long Crendon, near Aylesbury, Bucks. 30s.)

This “Bentley Bible,” compiled with monastic devotion by the Bentley Drivers’ Club, is something which has never been done before in the long annals of motor sport. It is a technical treatise of the most painstaking kind, covering the specifications and more particularly the constructional and maintenance aspects of all the vintage Bentley models, including the near-vintage 4-litre car.

Whereas the Bugatti Book sought to provide a register of existing Bugattis and a history of the marque, the “Bentley Bible” is more technical, aimed at assisting the conscientious to keep these “fast lorries” in first-class mechanical condition. Every conceivable piece of information to this end seems to be revealed, even to specifications of the various metals used in the construction of these great and immortal cars.

Comprehensive diagrams are included, and the historically-minded are catered for by tabulated data relating to the numbers of different models of Bentley which were manufactured and the chassis numbers relating to them, these tables alone being a quite phenomenal piece of compilation.

The book has a magnificent photographic dust-jacket, itself of an advanced degree of technicality; there is a foreword by W.0. Bentley, a delightful photograph of whom forms the frontispiece; and the introduction is by the B.D.C. President, Stanley Sedgwick.

The book is beautifully produced and a monument to the enthusiasm, integrity and thoroughness of the B.D.C. as a whole. If ever questions are raised in Parliament as to the danger of allowing old cars to roam our inadequate roads, Stanley Sedgwick must see that those who rise to reply are armed with this splendid book—it is the complete answer, certainly so far as Bentleys are concerned !

Intended for B.D.C. members, we understand that a bare 250 copies of “The Technical Facts of the Vintage Bentley” are available to avid outsiders.—W. B.

“Achievements 1954”
C. C. Wakefield & Co., Ltd., have issued their annual book of “Achievements,” devoted to successes attained in 1954 by machines lubricated, like the Editor’s cars, with Castrol. Containing many excellent photographs, the book is this time arranged alphabetically, from Alfa-Romeo to Triumph, and includes amongst its exciting photography the Maybach Special which beat B.R.M. in the Auckland Grand Prix and a Citroen Special racing in South Africa. You can obtain a copy of “Achievements 1954” free of charge by applying to C. C. Wakefield & Co., Ltd., 46, Grosvenor Street, London, W.1, and stating that you are a reader of Motor Sport.