The things they say . . .

“W. O. BENTLEY had predicted that the addition of a supercharger to his engine (the four-cylinder, 4.5-litre) would ‘pervert the design and corrupt the performance’, but failures of the cylinder blocks, valves and gaskets soon made the point that the limitations of contemporary materials and lubricants made it perilous to take such liberties.” — From an interesting article on the new Bentley Mulsanne Turbo by Gordon Wilkins, in the Rolls-Royce Journal, but which gaskets was he referring to, remembering that the 4.5-litre Bentley had an integral block and head? Wilkins also says that W.O. supported the idea of supercharging the engine of the experimental “Bensport” Rolls-Royce engine when Derby was seeking a solution to a new sports Bentley, but W.O.’s autobiography hardly confirms this. Indeed, W.O. says “if I had been consulted, I think I could have saved Derby the expense and time involved in testing the ‘Bensport’ with a supercharged engine”. — W.B.