Email from Colin Butterfield |
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Hi Shane,
While I normally enjoy your Car Talk page, I must take exception to your comments in last week’s edition, regarding Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars.
Firstly your comments that ‘a year ago Bentley and Rolls-Royce had a name to keep’.
As you should be aware, Rolls-Royce and Bentley parted company in the early 2000s, when BMW took over only the name of Rolls-Royce and built a new factory in the south of England to produce ‘kit cars’ sent over from Germany.
Bentley became part of the VW/Audi Group and continued building vehicles at Crewe in Cheshire, where they had been building luxury vehicles for over 60 years.
The rumours that you refer to are so-called ‘urban myths’ and deserve no further comment.
The Rolls-Royce Spirit Estate Car that you referred to was not built by Rolls-Royce, or Bentley Motors, but was modified by a company called Robert Jenkell and very badly, I know because I saw the car in Brunei, which I visited several times while delivering many totally unique Bentley models… estate cars, 4x4s, sports cars, limousines, etc.
Your last comments about Bentleys being exact copies of Audi really takes the biscuit… have you ever driven a Bentley GT, Spur, or GTC? If you had, you would know the difference!
Best regards,
Colin Butterfield
Retired Rolls-Royce and Bentley engineer
Thanks for your email Colin. When I read the article myself after it was printed I noticed the bit about ‘a year ago’ and I cringed because it should have read ‘years ago’. This was an editing error and in fact I wondered if I should have written about this at all. Upon re-reading the article, I felt that I didn’t express myself correctly, so now is a good time to do so…
You put to bed the urban myths – thanks for letting us know. But I didn’t actually say that the Rolls-Royce estate was built by Rolls-Royce. I said it was built under licence by Rolls-Royce and frankly that was what the selling dealer told me. I believe that under licence basically means with permission from Rolls-Royce.
The part where I mention that one particular Bentley is a copy of an Audi, I think I should try again to express what I meant. I have a customer, Kevin, who has had every Rolls-Royce you can think of; he’s quite an authority on the matter. A year ago he told me he was going to Germany to get a brand new Bentley, I told him that they are not like they used to be, to which he replied that this was a real Bentley – not the Audi.
A Bentley was featured on the TV series Top Gear and they said that the chassis, engine, gearbox, switches – everything – was identical to an Audi, all except the body shell. It was still a beautiful car.
Rolls-Royce and Bentley still produce good cars and are still what they used to be – that is unique cars made with care, using the best quality materials. OK, the engines in the Shadows were basically American-derived but Rolls-Royce added their touch and made them even more special. But there is no way that when the Shadow was built, Rolls-Royce would have put BMW, Mercedes or Audi parts on their cars, so I stand by my thoughts that Rolls-Royce and Bentley are not quite the same as they were and I think it’s sad.
Thanks for your email and I enjoyed our chat on the phone. I think readers would be interested in hearing about your experiences with Rolls, especially the cars you delivered to the Sultan of Brunei and especially that 4x4 estate Rolls-Royce…
Hi Shane,
I hope you can help me; I’m looking to see if it’s possible to get a UK MOT in the Torrevieja area, I think I saw an advert.
I have no tax or MOT, do you know the best way for me to take my car back to the UK? I’ve been told I can get MOT here then go online to get my car taxed from the UK.
I don’t see how you can get a UK MOT in Spain – that seems impossible! I’m not too sure how you would proceed; can a reader expand on this?
My advice is to check with the DVLA first.
I read your article every week. I am looking for a Volvo diesel estate car with a manual gear box. I live in Torrevieja and I cannot find a Volvo dealership anywhere nearby, can you help?
Peter A Fraser
patandpeter@poachedeggs.eu
Does anyone know of a Volvo dealer near Torrevieja? If so let us know, all the best.
Email from Jeannette Mortimer |
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Hello Shane,
I wonder if you could help me about the rules and regulations of buying and driving a microcar in Spain.
Several years ago my 63-year-old sprightly mother took driving lessons in the UK, but never passed her test. Now as a resident in Spain she would like her own transport. My understanding is that you do not need a full licence for these cars – is that the case?
Also, do you have any advice on where she could purchase one of these cars from and the approximate costs? She lives in Benijófar if that helps.
Thank you in anticipation of your help.
Regards,
Jeannette Mortimer
Nottingham
Give my friend Lance a call on 609 609 410, he can tell you the regulations. I believe you don’t need a full licence.
Howler, I understand that this type of car, bought new, can be quite expensive. There was one in the body shop that had quite a bit of damage; it was an insurance job. When I found out that the repair was 7,000 euros I didn’t believe it and when I asked the manger why it wasn’t written off, he told me it wasn’t an old car and this particular model was 16,000 euros new.
A word of advice, take a look at the construction as some of these cars can be flimsy. Can any readers add to this from their experience?
