Q: Who (at age 13) bought this this magnificent 1930 240bhp Blower Bentley (later painted Battleship Grey) as his first car?
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| Author: | Frank T [ Thu May 02, 2019 6:20 pm ] | ||
| Post subject: | Useless Trivia | ||
Q: Who (at age 13) bought this this magnificent 1930 240bhp Blower Bentley (later painted Battleship Grey) as his first car?
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| Author: | Frank T [ Fri May 03, 2019 10:06 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Useless Trivia |
Choices: a) Graham Hill b) Sterling Moss c) Teddy Roosevelt d) James Bond e) Sir Malcolm Campbell f) John Fitch g) Sgt Preston of the Yukon h) Dr. Stanley Livingston |
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| Author: | FM6 [ Sat May 04, 2019 10:09 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Useless Trivia |
B) Sterling Moss 
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| Author: | Frank T [ Sat May 04, 2019 1:44 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Useless Trivia |
BRAAAKKKKKK! Wrong answer, thanks for playing. Next guess? |
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| Author: | johnnyZ [ Sat May 04, 2019 8:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Useless Trivia |
Graham Hill 
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| Author: | Frank T [ Sat May 04, 2019 9:18 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Useless Trivia |
BRAAAKKKKKK! Wrong answer, thanks for playing. The answer is James Bond! While the movie world remembers Bond as an avid Aston Martin driver, the readers of the actual Ian Fleming novels of the late '50s thru early-'60s (Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker) remember that this was Bond's first car and his first love. Early Bentley advertisements proudly proclaimed, "Bond drives a Bentley!" This was the 1929-'31 4.5L Blower Bentley, the epitome of pre-war British sports cars and a 175-240hp Supercar of its day. Bond's aunt owned one of the 665 normally-aspirated models while young James was growing up, and he convinced himself it was the only car for him to own when he reached driving age. When he was 13 however, the chance arose for him to obtain one of the very rare (only 55 made) supercharged convertible coupes and he seized it. He learned to drive on this beast, stored it secretly while he awaited legal driving age, then again for the duration of the war. When he brought it back out in 1945 it was well past its prime, but Bond still loved it and drove it thru the 1950s. It was a monster on narrow lanes and Bond got quite the workout throwing the big 2-ton car around, learning to shift the straight-tooth non-synchro 4 Spd gearbox and when to switch-on (and off) the axial mounted Amherst-Villiers supercharger up front ahead of the radiator, which bumped the 273 cubic inch 4-cylinder horsepower from 175 up to 240 when engaged. Bond's housekeeper openly disapproved of the car and chastised him that it wasn't the right ride for a proper English Gentleman. Bond (a Scot) couldn't have cared less. He had it painted battleship grey after the war, in homage to his Navy service of that era. He could count on the old Bentley for an honest 120mph and installed twin French Marchal headlamps for safety, but the tires were the issue. Bond crashed the car during his Moonraker adventure and turned it over to Q for repair. In Goldfinger he asks Q "where's my Bentley?" and Q answers that it's "had it's day, I'm afraid". He then introduces Bond to his new car, the Aston Martin DB5 "with modifications", and a legend is born. https://youtu.be/ZLDC4RVeA1A?t=20 https://www.wired.com/2014/12/first-bon ... r-bentley/ And there's your bit of useless trivia for today. |
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| Author: | johnnyZ [ Sun May 05, 2019 1:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Useless Trivia |
Well done.  I confess that I never read any of the early Fleming novels, but did see most of the James Bond movies and I always loved the film intros.
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| Author: | SurferD [ Mon May 06, 2019 8:01 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Useless Trivia |
As an avid adventure story reader I'm almost ashamed having never read and of Fleming's work. I did know about the Bentley but not its origins. If you like stories of pre-WW1 check out Clive Cussler's Iassac Bell books. https://clive-cussler-books.com/categor ... saac-bell/ They are chock full of turn of the century tech and feature all kinds of vintage transportation devices. Also Bell drives a 1906 Locomobile which was the hot car of the time. Also of note, they were manufactured in Bridgeport CT where Seaside Park is. |
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| Author: | Frank T [ Mon May 06, 2019 4:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Useless Trivia |
Not meaning to belabor the point, but these two videos about the Blower Bentley just made me smile all thru them: https://youtu.be/Jg1U2E9yokY https://youtu.be/mlOG30qBXQY What a grand beast. How could you close your garage door at night and walk away from this thing? Gawd bless the Brits for leaving this magnificent thumbprint on humanity. |
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| Author: | SurferD [ Tue May 07, 2019 5:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Useless Trivia |
Timely Hemmings article https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2019/05/0 ... refer=news |
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