Page 24 - Bentley Mark VI & R-Type

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The chassis was standard Mark VI except for the lower steering column
rake, higher compression ratio, higher final drive ratio, a differently-
shaped petrol tank, lower radiator shell (also mounted further forward)
and an improved efficiency exhaust system, producing the distinctive
‘note’ for which the Continental is well known, as well as saving 25
b.h.p. The impeccable steering mechanism and geometry of the Mark VI
perfectly suited the projected high-speed motor car, contributing in no
small measure to its fine handling qualities.
The prototype Bentley Continental, with the Experimental Department
chassis number 9-B-VI, was on the road by August 1951. It received the
Cheshire registration number OLG490, which quickly gave rise to the
name ‘Olga’ which has stuck ever since.
It might well be asked: why is this model called the R-Type Continental
if the chassis is Mark VI? The fact is that the prototype 9-B-VI2 predated
the introduction of the R-Type, with its longer chassis, revised rear spring
mountings and automatic choke. In its 1952 announcement of the Bentley
Continental, The Autocar reported that the chassis of this “special high-
speed version of the Mark VI Bentley . . . is the normal Bentley Mark VI
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with the larger engine of 4.566 c.c. introduced last year”. 9-B-VI and the
24 earliest (‘A’ series) production Continentals used the Mark VI chassis
and these may be readily recognised, without looking under the bonnet or
under the car, by their manual mixture control on the steering wheel centre
quadrant. These cars could be described as Mark VI Continentals, though
that completely accurate terminology is scarcely ever seen or heard. It was
only at the introduction of the ‘B’ series that the Continental was based on
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