Page 26 - Bentley Mark VI & R-Type

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LOWER: John Blatchley once told the author that when it was intended to build
fixed-head and drophead cars with similar styling, the drophead was always
designed first, because adapting fixed-head coachwork to become a drophead
presented far more difficulties. That was certainly the case with the Park Ward
Bentley Continentals designed by Mr Blatchley. This photograph, ostensibly
showing a two-door saloon, in fact shows a drophead coupé, almost certainly
BC73C, retouched as part of the design process for the two-door saloon. The tools
used for such retouching included a mapping pen and air-brush, as well as a great
deal of artistic skill.
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UPPER: Continental R-Type Park Ward drophead coupé BC25D. One of four built,
it was at first retained in Company ownership and exhibited at the 1954 Brussels
and Turin Motor Shows.
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