A BIG SIX BENTLEY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 842, 10 December 1929, Page 6

A BIG SIX BENTLEY

MR. T. E. CLARK’S PURCHASE ! FAMOUS DE LUXE MODEL Mr. T. E. Clark, of Hobsonville, has imported a Big Six Bentley that must take its place as one of the finest cars in the Dominion. The car was ordered five months ago and, arriving at the beginning of last week, was put on the road at once. It has already attracted considerable attention in the City. The Bentley make was pioneered by Captain Bentley with the famous 3-litre model just after the war, the capital in the firm being mainly that of the powerful Barnato diamond interests, Mr. Woolf Barnato being still associated with the firm as managing director and one of its foremost racing drivers. Successes on the tracks and the unusual character of its five years’ unconditional guarantee, soon brought j the car to the front. Fresh models were introduced and the Big Six, of the type imported by Mr. Clark, is the largest of the line. His Royal Highness Prince George has a car of this model. Mr. Clark is well known locally as a prominent tennis player and as the owner previously of a powerful Vauxhall and a straight-eight Stutz. He is taking a party of tennis players on a j tour of Southern tennis tournaments in his new car during the holidays. The car is a most imposing machine in green and light fawn, the bold Bentley radiator and long, thrusting bonnet giving it an unusually commanding appearance. In spite of the size of the bonnet, there is no spare room underneath. The six-cylindered power unit is big, yet has a satin-like finish. There are two carburettors, and several mechanical refinements only found on cars of the highest class. The interior finish of the saloon body is lavish without being overdone. Soft leather air cushions line the bucket seats in front and give the back seats almost an armchair effect. A luggage trunk on the back is nicely moulded to the lines of the car. The spare wheels are mounted in wells on the front guards. On the road Mr. Clark will probably have few opportunities to give his powerful machine full scope. It would no doubt touch 95 or 100 miles an hour under favourable conditions, and in the third of its four forward gears could probably reach 60 or 65. On the dashboard are all the instruments associated with a speed car. The ma-

chine has a servo braking system and compensating springing to check rolling at speed. Though such a powerful car and with such large resources in speed, it is a docile and tractable machine in city traffic, and as smooth to handle in crowded Queen Street as on the open road. A tool box mounted under one running board reduces clearance on that side to barely six inches, which might be insufficient for rough touring. The chassis price was £1,700, and the Mulliner body and cost of importation, along with the outlay for a full set of spares and accessories, brought the total price to just on £3,000. This is the first Big Six Bentley to be imported into New Zealand, though there are four-cylinder models in Auckland, Hawke's Bay and Christchurch.