CarBrandLogos archive · Bentley · 1965

BentleyT-series

A Silver Shadow with a mesh grille, and the marque's lowest point.

Photo: Charles01 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Bentley history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Bentley T-series, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Bentley T1 first registered March 1970 6230cc

Origins

In engineering terms the T-series of 1965 was the most advanced car Crewe had built: unitary construction in place of a separate chassis, independent rear suspension, and a high-pressure hydraulic system built under Citroën licence operating the brakes and self-levelling. The 6,230 cc V8 grew to 6,750 cc in 1971. Body styles ran from the standard four-door saloon to two-door coupés and convertibles.

Bentley T1 first registered March 1970 6230cc · Charles01 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

The problem was that it was a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow with a different grille and badge, sold at almost the same money, and buyers took the Rolls-Royce almost every time. Across the fifteen-year run, T-series production amounted to a small fraction of Shadow production, and the Bentley name shrank to a rounding error inside its own company. There were years in which barely a handful left the factory.

Bentley motif - Flickr - exfordy · Brian Snelson from Hockley, Essex, England · CC BY 2.0

In production

That near-extinction explains everything Bentley did afterwards. The Mulsanne Turbo of 1982 and the Continental R of 1991 exist because the T-series proved what happens when the badge stands for nothing in particular.

1969 Bentley T Pininfarina · Anton van Luijk · CC BY 2.0

At a glance