dimanche 16 mars 2014
Crewe secrets: Inside Rolls-Royce & Bentley's styling department
The sensitive nature of a styling studio’s work means only a small percentage of its ideas – those that make production – are ever revealed. During their brotherly years in Crewe, Rolls-Royce and Bentley shared a design team; we can now reveal some behind-the-scenes secrets…
With the coachbuilding era all but a distant memory, the in-house styling department of Rolls-Royce and Bentley was relishing its heightened importance in the early 1970s. However, Rolls-Royce chose to appoint Pininfarina to design the Camargue: the manufacturer's first (and last) project to be executed entirely by a third party.
Crewe buys an Italian suit
Unlike Mulliner Park Ward et al, Pininfarina had diversified sufficiently to overcome the death of coachbuilding, offering its consultancy services (and just as importantly, the use of its name) to established manufacturers. Yet the house style Pininfarina bestowed on the Camargue caused panic among Crewe’s top brass when the similarly proportioned Fiat 130 Coupé was unveiled ahead of the Rolls’ imminent launch. An emergency side-by-side evaluation was held and the similarity deemed acceptable. In the words of Rolls-Royce designer Graham Hull, “Although the two vehicles were clearly related, it wasn’t a case of two women wearing the same dress at a social function.”
Pininfarina's Camargue was deemed ill-postured by the in-house design team
As a result, it was green-lighted for production – but the internal design team was far from impressed, their toes perhaps a little sore from their encounter with an Italian leather boot in full stride. The consensus was that the Camargue was ill-postured, with the body overhanging the wheels and sloping down towards the rear, the latter giving the (incorrect) impression that the self-levelling suspension wasn’t up to the job. With little opportunity for body alteration, the in-house team settled for adding wing-witness markers to help the driver place the lengthy bonnet during low-speed manoeuvres. Some years later, the team was given an audience with Sergio himself to describe how the design might be ‘improved’ – Mr Pininfarina’s final response, despite admitting there was room for improvement, was: “I would travel through the rain and fog to be with my child.”
What might have been
Luckily, the British designers were of the ‘dust yourself off’ mould, an attitude that was further hardened over the coming decades by investing many hours into eventually aborted projects. Perhaps the most interesting are those that never even made it to prototype stage: a Rolls-Royce sports saloon considered in the mid-70s as an aerodyne alternative to the boxy Lagonda saloon; a sporty two-door Bentley explored in the mid-80s (seen above right); and a mid-engined, two-seater Bentley supercar in the mid-90s. The latter, which its designer described as “sanitised Le Mans car meets Ferrari Testarossa,” grew into the Hunaudières concept once VW took charge – and it in turn developed into the Bugatti Veyron.
The BMW-based Bentley
A few years before the mid-engined proposal, the Crewe design team had begun working on another new-ground Bentley – this time a smaller model, roughly based on the package of a BMW 5 Series. The stylists soon found that the traditional, round-headlight front end was not one that liked to be scaled down – so the smallest-ever Bentley coupé was given a radical new face, which incorporated bold headlights and a shorter version of the trademark grille. Despite being well received at the 1994 Geneva Show and having an agreement for a collaborative production run with BMW in place, the few Javas eventually built (coupés, convertibles and estates) were those commissioned by a well-known collector. But although the partnership with BMW failed on this occasion, it gave the Germans a taste for an established British image – and we all know how that turned out.
Photos: Graham Hull / Rolls-Royce Motors / Bentley Motors
This text was adapted from the information in the new book ‘Inside the Rolls-Royce & Bentley Styling Department, 1971 to 2001’, which you can order now from veloce.co.uk. Written by Graham Hull, who joined the company in 1971 and later progressed to become Chief Stylist, it contains many similar stories illustrated with previously unseen images.
For a chance to win a unique drawing rendered and signed by Graham Hull, answer the following question: How many pictures are there in Graham Hull's new Rolls-Royce & Bentley book?
You'll find the answer on the description page on Veloce's website. Email your answers to prize@veloce.co.uk.
You'll find the answer on the description page on Veloce's website. Email your answers to prize@veloce.co.uk.
A family affair in the premier class / Le MotoGP™ est aussi une affaire de famille
Aleix and Pol Espargaro will be racing in MotoGP™ in 2014, but they will not be the first brothers to line up on the same premier class grid.
Aleix and Pol Espargaro will be racing in MotoGP™ in 2014, but they will not be the first brothers to line up on the same premier class grid.
There are a number of milestones with respect to brothers racing together in the premier-class - which the Espargaros can measure themselves against:
- The last time that two brothers competed together in a MotoGP race was at the USA GP in 2010 at Laguna Seca, with Nicky Hayden on the factory Ducati and Roger Lee Hayden riding as a replacement for Randy de Puniet on the LCR Honda. Both riders scored points: Nicky finishing 5th and Roger Lee 11th.
- The last time that brothers were on the full-time entry list for the MotoGP class was in 2004, when Kenny Roberts was riding the Suzuki and Kurtis Roberts was on the Proton KR.
- In addition to the Roberts brothers in 2004, other sets of brothers have competed together full-time in the premier-class in the same season; Nobuatsu and Takuma Aoki in 1997, Nobuatsu and Haruchika Aoki in 1999, Bernard and Marc Garcia (1994 & 95), Dominique and Christian Sarron (1989).
- The last time that brothers finished together on the podium in the premier-class was at the Imola Grand Prix in 1997, when Nobuatsu Aoki finished second and Takuma Aoki finished third.
- The only other occasion that brothers have finished together on the podium in the premier-class was at the Argentine GP of 1962, when Juan Salatino finished second and Eduardo was third.
Réunis cette année, Aleix et Pol Espargaró se sont déjà affrontés plusieurs fois au cours de leur carrière en Grand Prix mais ne sont pas les seuls frères à s’être retrouvés ensemble dans la catégorie reine.
A moins d’une semaine du début des essais libres du Grand Prix Commercial Bank du Qatar, l’épreuve d’ouverture de la saison 2014, motogp.com vous propose quelques statistiques des nombreux duo de frères qui ont couru dans la catégorie reine et dont les records pourraient être battus par Aleix et Pol Espargaró cette année.
- La dernière fois que deux frères disputaient une course MotoGP™ remonte au GP des Etats-Unis de 2010, à Laguna Seca. Nicky Hayden courait alors pour Ducati tandis que son frère Roger Lee remplaçait Randy de Puniet, blessé, chez LCR Honda. Les deux pilotes avaient fini dans les points, avec la cinquième place pour Nicky et la onzième pour Roger Lee.
- Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) et Kurtis Roberts (Proton KR) sont les derniers frères à avoir été simultanément inscrits pour une saison complète en MotoGP™, en 2004.
- En dehors des frères Roberts, de nombreux frères se sont retrouvés sur la grille de la catégorie reine pour une saison complète : Nobuatsu et Takuma Aoki en 1997, Nobuatsu et Haruchika Aoki en 1999, Bernard et Marc Garcia (1994 & 95) ainsi que Dominique et Christian Sarron (1989).
- Les derniers frères à être montés ensemble sur le podium de la catégorie reine sont Nobuatsu et Takuma Aoki, qui avaient respectivement pris les seconde et troisième places du Grand Prix d’Imola en 1997.
- Seuls deux autres frères sont montés ensemble sur le podium de la catégorie reine, Juan et Eduardo Salatino, au GP d’Argentine de 1962, avec les deuxième et troisième places.
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