Take an otherwise innocent looking Victorian factory building with its triangular shaped roof segments above and sweep it spotlessly clean. Divide into two halves, one half for the Arnage and longer models and the other for more recent fayre such as the Flying Spur and in fact all of the GT and Continental range which has made Bentley the world-leader it is today.
The building of a car such as the Arnage is along the length of this building and comprises of a set of areas where amongst other things the engine will be fitted. The engines in this series are a continuation of the original 50's design subsequently improved and refined to deliver in excess of the 500 horsepower needed to power this 2.5 tonne vehicle in the manner expected. This is the same issue that Brunel encountered in his train design, the greatest weight to be pulled is the engine itself rather than the carriage. The area where this fitting is conducted is referred to as ‘Engine Marriage', a place where, it must be said, a rather large engine is offered up to the underside of the car. In the case of the V8 engine, once fitted the craftsmen will ensure that when the engine is turning over, all of the forces in the engine block are balanced to prevent engine block vibration. The balance of the overall car is a separate activity to Engine Marriage.
Continuing on from the last in our Series of Premiere Lectures in the Midlands my intention at Bentley was to interview and see for the purposes of informing our readership about Seat Engineering at Bentley. This is the responsibility of Steve MacManus who gave that presentation at Coventry University to his alumni. Into his domain fall all areas associated with seating such as restraints, safety, airbags, upholstery, leather and so on. It is often said that a car is built around the driver making this aspect of car making pivotal. This is the major
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part of what the military refers to constantly as the Human Machine Interface. The complexity of seat making at Bentley is a complicated art form, with the first example we are shown comprising of over 670 individual parts to form the whole seat.
I was really not prepared for the scale upon which Bentley craftsmanship is undertaken. Ridiculous theories of late, estimate the construction of the pyramids to be a smaller undertaking. Beginning with the surface of the seat the leather work involved is really quite exquisite. The shades and variations of colour go a long way to explaining why there are 9.5million customisable aspects to a Bentley Seat System. Various hides are on display in the production area. This reminds me of shopping in Bombay where customers can sort through the proprietors stock room, so that the stock room is the actual shop. This is how it works at Bentley, this is where the customers can and do see their product in situ. Leather sourced preferentially from Scandinavian or Alpine regions on account of the colder climes there yield a more suitable leather. Even within an individual hide from a single animal, the edges are more elastic than the centre. It was explained that so it is with us, the skin over our stomachs is more accommodating than that covering our spines. Presumably evolution or divine inspiration made it so presumably on account of child-bearing for ladies and consumption for the rest of us. I learned recently that in the far-flung stellar nurseries of our galaxy, alcohol is a product of stellar chemistry and not just a naturally
occurring process of organic decomposition terrestrially. Further evidence I believe against the practise of abstinence. Bentley leather is a by product of the meat industry and no animals die just for their hides. This natural variation in elasticity is utilised by Bentley to ensure that in places where durability is needed the stiffer parts of the
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