World's oldest Bentley T-Series will get new life

Bentley is breathing back life into its very first T-Series model which has been off the roads for decades and has been in storage. Bentley informs the car's 6¼-litre pushrod V8, which came for the first time at least 15 years ago, still remains in a good condition along with the engine and the gearbox. Bentley says the restoration work will take at least 18 months following which the renewed model will be added to Bentley’s Heritage Collection of road-going cars.

Bentley's oldest T-Series model completed was produced on 28 September 1965. This model had a Shell Grey exterior paint and with blue leather interior. This range was first announced and introduced at the Paris Motor Show on 5 October 1965. Bentley informs this range was significantly different from its predecessor, the S-Type. The ultra-premium automaker shares the T-Series was the first Bentley to use a unitary construction method, that is it had a monocoque in place of the separate chassis and body technique of every Bentley before it.

The Bentley T-Series model featured an advanced chassis with independent suspension on all four wheels with automatic height control according to loading. Pressure for the self-levelling suspension in the car came from the triplicate hydraulic braking system which had disc brakes on all four wheels. The suspension constituted double wishbones and coil springs at the front and semi-trailing arms at the rear of the model.

The car's lightweight construction made it capable to touch the speed of 100 kmph from stationary back in those days. The Bentley T-Series had a top speed of 185 kmph. Bentley says it produced 1,868 examples of the first-generation T-Series.