The Bentley S was a luxury car produced by Bentley Motors Limited from 1955 until 1959. In my recent visit to Westminster I discovered one sitting outside Westminster Abbey.

This was Bentley (and Rolls-Royce)’s first true complete redesign of their standard production car after World War II and their last standard production car with an independent chassis.

This shape remained in production with modifications until late 1965 when it was replaced with the completely new chassisless monocoque T series.

These cars, by modern standards, were no great shakes in the performance department. A standard wheelbase car tested by the British magazine “The Motor” in 1957 had a top speed of 103 mph (166 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 13.1 seconds. A fuel consumption of 16.1 miles per imperial gallon (17.5 L/100 km; 13.4 mpg-US) was recorded (!). The test car, which had the optional power steering, cost £6305 including taxes of £1803.

Despite all of this, the car is simply beautiful IMO and I have to say I have rarely seen a car garner so much attention from passers by.

Taken with my X-pro1 14mm and 35mm lenses.