Rolls Royce and Bentley

280

273

274

It took Corgi a while to produce a Rolls Royce. The #224 Bentley Continental had been so good and a staple part of the range for so long that they probably didn't think they could beat it. Finally they made one and the #273 Silver Shadow appeared in 1970. It started as a Golden Jacks version but by the time the 1970 catalogue was issued there was already a Whizzwheels version. So this pretty impressive first model had a very short life and most appear in cream over blue. The Whizzwheels version was originally silver over metallic blue but there are a few around in that colour scheme with Golden Jacks. I am fortunate to have one in stock but it isn't cheap.

Apart from  missing a spare wheel in the boot and the wheels themselves of course, the Whizzwheels version is identical. Change the radiator grill and paint it a shade of ghastly 1970s pink and you have #274, the new Bentley. This only came with Whizzwheels and appears in the 1970 catalogue as 'Available Later' so is more like a 1971 release. The catalogue shows a photo of a yellow Bentley, another ridiculous colour but not one I believe was issued thank Heavens.

The Bentley appears

Not sure what Project X was all about. The Rolls can also be found in all silver, all darkish metallic blue and a solid mid-blue with what appear to be better-looking wheels in a second release around 1973. It is easily confused in pictures with the later 1:36 scale model which was often either red or black and silver and was actually a Corniche but people selling them do get mixed up.