1957 Bentley S1

supercharged Chevy 400

Automatic

B299FD

Clear

Unique and spectacular Bentley S1 for sale Chevy 400 engine with a B&M supercharger, headers, magnaflow exhaust and tips; estimated around 450 hpTCI transmission (upgraded from chevy 400) New custom interior, including seats, carpets, door panels, arm rests, headliner and trunk carpet.aftermarket air conditioning. Custom whitewall radials ($1,000); full matching spare with tools. ($800) Paint is excellent, (a few minor flaws), wood and brightwork are good, engine bay very good to excellent as indicated in pictures. has silver built in cigarrete case nt the glove boxcar showing 55k mileage but speedometer and odometer not hooked up since conversion. I've had the car six years. I bought it from an dealer/restorer who bought it from another dealer (who had the car painted) who bought it from the widow of the guy who had the conversion done, but he died before the conversion was finished, so I'm the first owner after the conversion was completed.I've put in a new chrome high output alternator, drive shaft, radiator, supercharger bearings and pulley, supercharger and alternator belts, has one year old battery. Reason for selling: pairing down my classic car collection/obsession; No Trades. On Nov-13-12 at 09:39:55 PST, seller added the following information: Systems and driving impressions: Steering and suspension: the car has power steering which works very well. The steering is very precise and has no slop or play whatsoever. The turning radius for a car this big is excellent. When I bought the car, it had bias ply tires and the ride was horrible. I switched to modern steel belted radials which made a dramatic improvement in the ride quality. However, the suspension is state-of-the-art mid-50s, and it doesn’t compare to a modern Lexus. On the other hand, the suspension is a whole lot better than a Corvette stingray, but not as good as a mid 60’s Lincoln Brakes: the car has its original brake system (drums, brake reservoirs, master cylinder, linkages) except that the mechanical booster (servo) which was attached to the Bentley transmission, I assume would not fit the TCI/Chevy 400 transmission, so the brake servo was replaced with a small conventional brake booster, which according to one mechanic, may have been an old Nissan design. A couple years ago, I had some problems with the brakes and found that the easiest solution was just to disconnect the booster and that’s the way I’ve been driving the car for the last few years. The brakes work fine but they has the feel of manual brakes (which is what they are without the booster). I don’t drive the car much because I have a number of classics and because the car attracts too much attention from people in cars and on the street. It looks like a really expensive exotic classic. I don’t take it any place where I might have to park it next to other cars (and as a result, it has no dings or scratches) so my use of it has been limited. If I were going to use it as a daily driver, (but I can’t see why anyone would), I’d probably find a better solution than the booster disconnect, but for the weekend drive around town, it’s adequate. Driving impressions: I like driving the car around town at around 30-50 mph. It has gobs of low-end power. The seat comfort level is very high. In the reclined position, it feels like you’re sitting in a comfortable recliner and in my opinion, noticeably better than modern cars. I don’t enjoy highway driving as much, especially over 75, mostly because the physics and aerodynamics of the Rolls Royce/Bentley are so poor compared to modern cars. It’s just too high and carries too much weight up high which to me makes it feel unstable compared to modern cars, or old low sports cars. This unstable feeling is more pronounced in strong wind. I don’t think it’s this car in particular, just the design. I’ve mentioned my Ferrari 308GT4 and that just slices through the wind on the highway because it has a low angle to the wind and is only 44 inches from the ground. This car is at the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of physics and aerodynamics. Power: I’ve driven the car with the supercharger belt off and I can’t really feel the difference unless I mash on the gas pedal (and I don’t do that much). I think a Chevy 400 starts with 300 or 350 hp, which is twice what the car had originally, so even without the supercharger, it’s faster than necessary to drive the car around town. With the supercharger, it’s considerably faster off-the-line. However, it’s a 5500 pound car with the chassis, brakes, suspension of a 50 plus year old car that was designed for an engine with a third the current horsepower. So the current configuration deserves respect for the limits of the car as a whole. Still, every once in a while, I’ll be at a stoplight with a sports or sporty car, and I’ll enjoy the look of surprise or shock when he hammers it and I’m there with him when we hit 40 or 50. And since its RHD, I’m looking at the guy, eyeball to eyeball. That being said, I view the supercharger more about bragging rights than necessary power I’ve seen a number of Chevy converted Bentleys, but I’ve never seen one with a supercharger and upgraded transmission which makes the car somewhat unique. I think the engine work was around 10k when it was done back in the late 90’s.