“DESIGN 991 WAS CONSIDERED REVOLUTIONARY


NOT ONLY STYLISTICALLY BUT ALSO TECHNICALLY, AS IT ADOPTED A COMPLETELY NEW METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION”


and often this version is referred to as the Baby Phantom. The well-balanced shape and pleasant rear-end treatment defined Design SCT100 as one of the most successful styling exercises for James Young in the Silver Cloud era. With the introduction of the new V-8


engine, Rolls-Royce took the decision to offer a much more modern styling for the Continental chassis. Charged with tracing the lines of this new generation of drophead coupés was a young Norwegian talent, Vilhelm Koren, discovered by Blatchley after inspecting one of his previous jobs on an Alfa Romeo car. This new Bentley drophead coupé created a huge break with the past, as the waistline of the car was completely straight, fully incorporating the front and rear wings. This Park Ward Design 991 was considered revolutionary not only stylistically but also technically, as it adopted a completely new


Opposite, clockwise from top left: The Park Ward drophead coupé for the S2 Continental chassis, with its straight wing-line; from 1963 the Flying Spur was available with Rolls-Royce radiator grille – a remarkable mix of beauty and sportiness; the James Young four-door offer for the S3 Continental chassis – a rival to the Flying Spur


method of construction, using a stretch press, something derived from the aircraft industry.


THIRD SERIES The third series brought the stylistic novelty of twin headlamps, which every coachbuilder adapted to their styling. The adoption of twin headlamps was


more complicated for the frontal updating of the Park Ward drophead coupé designed by Vilhelm Koren. The Norwegian stylist had left Rolls-Royce in the meantime, and so Blatchley’s collaborator Bill Allen was instructed to revise the frontal treatment of this revolutionary drophead coupé. The solution was not easy, as the straight modern lines of the body did not allow a satisfying marriage with twin headlamps. So, Allen drew inspiration from some Italian cars, in particular the elegant Lancia Flaminia coupé and convertible made by Touring of Milan, and positioned the twin headlamps horizontally on the front wings. The inner headlamps were positioned slightly lower than the outer lights, giving a peculiar frontal appearance that earned this new car the nickname “Chinese eye”. A fixed-head coupé version was also offered, which proved to be very successful, also with the Rolls-Royce radiator grille from 1963.


STRIVE FOR PERFECTION 046


At the 1963 London Motor Show,


Rolls-Royce unveiled a real novelty, with the introduction of coachbuilt bodies for the Silver Cloud III chassis, previously destined for the Bentley Continental chassis only. Probably the most successful of these offers was the Flying Spur body: with the Rolls-Royce radiator grille surmounted by the Spirit of Ecstasy, it blended sportiness and elegance perfectly. In official documentation, the car never took the name Flying Spur, which remained exclusive to the Bentley version. Initially proposed for the Continental


version of the second Series, James Young proposed a new four-door, six-light saloon styling with thinner rear pillars, which gave more lightness to the whole layout. The third series was updated with the new frontal treatment and from 1963 was available also with the Rolls-Royce radiator grille. Sometimes this design is incorrectly referred to as the James Young Flying Spur, due to a certain resemblance to the H J Mulliner version. Along with the four-door saloon, James Young offered the two-door saloon version, again derived from the styling of the Continental, which gave a touch of sportiness blended with elegance to the Rolls-Royce styling.


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