1939 Bentley Corniche Prototype

A unique and specially honored Bentley is the prototype 1939 Corniche design.  Its body was designed and  built in France on a chassis supplied by Rolls-Royce's Bentley subsidiary.  Perhaps even more unusual was its total lack of an identifying Bentley grille.

The Bentley Motors Limited web site about the car is here.  It stated:

"The ‘Embiricos’ Bentley 4¼ Litre of 1938 inspired Bentley to create an aerodynamic Mark V called the Corniche.  Although the original body was destroyed in the war, it was the precursor to the iconic R Type Continental of 1952.  To celebrate Bentley’s 2019 centenary, the Corniche was recreated using a combination of original Mark V parts and the specialist fabrication skills of Mulliner, Bentley’s in-house bespoke and coachbuilding division.

"In the late 1930s the ‘Embiricos’ Bentley, designed by Georges Paulin and bodied by Pourtout, had shown the value of aerodynamics for fast road and track driving.  Its success inspired Bentley to commission a one-off 4-door Mark V in a similar ‘streamlined’ style.  A Mark V prototype chassis (14BV) was sent to France, where Bentley designer Ivan Evernden worked jointly with Paulin at the Paris workshops of Carosserie Vanvooren.  The car, named ‘Corniche’, was intended to be shown at the 1939 London Motor Show alongside other coachbuilders’ offerings for the Mark V chassis."

Unfortunately, the car was destroyed in an August, 1939 crash.  The recreation was part of Bentley's 2019 Centennial celebrations.

Photos below are via Bentley unless noted otherwise.

Gallery

First, three black-and-white photos of the original car.  The concept was an aerodynamic (in the late 1930s sense) four-door saloon.  In those days, bodies with "streamlining" features tended to be coupés.

An earlier Bentley saloon with aerodynamic pretentions (keeping in mind that Bentley did not offer "factory" bodies before World War 2).  It's a 1936 4 1/4 Litre Airflow Saloon by Gurney Nutting - R.M. Sotheby's photo.  Standard wheelbase for this series was 126 inches (3200 mm).  Compare its proportions to those of the Corniche in the image below.

Mark V Bentleys such as the Corniche had 124 inch (3150 mm) wheelbases.  This car's passenger compartment is placed farther forward than that of the Airflow.  And its proportions are more sensible and attractive.

The odd styling feature is the frontal composition that will be examined in more detail below.

Right profile of the replica.  The strong falling-off of the beltline abaft of the A-pillar is a French feature, but usually found in less-exaggerated form on English saloons.

No doubt Paulin gave plan-view feature shaping considerable thought.

Looking down on the front end - image via Classic & Sports Car magazine.  Teardrop shapes aplenty here.   Unusual is the prow lacking a grille.  Suggestive of pre-1930 Renaults.  It's flanked by actual grilles that seem rather small for providing cooling air to the radiator.

Head-on frontal view.  Not at all Bentley-like.  The advent of World War 2 shortly after the original Corniche was destroyed ended any chance of production.  Given the lack of factory bodies, it's possible that Corniche buyers would have retained Paulin's frontal design.  Or maybe Bentley might have provided a front end or even a hood-grille unit that was more Bentley-like, though not necessarily as seen below.

An example of a 1939-vintage Bentley front end.  The car is a 1938 4 1/4 Litre Sports Saloon by Mulliner - Bonham's photo.