Dave explained the painstaking process used to craft the woodwork that goes into each Bentley vehicle. He also explained that with modern advances in lacquer technology, my particular issue would simply not occur in today's vehicles. He then gave me a few tips on how to rectify my problem.
I thanked him for his advice, and then, just as I was about to leave, he enquired what year my Bentley was. I told him, and with a slight grin he said "I polished the crankshaft in your car".
Now wait a minute! I know that all Bentley vehicles are hand built, but to actually meet a man who helped build the engine in my personal vehicle over 20 years ago, was, to put it mildly, quite amazing!!!
I want you to think about that for a second. What would you estimate the chance of that actually happening to anyone in today's world?
Well, as it turns out, slightly less of a coincidence than you'd expect.
You see, Dave has worked for Bentley for over 36 years now. Starting out in engine production, he later chose to retrain and moved into the woodworking department.
Naturally, he remembers each part of the build process in which he was involved, and can recall precisely which job he was performing in any given year. In fact, at that moment, he pointed to the beautiful Bentley drop head on the stand and said, "I did the woodwork in that car"!
He then introduced me to his colleague Noel, who works as a leather specialist for Bentley.
Noel showed me a partially completed steering wheel and explained that although the leather is machine cut nowadays, the rest of the work is still completed entirely by hand. He then added that Bentley had, at one time, programmed the machine to pre-punch the holes for the stitching. However, it was found to be less accurate than the previously hand made holes, so they went back to the traditional method.
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I thanked him for his advice, and then, just as I was about to leave, he enquired what year my Bentley was. I told him, and with a slight grin he said "I polished the crankshaft in your car".
Now wait a minute! I know that all Bentley vehicles are hand built, but to actually meet a man who helped build the engine in my personal vehicle over 20 years ago, was, to put it mildly, quite amazing!!!
I want you to think about that for a second. What would you estimate the chance of that actually happening to anyone in today's world?
Well, as it turns out, slightly less of a coincidence than you'd expect.
You see, Dave has worked for Bentley for over 36 years now. Starting out in engine production, he later chose to retrain and moved into the woodworking department.
Naturally, he remembers each part of the build process in which he was involved, and can recall precisely which job he was performing in any given year. In fact, at that moment, he pointed to the beautiful Bentley drop head on the stand and said, "I did the woodwork in that car"!
He then introduced me to his colleague Noel, who works as a leather specialist for Bentley.
Noel showed me a partially completed steering wheel and explained that although the leather is machine cut nowadays, the rest of the work is still completed entirely by hand. He then added that Bentley had, at one time, programmed the machine to pre-punch the holes for the stitching. However, it was found to be less accurate than the previously hand made holes, so they went back to the traditional method.
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