圖文閱讀:豪華與超凡力量的完美結合

The British have a peculiar view of the automobile. In fact, it can almost be called a national reverence, especially about vintage iron. Anything old is fodder for a ground-up restoration no matter how prosaic or dull the vehicle. Spindly Austin 7's of the '20s are venerated like doddering old aunties.

英國人對汽車有着獨特的看法. 事實上,幾乎可以稱得上是一種對國家的尊敬,尤其是對早期的古董. 任何舊的東西都可以重新修復不管是這種車輛有多零散有多遲鈍；修長的奧斯汀7世以及20世都已經是人們喜歡的老爺車.

Like many of the pioneers in the auto business world-wide, the Bentley's road to this year's podium at Le Mans has been a rough one. W.O. Bentley began his "automotive" career as a railroad engineering apprentice at the turn of the century and immediately got into racing via the motorcycle circuit, a common practice among young Brits before World War I.

像許多享譽世界的汽車企業先鋒一樣,賓特利在LeMans的表現也經歷了坎坷. 賓特利先生作爲一個鐵路工程在世紀之交學徒開始他的"汽車”生涯,立即投入機動賽車通過巡迴的方式，一戰前這是一種英國青年人之間很平常的練習。

Bentley gravitated through an aviation engineering stint during that war and at its end, became determined to form an auto manufacturing company of his own. Bentley Motors, Ltd. was formed in 1919 with very little capital on hand, a plight that was to plague the company for the next decade.

戰爭時期賓特利通過在航空工程服役的影響,在戰爭結束後,就下定決心,形成自己的汽車製造公司. 賓特利汽車有限公司成立於1919年,當時資本很少,公司在接下來的10年都將處於一個困境。



In the decade before World War II, the Bentley line became, in effect, the hot-rod Rolls-Royce. The Bentley chassis of that era started off life in the late '20s as a smaller Rolls that was originally conceived as a car for the up-and-coming executive. Aborting this concept as The Depression deepened, the company installed a slightly hopped-up 3.5-liter R-R engine and had more "sporting" body work installed. In this guise, it was quite successful and it quickly acquired the quasi-official title of "The Silent Sports Car."

二戰前的二十年,是賓特利路線轉換了,實際上就是熱棒的勞斯萊斯. 在後來的20年作爲一個小型車軋，賓特利的底盤在最初的構思是作爲汽車新興的執行.但是受到經濟蕭條的深化這一理念夭折了，爲此公司安裝了一個細小的3.5公升的RR引擎而且增加了許多的運動元素。這一修改很成功,而且很快取得了半官方名稱叫"沉默的跑車"

The turbulent financial times of the '60s culminated with the company becoming part of the Vickers conglomerate which in turn recently sold the Rolls-Royce name to BMW and the Bentley name, factory and assets to Volkswagen. The resulting conflict between the two German giants has lead not only to massive law suits but corporate animosity between the two.

發生在六十年代的金融動盪時期，賓利公司從屬於Vickers公司，該公司近日又將勞斯萊斯出售給了寶馬汽車公司。賓特利品牌、工廠以及資產都歸大衆公司所有.衝突造成了德國兩個汽車巨人不但訴訟到法庭,而且還使兩公司之間產生了敵意

To its credit, the leaders of VW have resurrected the Bentley motorsports tradition in general and its return to Le Mans in particular. This, of course, pleases British auto enthusiasts immensely and helps to mollify the fact that a British automotive icon is owned by a German company.

出於公司的信任，大衆公司領導人恢復了賓特利汽車傳統的運動元素尤其是Le Mans.當然,這極大的滿足了英國汽車愛好者並幫助平息了英國汽車標誌歸屬於德國公司的這一事實.



But W.O. Bentley would be even more pleased that "his" company was finally wrestled away from Roll-Royce.
但是賓特利將更加高興的是,"他"的公司終於脫離了勞斯萊斯。


車標故事：

賓利自1919年英國人賓利奧雲先生創立了賓利汽車後，一直是譽滿全球的頂級名車。是世界上唯一將豪華與性能同時推至頂峯的汽車，是尊貴與超凡力量的結合。
　　賓利汽車擁有完美的發動機，輕而易舉就可以提升駕駛速度。在1924至1930年間，賓利在全世界以講求耐力及速度而馳名的法國勒芒賽事中五奪冠軍；及後於2003年再度摘冠，足以證明賓利的表現及性能歷久不衰，卓越超凡。同樣重要的是，賓利秉承傳統的人手精耕細作工藝生產汽車，從車身外觀和色澤、皮革到內飾陪襯，以及內部配件都可以根據客戶的要求訂製。
　　賓利除了表現車主的成就和地位以外，更爲車主帶來了速度與舒適，以及純英國風味的高貴享受。被專業人士稱爲“一生中最想擁有的車”。英女皇登基50週年，更指定以全新賓利爲御用座駕出席慶祝活動。
賓利(又譯本特利)汽車1924年曾在勒芒24小時耐力賽中奪得冠軍，一下子揚名世界車壇。但由於經營不善，賓利汽車公司在1931年被勞斯萊斯吞併，公司也更名爲勞斯萊斯-賓利汽車公司。1997年，勞斯萊斯品牌被德國寶馬收購，賓利品牌則落入德國大衆之手。接手賓利之後，大衆爲賓利在英國克魯的工廠投入了5億英鎊進行設備更新與改造。今後賓利汽車公司仍用世代相傳的手工工藝製造賓利豪華轎車