British Sports Cars
of San Luis Obispo

I selected British Sports Cars of San Luis Obispo to restore B512CU to its former glory. I couldn't be more pleased with the interior! New headliner, new upholstery in genuine Connolly leather, new carpets, and restored wood dash and trim by world-famous Madera Concepts in Goleta, California, all beautifully executed. Peter Jurgens made many other improvements and repairs, most of which I've put on this page or "The List" page. I would recommend his shop to anyone needing to restore a classic British automobile.

Transport

We transported B512CU to their shop on Wednesday, 24 June 2020.

I found a shipper on UShip.com who did a great job. Thank you, Erick Jimenez!

Update on 14 July 2021

My daughter and I visited British Sports Cars on Thursday, 14 July 2021. Justin Jurgens kindly took us to his warehouse where the Bentley sits, waiting for parts.

You can see some of what has already been done in the photos below, taken by my daughter.

Front license plate mounting frame
Front license plate OGN 803
I found this on eBay and immediately knew I had to get it. "OGN" happens to be the name of my organization's computer network, i.e. the OSI Global Network. "803" was the designation of the unit I commanded back in 2006, i.e. AFOSI Detachment 803 at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Badge bar
I'll have some badges for it later.
All front headlights work
Wiper arms, blades, motor, and washer spray all functional
Brake lights and reverse lights work
Voltage regulator replaced
All interior lights and cigarette lighters work
Engine compartment is much cleaner
Radiator serviced and caps fixed
Air intake duct reinstalled

Much more work has been done than can be seen in these photos:

Exhaust pipes replaced
Rocker panels re-welded properly
Air conditioning works
Heating works
Clock replaced
"At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in the new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock." That's what the ads said in the late 1950s, so what kind of owner would I be if the clock in mine wasn't even working?
Gas cap seal replaced
Firewall reinstalled

Peter Jurgens has done all the work himself. Sadly, he was not in the shop on the day I visited, so he could not give me the full rundown. I've probably missed some things. He's a legend in this business. I feel privileged that he's my restorer. I am sure I will see everything he's done so far on his next invoice, so I'll update the list then.

Update on 23 December 2021

Our family was returning from a vacation in Monterey and stopped in to see the shop on Thursday, 23 December 2021. Peter and Justin Jurgens were both at work on another customer's Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III but kindly took time to greet us and give us an update on our Bentley. It is currently at the upholsterer, where the following work is being completed:

Back seat entirely reupholstered, appropriately in English Connolly leather
Carpets all replaced new, in English wool
Headliner entirely replaced with new material

During reupholstery, it was discovered that the new leather did not match the silvery grey finish of the front bench seat or doors. I believe my father-in-law had the front seat and doors reupholstered at a local shop, and the materials were not to spec. Peter asked me what I wanted to do, leave it and live with the mismatch, or reupholster the front seat and doors to match. He would of course obtain leather from the same source as the back seat, so a match was guaranteed. The only question was my willingness to accept the cost, which was not in my original budget. Happily, it was a good year for our family financially, and not only was I able to extend the reupholstery job to the rest of the interior, but I was also able to add something else to the project that was needed very badly but I believed was out of reach:

Wood trim refinished

It was in really sad shape, which you can't see in my pictures, but when you sit at the wheel you notice immediately. The lacquer was crazed and in some places even cracked through and peeled away. When I set my original budget, I had to choose between the wood trim and the upholstery. Clearly the dry, worn, and torn leather of the back seat demanded more immediate attention than the wood, which would have to wait, I told myself. Well, thanks to a great year at work, the wait is over. British Sports Cars outsourced the work to Madera Concepts in Goleta, which isn't far from San Luis Obispo and has a global reputation for this highly specialized service.

Some Custom Euro Plates

My father-in-law removed the Euro license plate holders from the front and rear of the Bentley and put them in a box, where they sat for decades in the corner of his garage. He had simply drilled some holes in the boot lid and mounted his California plate without a frame. He didn't put a plate on the front at all, contrary to state law. I personally don't think the car looks right with US plates, so I had the shop mount the Euro plate holders back in their rightful positions. As you can see above, I also obtained a vintage, period-correct, English number plate with Bluemels sturdy plastic lettering mounted individually to the aluminum plate, thanks to the miracle of eBay. The shop mounted it on the front. Lovely!

Obtaining a plate for the rear has been a chore. At first, I wanted one identical to the front, and I contacted Frampton's to see if they would make one for me. Sadly, they say British law prevents them from exporting such a plate to a private customer in the USA, even if it is only for novelty purposes. They are allowed to export to a US business with which they have an active contract, and they pointed me to Dime City Cycles in Florida. If Dime City agreed to the arrangement, Frampton's would make my plate to order and ship to them. I would buy it from Dime City and have it forwarded to me. Sadly, the Dime City owner would not agree. They aren't in that kind of business. They stick strictly to custom vintage motorcycle fender plates, which are hip but not what I need.

Justin Jurgens suggested LicensePlates.TV online. They indeed offer custom English plates that are period-correct. However, they only make embossed aluminum plates, no plastic lettering. A minor detail that perhaps only I would notice, but I decided against trying to match the front and back imperfectly.

Then I started to think how I could integrate my other hobby into this project, namely Tintin. I've always felt that the Bentley was a car for royalty, so I started thinking of royalty appearing in Tintin's adventures. Immediately, the king of Syldavia came to mind. Hergé based that fictional country on several real countries, including Albania, Montenegro, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and perhaps others, and when you examine his illustrations carefully you can tell it is clearly supposed to be in the Balkans. Syldavia uses both Cyrillic as well as Latin alphabets, like you see in the Balkans, and it has Orthodox as well as Muslim art and architecture, also like the Balkans. So I decided to go in that direction.

I went back to LicensePlates.TV online and discovered they could make a Euro plate based on today's Serbian format. This is what the PlateMeister and I came up with, below. The plate with the black background is for the front, and the one with the yellow background is for the rear. "KW" stands for "Klow," the fictional capital of Syldavia, and "61" stands for 1961, the Bentley's year of manufacture.

"OTTOKAR" has multiple meanings.

First, it comes from the name of Hergé's book where he introduces us to Syldavia, namely King Ottokar's Scepter. Ottokar is the name of the fictional founder of Syldavia and his royal dynasty, which we learn about in the pages of Hergé's book. Hergé knew of the true kings of medieval Bohemia named Ottokar, and that using the name would give an air of authenticity to his fictional creation.
Second, Ottokar is a humorous play on words. Hergé loved puns. "Ottokar" (auto car) was perfect.
And that leads me to my final reason for choosing "OTTOKAR" for my custom plates. Walter Owen Bentley, the founder of Bentley Motors, got his first job at the National Motor Cab Co. thanks to a recommendation by his friend, E.M.P. Boileau of The Autocar magazine. That was in late 1910, when W.O. was about 22 years old. He had completed an apprenticeship with the Great Northern Railway at the Doncaster railway works in his teens, but he saw no future for himself in trains. Advice from his friend Boileau fell on ready ears. Maintaining the cab company's 250 Unic taxis gave him the knowledge and experience he needed to build his own designs. W.O. incorporated Bentley Motors Ltd. on 10 July 1919, and The Autocar magazine has been writing about Bentley models ever since, beginning with W.O.'s first 3-litre, describing it as "intended to appeal to those enthusiastic motorists who desire a car which, practically speaking, is a true racing car with touring accessories.” In 1962, the magazine dropped the definite article from its monicker and became simply Autocar. Even better!

My plates arrived by parcel post in late April 2022. They look fantastic! Very authentic! The Syldavian flag (a black pelican on a yellow field) and the crest really pop.

I received a call from British Sports Cars earlier in the week. The installation of the upholstery is complete, and the interior wood has been restored and reassembled. According to Peter, it looks great. He called Lombards Stereo, and Angel is going to start work on the sound system beginning 14 June 2022. I should have the Bentley back by July. I'm very excited!

I called Angel and made final decisions on the electronics. He'll update me as he gets into the car itself. He cautioned that there are always unexpected turns in every custom stereo installation, and we'll have to make some decisions together along the way. I am most curious about the sealed enclosure for the subwoofer and how Angel's idea of building a false wall in the boot will turn out. He must deal with a steel liner that protects the hinges of the lid and forms the top and rear wall of the boot. He will have to cut it. I see no other way. I bet that's one of the first things he is going to call me about. I also wonder how he will integrate the power cables and fuses into the Bentley's antiquated system. I can't wait to see it all come together.

Above, the curved arrow points to the steel boot liner, which my father-in-law removed years ago when he installed these generic 6x9 speakers. Not an audiophile, he ran telephone wire (twisted pair) directly from a cheap head unit (he wanted no amplifier, thank you). He never got it to work and never put the steel liner back in place, mostly because he would have had to cut holes for the speakers—no easy task! The straight arrow indicates the mounting points around the hinge where the steel liner bolts on.

Update on 30 May 2022

Pickup on 20 July 2022

We traveled to San Luis Obispo to pick up the Bentley in July. We decided to stay overnight and go to the shop in the morning. That was a good plan, since traffic kept us from arriving in town before closing time. There it was, on the shop floor, looking beautiful as ever. I am so impressed with the interior work! The finished wood and the English leather upholstery truly surrounds you in luxury. It is everything I hoped. Under the bonnet was much cleaner than I've ever seen it, and everything seemed to be working. We settled the bill, chatted for a bit, then drove over to Lombards Stereo to talk with Angel. He showed me all the work his team did. The installation of all the sound equipment in the boot was remarkable! Everything was finished professionally. Nothing was out of place. I've never had a car system with a subwoofer, so when I turned up the 12" sub and felt the thump in my whole body, my eyes grew as wide as my smile. I got to meet the lead technician and take a picture together. Angel didn't want to be in the picture. Then we started for home.

Half-way into the long drive, the GEN light came on, indicating a problem with the generator. I was running on battery power. The air conditioning didn't work, and the power steering didn't either. Everything that ran on the belts was out, but the belts were good, and all the pulleys were turning properly. I don't have the expertise to diagnose the root cause, but you round up the usual suspects. Regulator, fuse, loose connections, but who knows? At the gas station, I couldn't tell just by poking around under the bonnet.

We had to make a choice. Go back, or go home. We decided to just get her home and call Peter the next day. She drove okay for many miles, but we had a scare when I turned on the headlights as evening fell. The battery couldn't keep up with the demand for amps, and the engine started to stall. I pulled over and turned off everything else I could think of that was drawing power, and the engine came back to life. We were close to home at that point, thank goodness. We made it the rest of the way without incident.

I parked her in our garage and connected the battery to a conditioner. After about 28 hours, the battery was fully reconditioned, and I took her over to a mechanic that I trust whose shop is only a few blocks away. I also called Peter, who was very apologetic. He said he'd be glad to talk with my local mechanic and help over the phone, so I left his number with my guy.

Despite the problems and the discomfort of driving with no a/c, I had a great time on the long drive home. A trucker gave me a friendly honk, and a few people waved at me on the freeway. One enthusiast shadowed me for a number of miles, then pulled in front and eyed the car from his rear view mirror for a few more miles. At a gas station, I had a chat with a gentlemen who wanted to know more about the make and model. He asked about the gas mileage, of course. It was about 9 miles per gallon at that point, and it didn't improve the rest of the way home. Ah, the joys of owning a pre-embargo classic V8.

So B512CU is home, almost. She's a few blocks away, getting diagnosed. Has the generator gone bad? Is it the regulator? Faulty wiring? My mechanic friend and I hope that the problems are related, and one fix will take care of everything. Is that wishful thinking? Probably, but whatever is the matter, I'm sure it can be fixed. I'm still committed to restoring B512CU to fully operational status.

Bentley S2 at British Sports Cars, San Luis Obispo

Update on 27 August 2022

My friendly neighborhood mechanic called me back and said he wasn't qualified to make the repair. Quite frankly, the car is intimidating. He could only say one thing for sure. The dynamo is not outputting any voltage whatsoever, even though it is connected and the belts are turning it correctly. So I went over and brought her back home. I did some more searching online and found another shop that looked promising.

British European Auto in San Pedro repairs and maintains classic British cars, and their site claims they specialize in electrical work. I sent an email, and the owner Jeff Taw responded very quickly. Yes, he is fully capable of diagnosing and repairing the type of work I described. We talked on the phone, and we arranged to replace the dynamo with an alternator conversion kit. It will look like the C48 unit, but it will dramatically increase the power output. Jeff will also diagnose the trouble with the air conditioner, power steering, and reverse lights (which don't go on when I'm backing up).

He has placed the alternator conversion kit on order and will let me know when it comes in. Then we can schedule an appointment to deliver the Bentley. Looks like I'll have to make arrangements for another transport, but it will be less than half the distance this time, compared to hauling her to San Luis Obispo.

1961 Bentley S2 Restoration Project