From Royal Blue to Green: the Queen retrofits her Bentleys to run on bio-fuel
Click above to view the Bentley State Limousine in our hi-res gallery
Britain's royal family may not have the power to legislate any new initiatives, green or otherwise, but the heads of state still wield influence over public opinion and have taken up the cause of environmentally-conscious motoring. Following the lead of her son and heir Charles, the Prince of Wales – who had his Aston Martin converted to run on old wine and his Range Rover, Jaguar and Audi to run on discarded cooking oil – Queen Elizabeth II is having her bespoke Bentley limos converted to run on bio-fuels.
The Bentley State Limousine is based on the Arnage, but custom-crafted in-house by the company's Mulliner coachbuilding division. Only two were ever made, at a reported cost of over $14 million a piece, one of which was presented as a gift to Her Majesty upon her Golden Jubilee in 2002, while the second was commissioned by the crown as a back-up. The four-ton armored vehicles, continuously maintained by Bentley, are powered by the company's perennial 6.75-liter V8 producing 400 horsepower, and will be converted to run on bio-fuel. Bentley says the royal family are big supporters of Crewe's initiative to switch to bio-fuels, as Bentley aims to offer all its models with flex-fuel capacity by 2012.
Gallery: 2002 Bentley State Limousine
[Source: The Daily Mail via Luxist]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Franz 7:16PM (12/31/2008)
I was about to throw a mini tantrum, and start ranting about the economic crisis and how important alternative fuels and fuel efficient cars are in such troubled times. I was then gonna say that at the rate things are going, I might have to convert my Mercedes S550 to run on bio-fuel, or trade it in for a regular econobox...
Then I realized that I'm only drunk, and I don't drive an S550... & I'm not Flashpoint...
My last post of '08. Happy New Year guys. ;)
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K Ryan Hasse 7:28PM (12/31/2008)
"Bio-Fuel"...
What, like the liquid remains of biological life from long ago, compressed under the weight of the Earth for eons? You go, Queen.
All I can hope for is, that when this man-made global warming hoax is finally rejected by its blind, self-righteous, image obsessed, thugocratic followers, that those same people look at themselves in the mirror and admit they were wrong. They are wrong to follow a bad leader (Gore), wrong to attempt to force their religion on free people (via oppressive laws), and wrong to reject the blessings and morality of freedom, and its corrollary: capitalism.
Read Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman, James Madison, John Locke.
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CEMan 7:46PM (12/31/2008)
So, I am missing which one of these was the scientist? EH?
You lost me when you switched the peon of wingnuttery, Al Gore.
That's called shooting the messenger tard. Might wanna rethink the approach thing...
CEMan 7:47PM (12/31/2008)
Really, what Locke or Madison have you ACTUALLY read?
notYou 2:14PM (1/01/2009)
(fyi: I'm only casually aware of the UK domestic energy situation, so if my tke on UK domestic energy below is countered by somebody with a more insight than me, I preemptively stand corrected)
While I totally agree with you from an American standpoint, the fact is that this is the UK's Queen's vehicle; the UK isn't sitting on vast untapped natural resources that are off-limits politically due to global warming (man-made or otherwise) induced nonsense.
The UK's primary oil source, the north sea, looks to be tapped out in the near future and they don't have many additional domestic options. Hence, it might be wise for them to start moving to anything else that they can have some sort of domestic control over. The Queen making a symbolic step in that direction might not be a bad thing.
That said, anyone who does this in the US is just reinforcing the political bandwagon eco-hysteria nonsense which keeps us from being domestically (or at least regionally - within North America) energy self sufficient.
(I can't help but notice that the "war on warming" is the only war a liberal will get involved in - primarily because it doesn't involve violence so there's no chance of them being hurt, there's virtually s no effort involved other than condemning and slandering others, and enables them to cast pseudo-moral aspersions indiscriminately ["I'm Green! You're Killing the Planet!"] - which they love to do and let's them bask in their own self-defined bubble of superiority.)
Welcome to the New America! -The Late, Great USA.
Tsunami Racer 7:31PM (12/31/2008)
is it bio-ethanol the queen's pumping while she squeezies the glass, or is her majesty running oil burners in her carriages now?
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axium 7:46PM (12/31/2008)
Man, that car must be HUGE. Look at the driver standing next to it, he looks so tiny.
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MikeW 8:43PM (12/31/2008)
Soylent bio-fuel is made from people!
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Nick 10:12PM (12/31/2008)
$14 million ? Isn't that a typo? Not even the U.S. president's limo costs as much!
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dukeisduke 10:14PM (12/31/2008)
Dowdy-looking, just like Her Majesty.
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RLQ 3:13AM (1/01/2009)
interesting.
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amorak 4:09AM (1/01/2009)
Just a comment - The Queen is still the head of state for the UK, as well as Canada and many other Commonwealth nations. She, or her representative, occupy the executive branch of the government and legally, she could introduce and approve her own legislation without anyone saying anything - However, that would go against centuries of custom and surly result in some changes to some constitutions... I'm jsut saying, she could if she wanted to ;)
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larry a 1:47AM (1/02/2009)
what is it that she exactly does? she never talks to the press, nobody really knows her politics, it seems like the prime ministers mess with all the politics while she just sits back and sips on her tea
Conundrum 11:07AM (1/01/2009)
What no royal Prius? No Fiat 500 for the Prince? Are they REALLY trying to help the environment?
I jest of course.
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jinsei888 1:40PM (1/01/2009)
that thing is DAMN ugly...
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Aki 2:14PM (1/01/2009)
Why must the roof be so high? That's the main killer for the aesthetics of this car.
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Hike15 4:12PM (1/01/2009)
thats a big car for a small women...
its so darn high!!!!
and ugly...
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C Smith 7:20PM (1/01/2009)
Yes, it is very ugly; the front mostly, and given that these things are on the road for decades that is a shame. Some of the old state cars are very handsome.
The point about the height is that it has to capable of allowing passengers to wear top hats for funerals etc., and be visible to the public. Hence the height and the glass. They mostly crawl about at low speeds anyway.
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Avinash machado 2:41AM (1/02/2009)
I like the earlier royal Daimlers better.
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Miguelon 6:40PM (1/02/2009)
Another Official cars:
http://www.elcaseto.es/2008/12/21/coleccion-de-coches-oficiales-de-distintos-paises/
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