Quote Originally Posted by Suzi View Post
My husband is a petrol head too and he's worked on many old classics specialising in Aston Martin, Ferrari etc I said to him what happened to you and he asked was the car damaged as he wants to know what caused it to hydraulically lock!
Solex 4A1 carbs are known for warping at the first sign of warmth apparently, and I've subsequently found out carburetted Bentley Turbos are prone to plenum chamber fires as a result. I think an afternoon sat on top of a multistorey in the heat led to a warped carb. I think it was flooding from the first second I cranked, and thus wouldn't fire. Eventually one cylinder filled and it locked. But this is all conjecture - given that this is all that survived.



Quote Originally Posted by Suzi View Post
He asks, was the car engulfed in flames?

I'm doing these as hyperlinks as they aren't for the faint hearted. Don't look if you're easily shocked.

A photograph captured at the split second it went up by a friend photographing the repair procedure on a burst mode for me

CCTV from about half a second later.

In both, I'm still in there. This was the second attempt at purging fuel. The first time, fuel sprayed everywhere so I got my girlfriend out of the car and made her stand in fresh open air on the next level. I also feel guilt that the situation could have resulted in her death or injury were it not for fate, and that ultimately it's a situation she wouldn't have been in were it not for me. If a spark had caught the first time, it wouldn't just have been me in there.








I also feel guilt for the fact that there were things I couldn't save. As well as my girlfriend's bag and possessions, as well as my own stuff (mostly replaceable and replaced) there were 3 big items of sentiment that were lost.
1: The jacket I was wearing when she and I first saw each other across a railway station.
2: A lapel pin she got me for our first Christmas.
3: In my passport in my pocket, I kept a note she had written me on our second date.

I feel bad there because I know I had time to save them. I didn't because she shouted it wasn't worth it, and I didn't want to put her through watching me dive into the blazing car. But these are things that my decision meant were lost forever, as a result of a situation that wouldn't have happened had I not chosen to take the Bentley that day.