Bentley Recall: Beware the Flying Winged B

By Tanya Roth, Esq. on September 27, 2010 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Rapper Lloyd Banks wants to know: Beamer, Benz or Bentley? Lloyd, take your Benz out, because the Bentley needs to go into the shop. Bentley Motors is recalling 820 cars world-wide on fears that the famous winged "B" that is its hood ornament could come loose in a crash and hurt someone. Yes, this is an actual Bentley recall.

The Associated Press reported on September 23, that the head office of Bentley Motors in Europe announced the recall which will cover 620 cars in the United States and Canada, and 200 in Europe. Specific models under recall include the Arnage, Brooklands and Azure models made between October 2006 and March 2009.

Because people who are wealthy enough to own a Bentley have time to worry about such things, the recall was initiated out of the fear that spring mechanism under the winged B ornament may corrode and not always function properly, causing it to come loose and become something of a missile during a crash.

Mind you, this has not actually happened yet.

"The recall is rather theoretical," company spokesman Richard Durbin told the AP in a telephone interview from Crewe, England, where Bentley cars are produced. "If it were struck by something, we want it to retract as quickly as possible and in some instances it's not doing it."

The National Transportation Safety Board is taking this 'theoretical' Bentley recall seriously. The AP reports the agency's website said it fears that if the hood ornament does not retract, it could increase the risk of injury to a pedestrian in the event of a crash. And that would be bad.

Fortunately for Bentley owners everywhere, the company has said it will replace the retraction mechanism for free. The fix may take about an hour. But that should work just fine, you can sit outside in the Rolls while you wait.

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