Introduced in late 1959, the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II and Bentley S2 appeared externally unchanged from their Silver Cloud and S-Type predecessors, although their performance was considerably enhanced by the arrival of the new 6,230cc aluminium-alloy V8 engine.

There were few significant changes to the running gear, although power-assisted steering was now standard and the manual gearbox had been dropped, Rolls-Royce's own 4-speed automatic transmission being the sole offering.

The Continental version of the Bentley remained, as ever, exclusively a coachbuilt car.

The firms of H J Mulliner, Park Ward and James Young all offered bodies on the Continental S2 chassis, which differed from the standard version by virtue of its four-leading-shoe front brakes, shorter radiator and, in later cars, higher gearing.

James Young would soon cease coachbuilding, leaving only Rolls-Royce-owned Mulliner and Park Ward to carry on a noble tradition, with Park Ward building the S2 Continental Drop...