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Slim's Historic Bentley Undergoing Restoration
Most of you will know that the name "Slim's Detailing" comes from our Morelli Group founder Challoner "Slim" Moring.
In his early career, 'Slim' worked for a company called Harold Radford Coachbuilders as a salesman, with one of the vehicles he worked on being a Bentley Countryman. In this role, he would go to the Motor Show at Earl's Court and sell the cars he worked on, driving them to their final destination - whether it was in the UK, or into Europe. Imagine the buzz of driving a Bentley on country lanes in France and Spain in the 1950’s!
Slim's Bentley Countryman, pre-restoration.
Once Morelli & Co became successful, and Slim started to have more time on his hands away from the business, he returned to his first career as a hobby and started to restore classic cars that he bought, sometimes starting from a wooden frame, running gear and an engine. He restored several Rolls Royce cars and showed them at Rallies and Concourse Events.
He was eventually able to find a Bentley Countryman to restore, having previously worked for the company that made them and having the connection to the model.
The Bentley and its information was on display at the grand opening of our Training Academy in Coventry - which took place on Slim's 100th Birthday in 2019.
The classic Bentley Countryman was designed as a country gentleman’s vehicle to go shooting (sometimes called a "shooting break"), to carry picnics and to be able to put all the seats down to carry lots of luggage, providing the space required for weekends away and whilst on shoots! Slim used to say it was the original and first hatchback, although we have never had this confirmed...
After pursuing his lifelong dream, Slim died in 1984 and the car passed onto his eldest son David Moring, who has occasionally used the car for weddings and events such as the Slim’s open day.
It has been some 40 plus years since Slim restored it originally, so it is due a makeover: starting with the paint being removed at Wyndon Motors before the vehicle was sent to our Morelli Training Academy to be primed and painting by the Morelli Technical Team.
A selection of photos from the initial stage of repair.
To follow along with the restoration process, please read more on our Morelli blog!