Description
H&H Classic Auction @ The Imperial War Museum, Duxford/ Cambridgeshire
9th October, 2024 13:00
1957 Bentley S1 Continental Park Ward Drophead Coupé Adaptation
Originally bodied to Park Ward Design Number 701 and later converted to Drophead Coupé specification by A&B Price
Estimate
£300, 000 - £400, 000
Registration No: 161 XUL
Chassis No: BC49CH
MOT: Exempt
1 of just 45 RHD S1 Continental chassis bodied by Park Ward to its Design Number 701
Subject to an extensive restoration which included conversion to Drophead Coupé format by A&B Price
The beneficiary of approximately £200, 000 worth of expenditure with marque specialists such as Frank Dale and Jonathan Padgett in the current ownership
Unveiled in Autumn 1955 some six months after its Bentley S1 Standard Steel Saloon sibling, the Continental version was only available to coach-built special order. Featuring a higher compression ratio and taller back axle ratio, the newcomer was found capable of over 120mph. Underpinned by the same cruciform-braced box-section chassis as the ‘basic’ S1 complete with independent front suspension, a well-located ‘live’ rear axle and servo-assisted four-wheel drum brakes, most of the coachbuilders that clothed it favoured aluminium over steel. Lighter and nimbler than the standard factory offering, Continentals were typically some fifty percent more expensive too. Long considered among the best engines Bentley ever made, the S1’s 4. 9 litre straight-six was famed for its blend of torque, refinement and durability and was thus well-suited to the standard fit four-speed automatic transmission. Among the era's fastest and most exclusive four-seaters, the last of 431 S1 Continentals was completed in 1959.
Mentored by A. F. McNeil at J. Gurney Nutting & Co Ltd during the mid-1930s and subsequently promoted to Chief Designer there, John Polwhele Blatchley joined Rolls-Royce during World War Two. A stylistic influence on every generation of Bentley from the MKVI through to the T-Series, he took control of in-house coachbuilder Park Ward’s designs from 1952 onwards and was later credited with penning the Rolls-Royce Corniche. Decidedly elegant but with various a la mode twists such as its subtly integrated vestigial tail finds, Park Ward’s Design Numbers 700 and 701 for the Bentley S1 Continental chassis were typical of Blatchley’s creative ethos. Evolving through issues one and two, later versions of the sleek, two-door Drophead Coupé and Fixed Head Coupé variants utilised the same taillights as the Standard Steel Saloon integrating them into the base of the tailfins. Park Ward bodied a total of sixty-nine Bentley S1 Continental chassis to its Design Number 701 (with forty-five being to right-hand drive specification) with a further eighty-nine Drophead Coupés to Design Number 700. The Aluminium bodied Drophead Coupé is considered to be one of, if not the most desirable variant of the Bentley Continental and therefore examples today are regularly seen for sale at more than £1, 000, 000. This has resulted in a small number of Fixed Head examples receiving major works to convert them to Drophead Coupé specification per the owners' taste.
According to the Bentley Continental, Corniche and Azure publication by Martin Bennett, chassis BC49CH was first delivered during November 1957 as a Park Ward Design Number 701 bodied Coupé to A. Beatty and registered originally as ‘UXF 100’. It is understood that the record refers to Sir Alfred Chester Beatty; an American-British mining magnate who moved to London from New York City in 1911 and became known as ‘The King of Copper’. He would immortalise his name thanks to donations to the then Cancer Research Institute, which would later be renamed the Chester Beatty Institute in his honour and subsequently formed the basis of what is now The Institute of Cancer Research.
Very few records exist of this top-of-the-tree Bentley’s early life, however it is understood that it was purchased from Jack Barclay Ltd by Beatty when new. The history file notably starts around 1990, at which point the car was entrusted by the previous owner to A&B Price to be restored and converted to Drophead Coupé specification. A&B Price were notable during this period for having performed this enormous coach working task to a handful of the Park Ward sister cars and are considered to be exacting in specification to the originals. This is thanks to an original Drophead specification undergoing works with the firm at the same time from which all dimensions were taken and replicated exactly – which would be nearly unrepeatable today. Interestingly the previous owner was a taller gentleman who requested that the line of the hood be raised at the rear to accommodate him in the event he wished to sit in the rear.
In 2008, the elegant Drophead was re-registered as ‘161 XUL’ and offered for sale with Frank Dale & Stepsons with whom the vendor part exchanged another of his Bentley Continentals to make the acquisition. The vendor very proudly uses his collection of Bentleys to their full potential and is fastidious with maintenance to both the mechanical condition and cosmetic condition of them accordingly. As a result, the history file boasts a huge number of receipts including from Padgett Motor Engineers who have performed not one, but three overhauls to its matching-numbers engine plus works to the transmission and back axle. Within the vendor’s ownership, he decided that he did not like the higher roofline that the previous owner had specified and therefore opted to have this lowered to the standard specification of the Park Ward Drophead and would be recovered in high quality Dark Green Mohair. Later, it was decided that an interior and boot trim overhaul would be conducted and the total cost for works is evidenced at over £50, 000 by SimTrim of Spalding between 2014 and 2015. This included re-trimming of the seats in the finest quality tan Connolly hide, and refurbishment of the book-matched veneer woodwork, which the vendor has advised presents ‘excellently’ today. Within the sliding door cupboards of both the driver and passenger doors are to be found a very charming picnic set, which has also been exquisitely restored per the vendor’s requirements and seemingly never used. Pleasingly, the vendor’s eye for detail did not stop there, and a digitalised Becker Mexico radio is fitted which also acts as a navigation device. In total, receipts for maintenance during the current ownership total over £200, 000.
Upon inspection, the car is both imposing and indistinguishable from an original Drophead car, and the Dark Green over Tan Leather is very attractive whilst remaining in-keeping with the period. The vendor has regularly used the Bentley for long distance trips on the Continent and due to this use, there are very small signs of wear such as very small stone chips which he does not consider to be significant to anyone wishing to use it, but may benefit from minor areas of paint correction should it be to the prospective new owner’s taste. Mechanically however, as aforementioned this car has been maintained to be a drivers’ car and that was clear when we were taken for a short run. During the drive, the engine appeared both powerful yet refined and emitted only a modest exhaust note from the Rolls-Royce designed straight-six. The automatic gearbox was equally as silky-smooth and coped pleasingly well with the small country roads we were on, which required constant up changing and down changing to keep motoring.
A sublime opportunity for either the driver or collector, chassis BC49CH would be highly suitable for the purchaser who is looking for what many consider to be the ultimate drop-top Bentley Continental, without having the hefty burden of the million-pound-plus price tag of the original.
