1948

Bentley MkVI Special Drophead Coupe

Fitted with a 6.75 litre Bentley V8

Estimate: £80,000 - £100,000*

Reg No: ABR 375 Chassis No: B122DA MOT: Exempt

It was on the Bentley Motors stand at the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show that ‘ABP 375’ made its debut. Clothed in a 4-door 6-light Saloon body by H.J. Mulliner to design number 7059/C, the car with chassis number B122DA was delivered to its first owner, a Mr H. Lumsden-Taylor of County Luxden Laundries Ltd. in November of that same year. Sixty years later, in 2008, the chassis of the Bentley was acquired by well-known Bentley ‘Special’ builder John Barlow. John trained at British Leyland in the bus and truck division as a craft apprentice before completing the technician apprenticeship in 1978 and moving to the drawing office as a design engineer in 1979. After taking redundancy from British Leyland in 1982, together with Ken Jones and Dave Ashley, who were in the same drawing office at British Leyland, set up J.B.A. Engineering Ltd (Jones Barlow Ashley) where John designed the JBA Falcon kit car. He left J.B.A. in 1989 to set up Royale Motor Company and created the Ford-based Royale Windsor and Sabre and the Jaguar-based Royale Drophead. After acquiring ‘ABP 375’, John set off to design a stylish Bentley ‘Special’ Drophead in the style of Figoni et Falaschi. Using his decades of experience in designing and building cars, the production of the fibre-glass body was outsourced to a GRP specialist with specially designed beams incorporated within the panels to avoid the common stress cracks which are found in lesser designs. The body was mounted on a bespoke galvanized sub-frame which bolts directly to the original body mounts on the fully overhauled chassis. The brakes were uprated, and the original straight-six engine was replaced with a Bentley 6¾-litre V8 which was mated to an automatic transmission. To finish it off, the car was fitted with power steering and trimmed in supple red leather with Wilton carpets and veneered door trims and dashboard. Unlike most fibreglass cars, this GRP body is of very high quality, shows no visible cracks or deformation and could easily be mistaken for aluminium or steel due to its solidity and panel fit.

The current vendor bought ‘ABP 375’ in November 2013 and a sheaf of invoices accompanying the car shows, in minute detail, how over the last 10 years, the owner and famed Rolls-Royce & Bentley restorer Jonathan Wood have since embarked on a journey to lift an already impressive vehicle to an even higher level of engineering and finish. Well over £100,000 has been spent on fitting a reconditioned 6¾-liter Bentley

V8, a redesigned ventilation and heating system, the addition of cruise control and a modern radio with USB and hands-free telephone, a redesigned dashboard, and new interior veneers as well as technical & design improvements to brakes, exhaust, suspension, transmission, cooling and steering. The bonnet side panels were redesigned with louvres and handmade in aluminium by Clark & Carter Restorations. Any little squeak, rattle or clunk was investigated, remedied or a redesign carried out if necessary. The fanatical attention to detail is demonstrated by the replacement of all crosshead screws in the interior with stainless raised countersunk slotted screws as these were more in keeping with the design of the car!

Benefitting from a comprehensive service history at the hands of Jonathan Wood and his team, this Bentley ‘Royale’ is one of the finest Bentley MkVI Specials in the world. With its stunningly elegant Figoni et Falaschi inspired bodywork, the enormous torque of its 6¾-litre V8 and the modern comforts of the automatic transmission, cruise control and uprated heating and ventilation, ‘ABP 375’ is equally suited to drawing admiring glances at the most prestigious car events, cruising across the continent down to St Tropez or, on occasion, to awaken your inner ‘Bentley Boy’ by wiggling its tail and picking up its skirt and run after you’ve given it the full boot. Offered with a current V5 showing John Barlow as the previous keeper, a sheaf of incredibly detailed invoices and a photo album of the build in progress.

1959 Jaguar XK150 S 3.4 Litre Drophead Coupe

Estimate:

£120,000 - £140,000*

Reg No: 1827 PX Chassis No: T827442DN MOT: Exempt

We are delighted to offer what can only be described as a very desirable XK – an original UK supplied 150 S Drophead Coupe fitted with manual overdrive gearbox and complete with its original registration mark ‘1827 PX’. The vendor further advises it to be a matching numbers example. According to an accompanying letter and dating sheet from Jaguar Cars Ltd (dated 1981), it is one of just 662 right-hand drive Drophead Coupes produced out of a production run of just 2,671. Chassis T827442DN was completed on 1st September 1959 and despatched to supplying dealer Henlys of London on 13th September 1959. The first owner is recorded as being Metachemical Processes Ltd of Crawley, Sussex.

In 1980, the car was acquired by a previous owner based in Essex, who set about an extensive restoration which would take more than twenty years. The engine, gearbox and differential were stripped and overhauled whilst the brightwork was re-chromed to a high standard. The interior and boot space were retrimmed and a new hood was sourced from highly respected trimmers M. C. Turley (Jaguar Restorations) Limited. Now offered with a large portfolio of invoices and photographs, this rare 150 – which is said to be as pristine underneath as it is on top - has covered just c.611 miles since completion of the work.

Finished in Old English White with Red leather and a Black hood, we understand a number of upgrades were also incorporated, including 4 pot front calipers, 420 servo and brake master cylinder, braided hoses, a 6 branch stainless steel exhaust manifold with complete stainless-steel exhaust system, 16” stainless steel wire wheels, 123 electronic distributor and single 12 volt battery with an isolator switch for peace of mind.

The final iteration of the XK sportscar series and the last Jaguar to carry a separate chassis, the XK150 was introduced in May 1957. Whilst its use of independent torsion bar front suspension, a ‘live’ leaf sprung rear axle and rack and pinion steering mirrored the practice of its XK140 predecessor the new model benefited from all round Dunlop disc brakes. Stylistically, it was brought up to date with less ostentatious curves and a larger, wrap-around single-piece windscreen. The dashboard was also altered, eschewing wood trim for padded leather. With the E-Type still very much under development, Jaguar was keen to sustain the sporting reputation that five remarkable Le Mans victories had earned it (1951, 1953, 1955, 1956 and 1957). Thus from late 1959 onwards, the XK150 could be had in both 3442cc and 3781cc guises and to normal, ‘SE’ or ultimate ‘S’ specification.

Available in Roadster, Drophead or Fixed Head Coupe form, just 9,395 XK150s were manufactured at the Jaguar Cars factory in Coventry between 1957 and the spring of 1961, when the model was replaced by the comparatively high-volume E-Type. A large portfolio of invoices and photos are included, along with the full toolkit and jack and the V5C.