Lot details
Registration No: OXW 599
Chassis No: B191WG
Mot Expiry: Exempt

A glass engraver by profession, the vendor spent some ten years converting chassis B191WG from a dilapidated R-Type Standard Steel Saloon into his vision of the ultimate Bentley Special. Accompanying photographs show that `OXW 599' was taken back to a bare chassis. The cruciform brace was left in situ but modified so that the drivetrain could be moved back some ten and a half inches. Formerly owned by a Rolls-Royce troubleshooter, Mr York, the car's 4.5-litre engine, four-speed manual gearbox and rear axle were found to be in good order when stripped down (indeed, the straight-six had only had a 10-thou overbore).

Determined to create a car that in his words "handled like a Bentley but rode like a Rolls-Royce", the seller equipped chassis B191WG with a bespoke anti-roll bar and softer front coil springs to better accommodate its greatly reduced kerb weight. Performance was further enhanced via the addition of larger twin SU carburettors and a Laycock de Normanville overdrive (the latter giving eight forward ratios). Carrying echoes of such iconic 1930s designs as the Jaguar SS100 and Mercedes-Benz 540K Spezial Roadster, the Bentley's rakish two-seater coachwork was styled and built by the vendor using a wheeling machine of his own devising.

The seller also crafted the car's dashboard, wood veneers and three-position hood not to mention such intricate details as its dished steering wheel, luggage rack, wind-up windows and curved headlamp pillars etc. The four-person picnic case was made from scratch and took some nine months alone to complete! Debuting at the Bentley Drivers Club's Hatfield House Meeting in 1993, the reconfigured `OXW 599' took 1st-in-class during the Concours d'Elegance competition; a feat it repeated at the Bentley Drivers Club's Rousham House Gathering fourteen years later (having collected numerous BDC concours awards in between times).

A frequent visitor to the Continent over the past two decades, the two-seater is understood to have covered some 16,000 post-completion miles. Starting readily upon inspection, this magnificent and unique R-Type Sports Special is offered for sale at a fraction of what it would cost to have professionally replicated today. A testament to the vendor's skill and ingenuity, the Bentley is accompanied by a V5C Registration Document, various old MOT certificates and detailed build photos.