1949 Bentley Mk. VI Pillarless Saloon by Freestone & Webb
No Reserve – Entered from the Alyth Collection with Motor Show provenance

Registration No: Un-Registered
Chassis No: B488EY
MOT: Exempt

• Entered from the Alyth Collection, a collection of motor cars kept in storage in Scotland for over 30 years
• One of just six cars bodied by Freestone & Webb to Design No. 3029/C
• Displayed by Freestone & Webb at the 1949 Earl's Court Motor Show
• Supplied new to F. Berwick of F. W. Berwick & Co. Ltd.
• A worthwhile and seemingly complete project

Introduced in 1946, Bentley's Mk. VI was the first vehicle ever offered by the company with factory-designed coachwork, and the first to be assembled in Rolls-Royce's Crewe factory rather than the old Derby premises. Aimed at the emerging 'owner-driver' luxury car market, the newcomer was closely based on the 1939 Mk. V (of which only fifteen were produced). Built around a massive cruciform-braced chassis with independent front suspension and a leaf-sprung 'live' rear axle, it was fitted with a freshly developed 4,257cc OISE (overhead inlet, side exhaust valve) straight-six engine mated to a four-speed manual gearbox. Capable of over 100mph when clad in the factory's understated 'standard steel saloon' coachwork, the Mk. VI quickly developed a reputation for being a refined yet responsive drive.

With its sweeping wings, low roofline, pillarless windows and abundance of curves, Freestone & Webb’s Design No. 3029/C for a Mk. VI two-door Saloon has what we might call a restrained flamboyance. Beautifully executed as it is, it is no wonder that Freestone & Webb chose this very car, chassis B488EY, to display on its stand at the 1949 Earls Court Motor Show. One of just six cars to receive Design 3029/C, it was originally registered in Middlesex as ‘UMX 179’ and sold new to F. Berwick, a figure with strong ties to the motor trade. In the early years of motoring, Frederick William Berwick became the London importer for Corre La Licorne cars, but in 1913 he partnered with the Sizaire frères to launch the Anglo-French car-maker Sizaire-Berwick, which produced cars into the mid-1920s.

No further history of B488EY is known until it was acquired for the Alyth Collection some thirty years ago or more, and while it obviously needs restoration, we would draw attention to its apparent completeness and what might be its original paintwork. It would be well within the abilities of a skilled restorer to resurrect it, though, and given its rarity and provenance and the general excellence of its design, we sincerely hope that somebody does.

There is no paperwork with this lot.

For more information, please contact:
Lucas Gomersall
lucas.gomersall@handh.co.uk
07484 082430