Richard Stafford
Senior Specialist, Head of Research
LOT 110
1928 Bentley 6½-Litre Tourer Registration no. PF 6205 Chassis no. TW2702
Sold for £460,000 inc. premium
Lot 110
1928 Bentley 6½-Litre Tourer Registration no. PF 6205 Chassis no. TW2702
The Bond Street Sale: Important Collectors' Motor Cars|4 December 2021, 15:00 GMT|London, New Bond Street
1928 Bentley 6½-Litre Tourer
Registration no. PF 6205
Chassis no. TW2702
Registration no. PF 6205
Chassis no. TW2702
• Competed in the first BDC race at Brooklands in 1936
• Modified and tuned by L C 'Mac' McKenzie
• Present ownership since 1990
• Carefully stored for the last 25 years
• Modified and tuned by L C 'Mac' McKenzie
• Present ownership since 1990
• Carefully stored for the last 25 years
Footnotes
Please note there is a spare set of four wheels with racing tyres to accompany this car.
With characteristic humility 'W O' was constantly amazed by the enthusiasm of later generations for the products of Bentley Motors Limited, and it is testimony to the soundness of his engineering design skills that so many of his products have survived. From the humblest of beginnings in a mews garage off Baker Street, London in 1919 the Bentley rapidly achieved fame as an exciting fast touring car, well able to compete with the best of European and American sports cars in the tough world of motor sport in the 1920s. Bentley's domination at Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930 is legendary, and one can only admire the Herculean efforts of such giants as Woolf Barnato, Jack Dunfee, Tim Birkin and Sammy Davis, consistently wrestling the British Racing Green sports cars to victory.
W O Bentley proudly unveiled the new 3-litre car bearing his name on Stand 126 at the 1919 Olympia Motor Exhibition, the prototype engine having fired up for the first time just a few weeks earlier. Bentley's four-cylinder 'fixed head' engine incorporated a single overhead camshaft, four-valves per cylinder, and a bore/stroke of 80x149mm.
In only mildly developed form, this was the model that was to become a legend in motor racing history and which, with its leather-strapped bonnet, classical radiator design and British Racing Green livery, has become the archetypal Vintage sports car.
Early success in the 1922 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, when Bentleys finished second, fourth, and fifth to take the Team Prize, led to the introduction of the TT Replica (later known as the Speed Model) on the existing 9' 9½" wheelbase, short standard chassis.
However, by the middle of the decade the 3-Litre's competitiveness was on the wane and this, together with the fact that too many customers had been tempted to fit unsuitably heavy coachwork to the excellent 3-Litre chassis, led to the introduction in 1926 of a larger car: the 6½-Litre. Known as the 'Silent Six', the latter perpetuated the 3-Litre's mechanical theme but with greatly increased refinement.
Although the 6½-Litre had been conceived as a touring car to compete with Rolls-Royce's New Phantom, in Speed Six form it proved admirably suited to competition: in 1929 Barnato/Birkin's Speed Six won the Le Mans 24 Hour Race ahead of a trio of 4½-Litre Bentleys, while Barnato/Kidston repeated the feat in the following year's Grand Prix d'Endurance at the Sarthe circuit ahead of similarly-mounted Clement/Watney. Small wonder then, that the fast yet refined 6½-Litre Speed Six was W O Bentley's favourite car. The 6½-Litre was produced for four years, during which time 544 chassis were completed, the Standard/Speed Six split being 362/182.
This particular 6½-Litre, registration number 'PF 6205', is one of only 21 erected on the short standard ST1 (11') chassis. First owned by H B Pope of Woking, the car is illustrated in Dr Clare Hay's Bentley: The Vintage Years (illustration 122 in the 1997 edition). The notes to the illustration state: "A drop-head coupé by Freestone & Webb, here fitted to a 11' 0" chassis photographed February 1927. By elimination this would appear to be Chassis no. TW2702, originally registered PF 6205. The body is described as a Weymann pattern leather covered sports, the very compact appearance disguising the size well. PF 6205 was rebuilt by McKenzie for Noel Sissons, with raised compression and triple carbs, and took part in the first all-Bentley race at Brooklands in 1936. The chassis was later reregistered as PPH 222 with a two-seater body, which has since been restored as a four-seater and re-reregistered PF 6205." An earlier (1985) edition of Hay notes the owner at that time as one R T E Creswell Esq.
Another document on file states that the original Freestone & Webb body was replaced in the mid-1930s with a lighter sports body for competition work. The engine was said to have been modified and tuned by the ace Bentley tuner L C 'Mac' McKenzie to produce more power that the 'Works' Speed Six cars. 'PF 6205' was not only said to have competed in the first BDC race at Brooklands in 1936 and but also at the Lewes Speed Trials.
The aforementioned Richard Timothy E Cresswell is recorded as previous keeper on an old V5 in the history file, which also contains two old log books, an RF60 dating from 17th February 1954, and a VE60 dating from 6th April 1976, both relating to the registration 'PPH 222', chassis number 'BR1234', and engine number 'WK2675'. An auction listing included in the history file suggests that the car was "re-registered as PPH 222, presumably (as was done in many cases) to take advantage of the £10.00 tax concession, but the present owner restored the registration in 1984". Given the different chassis number recorded in these logbooks, it would seem that the car was not reregistered, but simply run carrying the plates belonging to 'PPH 222'!
The history file contains a photocopy of a Bentley ledger recording the car's history up to 1937 and includes a reference to an accident in 1932, which may be when it was first re-bodied. Another type of body appears to have been fitted when it was masquerading as 'PPH 222', while another photocopied photograph in the history file has been inscribed 'Lewes Speed Trials 1937 Autocar' and shows the 'PF 6205' registration. In the 23rd November 1988 issue of Autocar & Motor, 'PF 6205' was road-tested alongside the then current Bentley Turbo R (copy on file).
'PF 6205' was purchased by the vendor's deceased husband in February 1990 (purchase invoice on file). Its late owner used the Bentley to attend shows and rallies, and drove the car as often as he could; indeed, he attempted to use all his cars at least once a month.
This car, together with others from the same vendor, has been standing for up to 25 years and like the others, was running and usable when laid-up. The vendor's husband died in 1996, and his collection of cars remained mostly unused thereafter. They were all stored in a purpose-built, heated and dehumidified building, which the deceased gentleman had commissioned solely for the purpose of housing his cars. Having been standing for that period of time, they will require careful re-commissioning and safety checks prior to use by a new owner.
Presently on SORN, the Bentley is equipped with a full hood, hood cover, and tonneau cover, and is fitted with triple SU carburettors. Accompanying documentation includes a current V5C; an old V5; a quantity of expired MoT certificates; some photographs; miscellaneous papers; and the aforementioned invoice and copy items.
Saleroom notices
Please note there is a spare set of four wheels with racing tyres to accompany this car.
Additional information
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