Eric Minoff
Vice President, Head of Department - US
LOT 143
1949 Bentley MkVI Sedanca Coupe Coachwork by J. Gurney Nutting Chassis no. B320LFV
Estimate: US$120,000 - US$160,000
Lot 143
1949 Bentley MkVI Sedanca Coupe
1949 Bentley MkVI Sedanca Coupe
Coachwork by J. Gurney Nutting
Chassis no. B320LFV
Coachwork by J. Gurney Nutting
Chassis no. B320LFV
4,257cc OHV Inline 6-Cylinder Engine
Single Twin-Choke Carburetor
Approximately 130bhp
4-Speed Manual Transmission
Independent Front Suspension - Live Rear Axle
4-Wheel Drum Brakes
* Striking coachbuilt Bentley
* One of only 4 cars built
* Originally supplied new to Belgium
* Recently emerging from long term enthusiast ownership
THE BENTLEY MARK VI
The Autocar magazine was highly impressed with their MkVI test car in the Spring of 1950. 'Perhaps the outstanding thought from extensive driving of the Bentley MkVI built by the world's premier car manufacturers, Rolls-Royce, is that it has no single predominant feature but gains its unique position from a combination of superbly matched qualities that raise it above the level of other cars. Years of painstaking research and development with mechanical perfection as the goal show their results unmistakably. Smoothness and quietness and sheer quality are in the superlative.'
Despite the popularity of the 'standard steel' body, a coachbuilt alternative remained the preferred choice of many customers. Indeed, anyone desiring an open roof Rolls-Royce or Bentley had no alternative but to commission one from an independent coachbuilder, there being no factory-built alternative at this time.
THE MOTORCAR OFFERED
The striking and extremely elegant coachbuilt car offered here is also among the rarest derivatives to grace these chassis, for it is thought that a mere four Mark Vis carried versions of Gurney Nutting's iconic Sedanca Coupe. Founded a year after the end of the First World War, J. Gurney Nutting became synonymous with Sedanca de Ville designs on Rolls-Royce chassis, which became the choice of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, the Duke of York, later King George VI, and the Duke of Kent, earning the company the Royal Warrant between 1931-35.
Much of the reputation of the coachbuilder's success as a brand, can be attributed to the brilliant designer A.F. McNeil, who penned some of the most graceful lines on Rolls-Royce and Bentley chassis, and was renowned at home and overseas for Sedanca de Ville and Sedanca Coupé styles. In fact, that honor may be shared by John Blatchley, his understudy, who later continued in his mentor's footsteps when McNeil moved to the now Jack Barclay owned James Young concern in 1937.
With the advent of the merger and founding of Bentley Motors Ltd. 1931, such designs could also be found on the contemporary Bentley also in the 1930s. Immediately after World War Two Gurney Nutting was acquired by the Jack Barclay Group, joining rivals James Young, leading to a small run of post war Sedancas such as this car B320LFV.
As denoted by the presence of the 'L' suffix in its chassis number, this example was born in left hand drive form, that being at the behest of its original owner, Belgian based Edmond Meert of Belgium. M. Meert appears to have been a noted privateer racing driver in his day, piloting a Ferrari 212 Inter, Porsche 356 Carrera GT and 904 GTS, and contesting his home circuit of Spa, as well as the Tour de France and 1000kms of the Nurburging in the 1960s. It is perhaps not surprising that he chose Britain's most sporting marque, Bentley for his road transport. It is understood that he chose the same paintwork scheme that we see on the car today, of black and red, with the red leather interior, a guise which was much favored over the years on such Sedancas. It is not known how long M. Meert retained his Bentley, but by 1963 the car was offered for sale in London, when it was acquired by a Canadian Serviceman who brought it home with him to North America.
The car would remain on these shores, only returning when it was purchased by noted British collector and trader Peter Harper in the late 1990s, but this period was brief, because it was there that it was noticed by a prominent Long Island Collector of coachbuilt Rolls-Royce and Bentleys and it wasn't long before it was in his stable. There it would remain for nearly 2 decades before arriving in the present ownership being enthusiastically used and occasionally shown, including here at Amelia in 2009.
An undeniably stylish motorcar which combines legendarily refined engineering with its match in design, this Bentley is sure to make a statement on any concours lawn.
Single Twin-Choke Carburetor
Approximately 130bhp
4-Speed Manual Transmission
Independent Front Suspension - Live Rear Axle
4-Wheel Drum Brakes
* Striking coachbuilt Bentley
* One of only 4 cars built
* Originally supplied new to Belgium
* Recently emerging from long term enthusiast ownership
THE BENTLEY MARK VI
The Autocar magazine was highly impressed with their MkVI test car in the Spring of 1950. 'Perhaps the outstanding thought from extensive driving of the Bentley MkVI built by the world's premier car manufacturers, Rolls-Royce, is that it has no single predominant feature but gains its unique position from a combination of superbly matched qualities that raise it above the level of other cars. Years of painstaking research and development with mechanical perfection as the goal show their results unmistakably. Smoothness and quietness and sheer quality are in the superlative.'
Despite the popularity of the 'standard steel' body, a coachbuilt alternative remained the preferred choice of many customers. Indeed, anyone desiring an open roof Rolls-Royce or Bentley had no alternative but to commission one from an independent coachbuilder, there being no factory-built alternative at this time.
THE MOTORCAR OFFERED
The striking and extremely elegant coachbuilt car offered here is also among the rarest derivatives to grace these chassis, for it is thought that a mere four Mark Vis carried versions of Gurney Nutting's iconic Sedanca Coupe. Founded a year after the end of the First World War, J. Gurney Nutting became synonymous with Sedanca de Ville designs on Rolls-Royce chassis, which became the choice of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, the Duke of York, later King George VI, and the Duke of Kent, earning the company the Royal Warrant between 1931-35.
Much of the reputation of the coachbuilder's success as a brand, can be attributed to the brilliant designer A.F. McNeil, who penned some of the most graceful lines on Rolls-Royce and Bentley chassis, and was renowned at home and overseas for Sedanca de Ville and Sedanca Coupé styles. In fact, that honor may be shared by John Blatchley, his understudy, who later continued in his mentor's footsteps when McNeil moved to the now Jack Barclay owned James Young concern in 1937.
With the advent of the merger and founding of Bentley Motors Ltd. 1931, such designs could also be found on the contemporary Bentley also in the 1930s. Immediately after World War Two Gurney Nutting was acquired by the Jack Barclay Group, joining rivals James Young, leading to a small run of post war Sedancas such as this car B320LFV.
As denoted by the presence of the 'L' suffix in its chassis number, this example was born in left hand drive form, that being at the behest of its original owner, Belgian based Edmond Meert of Belgium. M. Meert appears to have been a noted privateer racing driver in his day, piloting a Ferrari 212 Inter, Porsche 356 Carrera GT and 904 GTS, and contesting his home circuit of Spa, as well as the Tour de France and 1000kms of the Nurburging in the 1960s. It is perhaps not surprising that he chose Britain's most sporting marque, Bentley for his road transport. It is understood that he chose the same paintwork scheme that we see on the car today, of black and red, with the red leather interior, a guise which was much favored over the years on such Sedancas. It is not known how long M. Meert retained his Bentley, but by 1963 the car was offered for sale in London, when it was acquired by a Canadian Serviceman who brought it home with him to North America.
The car would remain on these shores, only returning when it was purchased by noted British collector and trader Peter Harper in the late 1990s, but this period was brief, because it was there that it was noticed by a prominent Long Island Collector of coachbuilt Rolls-Royce and Bentleys and it wasn't long before it was in his stable. There it would remain for nearly 2 decades before arriving in the present ownership being enthusiastically used and occasionally shown, including here at Amelia in 2009.
An undeniably stylish motorcar which combines legendarily refined engineering with its match in design, this Bentley is sure to make a statement on any concours lawn.
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