August 2019: Sold For $1,160,000

Found on RM Sotheby's website on August 19, 2019

RM | Sotheby's - MONTEREY 15 - 17 AUGUST 2019 - Offered on Saturday
1927 Bentley 6½-Litre Le Mans Sports in the style of Vanden Plas
Chassis No. BX2416
Engine No. BX2421
$900,000 - $1,200,000

- An original 6½-Litre with its original frame, engine, and rear axle
- Painstakingly restored and uprated to Le Mans Works team-car specifications
- Veteran of a 3,000-mile Bentley Drivers Club tour of Europe and two Colorado Grands
- Offered with build information, service records, and restoration photographs
- Exceptional presentation and evocative history—and outstanding performance to match

CHASSIS NUMBER BX2416

According to information on file from the W.O. Bentley Memorial Foundation, 6½-Litre chassis no. BX2416 was originally supplied to Dr. Rudolph de Trafford of London, as a 12'6" (150 in.) wheelbase model with a Weymann saloon body by J. Gurney Nutting. In this form the car underwent maintenance by Bentley Motors through 1930. The next known owner, C. Willis of Basingstroke, acquired the car in 1932 and is known to have maintained it for at least the next three years.

Following the Second World War, the car appears to have been acquired by Major Jack Bailey, a sportsman who rebuilt it as a special, shortening its chassis to 124 in., lowering the radiator, and fitting a rudimentary two-seater body, as well as the registration plate PF 6204 of his 3-Litre. In this form the car was used extensively for regional racing and touring.

The Bentley’s next definite owner was R.G.S. Burnett, who registered it with the Club in 1962. Barry Graham Burnett registered it in 1972 and by the following decade had fitted the car with a Vanden Plas–style Le Mans fabric tourer body, as well as reunited it with its original registration plate, YF 4648.

Well-known marque specialist David Ayres acquired the 6½-Litre from Burnett in 2008 and shortly thereafter sold it to noted enthusiast Ron Rezek of Ashland, Oregon.

In an accompanying book documenting the car and its restoration, Mr. Rezek notes his delight at finding that the car retained much of its original chassis frame, as well as the original engine, steering box, and rear axle. He commissioned Mr. Ayres to restore the car as authentically as possible to 1930 Le Mans team-car specification with numerous Speed Six features. This included modifying the engine to full competition specification, with twin HV5 carburetors fitted with 8-liter float chambers, an 8-liter water pump, special oil feed to the camshaft, and a large-capacity oil pump; it is fed by a Le Mans–style 40-gallon fuel tank, custom-made to the original Works team specifications, and produces some 200 horsepower.

The 132 in. chassis was outfitted with Andre Hartford friction shock absorbers, 3:1 gears, and all-new brake drums and spindles, while the correct Rexine-covered body was dressed with proper Zeiss headlamps in Le Mans–style frames. Great care was taken to finish the car as properly as possible while also setting it up for continued long-distance enjoyment.

Mr. Rezek enjoyed the car for several years, exhibiting it at the Bentley Club Concours d’Elegance in 2010 and winning Best Restoration. He was proud that it was a fit road machine, something that he demonstrated on two editions of the Colorado Grand and an epic 3,000-mile tour of Europe with the Bentley Drivers Club, conquering the Stelvio Pass and other formidable stretches through the Alps.

This is a 6½-Litre Bentley true to the legend—every enthusiast’s image of the rip-snorting, all-conquering fabric tourer of Bentley Boys fame, restored and presented for high-speed driving enjoyment well into the future.

"I recently acquired a 1927 Bentley 6½ Chassis No. BX2416. I would like an instruction book for the 6½ Litre Bentley. Do you have one already printed? Otherwise I will have to save all of the jpegs and have someone print it. Or, maybe you have another option. Thanks for your help."

BX2416 Sold for $1,210.000 Gooding & Co. on August 15, 2015.

1927 Bentley 6½ Litre Le Mans Sports
From the Ron Rezek Collection | Veteran of the Colorado Grand
Restored with Le Mans Coachwork in the Style of Van den Plas

Estimate: $800,000 - $1,100,000

Chassis: BX2416
Engine: BX2421

Car Highlights
- Complete Matching-Numbers Engine, Mechanicals, and Chassis
- Extremely Authentic Re-creation of the 1930 Le Mans Team Cars
- Touring Coachwork in the Iconic Period Style of Vanden Plas
- 6½-Litre Engine, Mighty Proven Performer on Epic Alpine Tour
- Bentley Club Show Winner Expertly Restored by UK Bentley Specialist

Technical Specs
- 6,597 CC SOHC Inline 6-Cylinder Motor
- Twin SU HV5 Sidedraft Carburetors
- 180 HP at 7,000 RPM
- 4-Speed Manual Gearbox
- 4-Wheel Mechanical Drum Brakes
- Solid Front Axle and Live Rear Axle with Semi-Elliptical Leaf Springs and Four Hartford Friction Dampers Front and Rear

Provenance
Rudolph de Trafford, London (acquired new in April 1927 via Hillstead Ltd.)
Mr. C. Willis, Basingstoke, United Kingdom (acquired in 1932)
Major Jack Bailey, United Kingdom (latterly)
Mr. B. Burnett, United Kingdom (acquired 1975)
David Ayre, Berkshire, United Kingdom (acquired from the above 2008)
Ron Rezek, Ashland, Oregon (acquired from the above November 2008)

Exhibited
Bentley Drivers Club Concours d’Elegance, Oxfordshire, England, June 2010 (Best Restoration)
Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance, Forest Grove, Oregon, July 2011 (Dr. Richard Kaufman European Legacy Award)
Dana Point Concours d’Elegance, Dana Point, California, July 2011
Quail Motorsports Gathering, Carmel, California, August 2011

This Car
With five 24 Hours of Le Mans wins, including an unbroken four-year streak from 1927 through 1930, the company bearing W.O. Bentley’s name continues to evoke images of racing glory, mighty performance, and the romance of the open road. While all Bentleys are revered by true driving enthusiasts and collectors today, the 6½ Litre marks the apogee of the company prior to its eventual takeover by Rolls-Royce in 1931. Restored to its present glory, this 1927 6½ Litre Tourer, chassis BX 2416, boasts a story rivaling that of the company itself and the Bentley Boys who built the legend.

As with all great W.O. Bentley-era cars, the legendary 6½ Litre owes its existence to the original three-litre design. Racing success, including the 1924 and 1927 Le Mans wins, quickly drove sales, with buyers soon demanding ever-more luxurious and heavy custom coachwork, resulting in the more powerful 4 1/2 Litre, which in modified form earned Bentley’s third Le Mans win in 1928. While Tim Birkin famously created the supercharged 4½ Litre Blower Bentley, the works’ own uprated 6½ Litre Speed Six cars closed out Bentley’s early glory days with wins at Le Mans in 1929 and 1930 – Bentley’s last until 2003.

While winning is everything in motor sports, it is the degree of Bentley’s superiority to the competition that is perhaps even more impressive. Today, a Le Mans-specification 6½ Litre Speed Six is arguably the most desirable of all Vintage Bentleys. As expected considering their Le Mans-winning cachet, muscular presence, and sheer rarity, collector demand has long outstripped supply. Adding to their scarcity is that a great many early Bentleys were consumed in wartime scrap drives or eventually converted into highly modified racing cars.

Carrying known provenance from delivery to its first owner in April 1927, chassis BX 2416 originally was fitted with saloon coachwork by Gurney Nutting in the Weymann style. The early history of BX 2416 is documented by Alan Bodfish, administrator of the W.O. Bentley Memorial Foundation. While hard to imagine today, an old Bentley carried negligible value by the late 1930s and well after the war years. Accordingly, BX 2416 was eventually converted into a lightweight racing special by Major Jack Bailey, with a lightweight two-seater racing body fitted to the shortened original chassis. By the mid-1970s it was under new ownership, with a rudimentary touring-style body fitted. Subsequently, the Bentley was sold to British Bentley specialist David Ayre in 2008 and then to Ron Rezek the same year. Mr. Rezek, in turn, commissioned Ayre to restore the chassis and mechanical components into a highly authentic 1930 Le Mans-style tourer. Of particular note, the chassis (BX 2416), engine (numbered BX 2421), steering box (numbered BX 2416), and rear axle (also numbered BX 2416) remained together throughout the eight decades since new, matching the factory build specifications.

The restoration was completed in July 2010, with the work and the car’s history documented and depicted in a book containing approximately 30 pages. Soon after the restoration was finished, BX 2416 was awarded Best Restoration honors at the Bentley Club Concours d’Elegance in 2010. While other appearances and awards would follow, perhaps even more remarkable is the performance of this 1927 Bentley on several long-distance classic tours, including two editions of the Colorado Grand. Mr. Rezek and this vehicle successfully met their toughest challenge in May 2014 on a particularly demanding European tour with the Bentley Drivers Club, stretching 3,000 miles from London to Paris, Italy, Monaco, and back. Despite the obstacles presented by formidable Alpine roads, including the legendary Stelvio Pass, Mr. Rezek’s vehicle completed the tour with typical Bentley aplomb.

As now offered for sale, this 1927 Bentley is complete with the aforementioned restoration book and complete specifications. This is a truly thrilling opportunity to acquire not only a proven tour veteran, but also a remarkably authentic, top-notch Bentley that now stands ready to carry you on its next adventure.

Marin Sonoma Concours d' Elegance, 2012

BDC Concours, 2010

"Won 'best new restoration' at Bentley Club concours, July 2010. Also scored highest rating in Vintage class. Restoration by David Ayre.

This car was purchased by Ron Rezek in 2009.