When is a Vintage Bentley a real Vintage Bentley and when is it a reproduction or fake? Currently, we have several cars with the same chassis number and cars that were destroyed and have a new chassis using the old number with a new body and new engine. How do we sort all of this out? Stanley Mann, a well-known dealer and restorer sent this in to us and we would like receive your thoughts. Please speak out — e-mail robert@vintagebentleys.org with your response.
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When is a Vintage Bentley an original one and when is it a reproduction or a fake? Well-known dealer and restorer Stanley Mann recently quoted auto historian Clare Hay's views on this subject. Read this piece and also the opinions of our readers.
"So, HT1650 started life as a late long chassis 3 Litre with a Harrison
Landaulette body. When it was in my custody, it had a Gurney Nutting tourer body...
I kept it for a little over a decade, selling it in the late 80s.
It went to the UK, was converted to a 4½, with a cycle fendered
touring body and was pictured in a BDC Review. It next came to my
attention in an ad on the Stanley Mann website, represented as a matching
number LeMans spec 4½...
But even though it is probably more 'valuable' in its present guise, it is sad that its 3 Litre identity has
been cast into the dustbin of history." — John Schieffelin
In September 2015, AutoCherish.com put up a vintage Bentley car for sale stating the Chassis no. to be 110 and Reg no. SV 4513. We posted the details on the 110 page, only to receive a prompt rebuttal from 110 owner Lionel Burrell on Sep 29, stating, "The recent addition is not my car, please could you remove it from my listing. It is a reproduction of my car. I bought my car in 1960, from the last owner who had the car from 1947 until I bought it. I have never put my car up For Sale."
Around the same time, the car photos and other details were replaced on the AutoCherish website with a notice stating, "No longer available - Sold or withdrawn from sale". The AutoCherish car photo and other details (for SV 4513) have since been moved to our Bentley Specials section. — VintageBentleys.org
Reg YM 57 is up for sale at Fiskens currently. The chassis no. stated on the Fiskens website is 1272* (when no such chassis no. is known to have existed). Interestingly, Fiskens had this car up for sale in 2013 as well, when they had stated the chassis no. to be NR507. As far as a former owner knows, the chassis no. is NR507, but according to Michael Hay's Bentley: The Vintage Years, 1997, chassis no. 1092 was renumbered NR507. Now, that is confusing. Do contact us if you have any information on this.
(*The chassis number is NR507 - apologies that we have it wrong on our
website and we will change it forthwith. — Gregor Fisken, Feb 8, 2016)
Article
from 1942
Empire Reactions to the Sports Car By M.L. Glenton Wright
Published in "The Motor", April 8, 1942
"When the war came along I entered into various negotiations, which finally resulted in my finding myself in Central Canada. Here I found the attitude to the sports car somewhat remarkable and almost amusing. In fairness, I must say that so far as I know there are only two examples on the road in the whole Dominion of Canada of a good type of sports car and interestingly enough, both of these models were built in the same year and had a very similar performance. One is a 1930 Mercedes-Benz; the other a 1930-1931 4 1/2-litre blower Bentley… The latter I was able to acquire at a very moderate price, for despite its good qualities, this type of car has practically no appeal on the American continent. The average American-Canadian buys a car almost completely for its appearance, its height (so that the owner can always look down on others), and the number of extras and gadgets, which it may boast."
"This 2-seater Bentley was sold to Sir H Chiliott of St James's London in August 1922. The original columbine Yard and Medina Road can be seen in the background."
"My family thinks this photo was taken on Cleethorpes promenade
sometime between 1950 and 1955. The best guess is that it may have been a parade
during the coronation celebrations. At the time the car was owned by Mr
Marshall"
"Joe Studholme took this photograph of his father, brother, sister and mother with 348 at Kingston in 1952. Note
the angle of the one-piece windscreen, and its shorter brackets, changed by Trevor Timms to a longer, and stronger type."
"According to his diary, Henry Courtney Brocklehurst bought this car on 12 July 1924 from Gaffikin Wilkinson for (?)850. It matches an advert in the Autocar of 4 July 1924."
"I thought the current owner might like this picture of my father (John Bunyan) proudly behind the wheel. He owned it in the late 60s. It would be amazing to know where the car is now. Our family talks of this car so often."
"My father Harry Lees owned this car from 1963 to 1965, selling it when he
bought 4½ litre chassis XR3330.
It remained in this condition (1964 photos), albeit dusty,
during a long ownership by Capt Hollingshead in Cheshire, until auctioned off by H
and H in 2004. It was a lovely example of a standard 3 litre, and it is not for me to comment on
what then happened to it thereafter."
"This car was restored with replica VDP in 1974 by Rod Warriner. It previously had a rough
boy racer body and cycle guards.
The car came to me with engine AP325 and this was replaced by 650 in 1976, after a
full rebuild with new Elmdown camshaft. The engine rebuild was done by David
Ripley."
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