Bentley R-type

- SOLD - 

I was very much charmed by this unusual Bentley Estate, when I found the car with a friend classic car enthusiast at the end of last year in the north of England. In the past my classic car workshop, here in the neighbourhoud of Brussels, was involved with the restoration of 2 Bentley MK VI's recently transformed into Woodies by my English friend & colleague Rod Jolley . Although very expensive in the end, these cars attracted a lot of interest. With this R-type the exotism of this shooting brake morfology is greater because we are talking about a period conversion carried out in the early sixties apparently to carry hunting dogs around. The coachbuilders who executed the shooting brake conversion were W.M. Collett & Sons from Gloucester. The history is fully known and reasonably well documented with research made by the last owner who bought this Bentley shooting brake in 1988. The old logbook lists all the previous owners and dates back to 1953. The RR & Bentley dealers S.P. Broughton in Cheltenham have service records of this particular car until 1986. The Bentley had at that point only 47.000 miles (genuine) on the clock! A German doctor, Dr. K. Bechtolsheimer, who during the year lived in Germany but owning a hollidayhome in Cirencester, was the previous owner and bought the shooting brake when she had 48.000 miles. The last owner, J.A. Lamont, brought the total milage to 63.092 miles in 18 years of ownership. Still a very low figure for a more than 50 years old car! This Mr. Lamont had the car very well serviced during his ownership with many invoices from RR& Bentley specialists. All old MOT certificates were kept and so were the succesive taks discs. A full respray by the RR factory in Crewe after slight accident dammage costed in 1990 the serious amount of £ 10,717.04 GBP. After inspection in my specialised classic car workshop I can certifie that at the moment this Bentley R-type is still in an amazing excellent original condition. Looking at the underneath of the car on the ramps it is clear that nothing ever needed to be repaired. Straight and clean chassis. Excellent original sills, perfect floor panels. Everywhere nice original paint and no corrosion whatsoever. On the road this Bentley is a real pleasure to drive. Extra smooth power from the 4 1/2 liter engine, perfect gearbox, light steering, efficient servo assisted brakes, and very soft ride. Excellent oil-pressure even when hot, no tendency to overheat. The interior of this Bentley is in beautiful totally original cream leather with brown carpets. Excellent wood veneer on dashboard and doorcappings + window surrounds. Correct full functionnal instruments and period radio. Well functioning sliding sunshine roof. In conclusion a unique opportunity to acquire this very unusual Bentley Shooting Brake which is in amazingl excellent original condition with full history and very low milage.