Bentley R-Type Continental Sports Saloon by H.J. Mulliner

- SOLD - 

Imagine it's 1955 and your name is Guinness. Born into a wealthy aristocratic Anglo-Irish family, you now live in Monaco. You often travel between the French Riviera and the most elegant holiday resort of northern France, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage. It's March 10, and your new left-hand drive Bentley R-Type Continental has just been delivered. By airplane. You arrive at Le Touquet airport where Silver City Airways has delivered your car, and you're immediately struck by the perfect lines of H.J. Mulliner's Sports Saloon coachwork. You open the door of this majestic automobile, and you take a seat in the maroon leather lightweight bucket seats, which immediately give you a supportive yet sporting feeling. You start the 4.9 litre engine. So silent, and yet so powerful! You engage the automatic gearbox in 1st gear, and you try to imagine the (mumbled) swearing that must have been heard at Bentley Motors when an important client like you placed an urgent order for an automatic R-Type Continental. No chassis with an automatic gearbox was near completion, so Bentley paid H.J. Mulliner £157 to remove the body from chassis B16D and install it on this new chassis BC67LD in order to speed up delivery. More than 60 years later, Mr. Guinness' R-Type Continental has aged very well. The original maroon leather upholstery is charmingly patinated, and the deep black coachwork looks ravishingly beautiful. The matching numbers 4.9 litre engine and all other mechanical components have been well maintained by the previous owners: the car still has the high rate of acceleration and the excellent handling for which it was renowned in the 50's. Its enormous power, magnificent roadability and luxuriant comfort make this Sports Saloon the long-distance touring automobile par excellence. And who wouldn't want to feel like Mr. Guinness on March 10, 1955?