Registration No: 161 XUL
Chassis No: BC49CH
MOT: Exempt

• 1 of just 45 RHD S1 Continental chassis bodied by Park Ward to its Design Number 701
• Subject to an extensive restoration which included conversion to Drophead Coupé format by A&B Price
• The beneficiary of approximately £200,000 worth of expenditure with marque specialists such as Frank Dale and Jonathan Padgett in the current ownership

Unveiled in Autumn 1955 some six months after its Bentley S1 Standard Steel Saloon sibling, the Continental version was only available to coach-built special order. Featuring a higher compression ratio and taller back axle ratio, the newcomer was found capable of over 120mph. Underpinned by the same cruciform-braced box-section chassis as the ‘basic’ S1, complete with independent front suspension, a well-located ‘live’ rear axle and servo-assisted four-wheel drum brakes, most of the coachbuilders that clothed it favoured aluminium over steel. Lighter and nimbler than the standard factory offering, Continentals were typically some fifty per cent more expensive too. Long considered among the best engines Bentley ever made, the S1’s 4.9 litre straight-six was famed for its blend of torque, refinement and durability and was thus well-suited to the standard fit four-speed automatic transmission. Among the era's fastest and most exclusive four-seaters, the last of 431 S1 Continentals was completed in 1959.

Mentored by A.F. McNeil at J. Gurney Nutting & Co Ltd during the mid-1930s and subsequently promoted to Chief Designer there, John Polwhele Blatchley joined Rolls-Royce during WWII. A stylistic influence on every generation of Bentley from the MkVI through to the T-Series, he took control of in-house coachbuilder Park Ward’s designs from 1952 onwards and was later credited with penning the Rolls-Royce Corniche. Decidedly elegant but with various a la mode twists such as its subtly integrated vestigial tail finds, Park Ward’s Design Numbers 700 and 701 for the Bentley S1 Continental chassis were typical of Blatchley’s creative ethos. Evolving through issues one and two, later versions of the sleek, two-door Drophead Coupé and Fixed Head Coupé variants utilised the same tail-lights as the Standard Steel Saloon integrating them into the base of the tailfins. Park Ward bodied a total of sixty-nine Bentley S1 Continental chassis to its Design Number 701 (with forty-five being to right-hand drive specification) with a further eighty-nine Drophead Coupés to Design Number 700. The aluminium clad Drophead Coupé is considered to be one of the most desirable Bentley Continental variants and therefore examples today are regularly seen for sale at more than £1,000,000. This has resulted in a small number of Fixed Head Coupes being converted to Drophead Coupe specification.

According to Martin Bennett’s authoritative book ‘Bentley Continental, Corniche and Azure’, chassis BC49CH was bodied by Park Ward as a Fixed Head Coupe to its Design Number 701. Delivered in November 1957 to A. Beatty, it was initially registered as ‘UXF 100’. The ‘A. Beatty’ in question is understood to have been Sir Alfred Chester Beatty; an American-British mining magnate who moved to London from New York City in 1911. Known as the ‘The King of Copper’, his donations were pivotal to the establishment and survival of what is now The Institute of Cancer Research. Little else is known about the four-seater’s early history until 1990 when the previous owner entrusted it to A&B Price for restoration and conversion to Drophead Coupé specification. Reportedly using an original Design Number 700 Drophead Coupe as a template, A&B Price carried out a limited number of such transformations around this time which were noted for their quality and accuracy. A taller gentleman, the last keeper requested that the rear hood line be raised slightly so that he could ride comfortably in the back should someone else take the wheel.

Part of the vendor’s imposing Bentley Continental collection since 2008, when he purchased it from marque specialist Frank Dale & Stepsons, ‘161 XUL’ has been lavishly maintained and improved to the tune of over £200,000. Acknowledged specialist Padgett Motor Engineers have thoroughly overhauled the original engine, not to mention attending to the automatic transmission and back axle. The hood has been re-profiled and renewed in Dark Green mohair, while the interior upholstery, boot and wood veneers have been refurbished (the associated SimTrim of Spalding bills totalling £50,000 plus). The cubbies to the driver and passenger doors house a seemingly unused picnic set, while the dashboard contains a digitalised Becker Mexico stereo. Performing notably well on a recent outing, the Bentley has lived up to its name making numerous trips to mainland Europe with the seller. Accumulating sundry stone chips as a result, it nonetheless remains highly presentable to our eyes.

A rare coachbuilt Bentley S1 Continental in both its original and secondary guises, ‘161 XUL’ has been better maintained than many of its siblings. A singularly elegant motorcar, it is worthy of close inspection.

For more information, please contact:
Lucas Gomersall
lucas.gomersall@handh.co.uk
07484 082430