Bentley 4.25-Litre (1936)

SALE AGREED

A particularly lovely example, this car has been with one owner since 1992 & during that time has been lavished with love and care. Some of the work carried out includes engine and gearbox overhaul, new cylinder head, conversion to high ratio rear axle, steering box rebuild, a full re-paint in cellulose, re-upholstery in Connolly leather & much more besides. The engine is lively and willing, performing very nicely indeed and the whole car drives particularly well, suitably sprung, riding well and with a 'go anywhere' feel. The paintwork is a gorgeous shade of deep, inky blue, sharply finished, with a deep shine of a type that we feel can only be achieved by using cellulose, the chrome work, leather and cosmetics generally are all excellent and harmonise well. The car is attractive and slightly quirky (with a rakish tail), and the condition well & truly reflects the attention it has received. Comes with a huge file of paperwork, including some fabulous early documents from the 1930s and 1940s, invoices from the 1950s & 1960s, together with many, many more from the last owner's custodianship of 27 years, as well as correspondence, servicing logs and a buff logbook from 1956. Some of this is shown on the 'extra pictures' page, but there is a lot more! All of this again confirming the nature of the care that the car has been subjected to. Lovely!

Chassis No. B39GP Reg. No. CVM 134

Snippets:
The first owner was William Moir Webster Shepherd who was the Honorary surgeon to the Doncaster Royal Infirmary as well as consulting surgeon to other hospitals in Yorkshire. William Shepherd qualified just prior to WWI and his early appointments included that of Colonial Surgeon in Zanzibar (1914/15) & in 1916 he was stationed in France during WWI. In 1929 he divorced his wife Constance citing her adultery with a former senior curator of Doncaster Parish Church which they both denied! Within just 2 years Dr. Shepherd sold B39GP to D F Oates whose company Oates & Green Ltd Halifax owned (alongside Leeds Fireclay Co Ltd) several quarries & mines – Ellen Royd, Beacon, Hortley Green, Green Top and Coronation. Donald Oates only kept B39GP for 3 years before it was sold to Colum Robert Gore-Booth (1913/59) – his grandfather was the Arctic explorer Henry Williamson Gore-Booth and his aunt was Constance, Countess Marklewiez the first lady MP to be elected to the House of Commons! Within 2 months Colm Gore-Booth sold B39GP back to the dealer who sold it on to the builder Harry Neal who lived in his newly constructed flats (Albion Gate in Hyde Park) which he had built in the mid 1930s & were designed by the architect Septimus Warwick. Having survived WWII B39GP was purchased by Godfrey Tonkin a director of several catering establishments in Cornwall – Tokin’s Cafes Ltd, William’s Cafe’s Ltd, Clarke’s Cafe’s Ltd and Treleaven’s Cafe – in 1947 they opened a new establishment in Cornwall which was very popular with the “young people” as it was an American Milk Bar!

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