Bentley R-Type (1954)

A very nice example of the eminently useable R Type Bentley, in lovely condition, very attractively painted in deep blue & shell grey, with original blue/grey leather interior – a colour scheme that we feel suits the car well. Recent attention includes a full engine overhaul at a cost of about £25,000, which as you might expect, performs very nicely, and the car drives as it should, being competent, lively and enjoyable. The car is perhaps as good as you would want it to be, smart, sound, driving well, keeping up well with modern traffic, practical, fun to use and ready to go.


Chassis No. B176YD Reg. No. PGF 494 £48,500.

Snippets: Swinden & Senior – Engineers of note
B176YD was ordered by Roy Joseph Simpson Swinden through his company “The S.D. Syndicate Ltd” of 121 Westminster Bridge Rd in London. The address was also known as the station for the “Death Railway” as this was from where the funeral cortege (& coffin) were conveyed out of the city centre to the funeral ceremony in Surrey due to lack of burial space in the city. The S.D. Syndicate Ltd was a family venture with both Claude Swinden (Roy’s father) & Daniel Swinden (Roy’s brother) being directors. The company were the major suppliers in the UK of zinc & copper sheets to the printing industry for process engraving. Roy’s sister married J. Marangos who together with his father-in-law started the firm of Swinden’s Revolving Head Vices which today is run by Claude great-great-grandson! During WWI Roy Swinden served with the Army Service Corp which was responsible for keeping the Army supplied with provisions (excluding ordnance), he died in August 1959 – he had already sold B176YD the previous year to Tom Senior, an engineer who started work for Arthur Firth Ltd in 1914 as an apprentice aged just 14, he was foreman by the time he was 19 and a year later he left the company to set up his own engineering firm. Within a few years his business had expanded to the degree that he took over the firm of Arthur Firth’s and by 1936 his catalogue was some 80 pages consisting of engines, lathes, milling machines to mention a few. The smaller products such as the planers and drills were phased out and after WWII the firm specialised in milling machines – these were noted for the quality of their finish and the catalogue stated “all machines are sent out with Exhibition Finish, being beautifully hand frosted".

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