Bentley MkVI 4.5-litre Saloon

Produced from 1946 to 1952, the Bentley Mark VI was the first post-war luxury car from Bentley and also the first car from Rolls-Royce with factory coachwork as standard, although chassis were still also supplied to independent coachbuilders. The factory bodies were made by Pressed Steel Ltd of Coventry and sent to the Bentley works at Crewe for painting and fitting out with traditional wood and leather. They featured rear hinged 'suicide' doors and a sliding sunroof.

Power initially came from an F-head straight-six 4.3-litre engine but in 1951 this was enlarged to 4.6-litre ‘Big Bore’ format and endowed the car with a top speed of 100mph. A four-speed syncromesh manual transmission was fitted as standard with the change lever floor-mounted to the right of the driver. The chassis used leaf springs at the rear and independent coil springing at the front with a control on the steering wheel centre to adjust the hardness of the rear springing. A central lubrication system allowed oil to be applied to moving parts of the suspension from a central reservoir. The 12.25-inch drum brakes were assisted by the traditional Rolls-Royce mechanical servo.

 

First registered in December 1951, this ‘Big Bore’ Bentley MkVI is believed to have spent its first few months as a demonstrator in the Bournemouth area (hence the LRU registration number) before it was acquired by a Louis Smith of Stock, Essex, whose family was to keep it for the next 57 years. It was acquired from the Smith family by the current vendor in 1999 by which time it had covered some 54,800 miles but had been languishing in a Warwickshire barn for the previous 20 years or more.

 

A recently retired doctor who had always enjoyed tinkering with old cars, the current vendor embarked on a total nut-and-bolt restoration which was to keep him occupied for the next five years. Every single part of the car was rebuilt or refurbished as necessary, with professional help being called in when required. Originally painted pale grey, the body was removed from the chassis and stripped to bare metal before being zinc primed and resprayed in Storm Grey over Georgian Silver in 2001. The chassis was also shot-blasted and restored before being powder coated.

 

The block was rebored by Silver Lady Classics of Myddle, Shrewsbury, in January 2003 and the engine itself was fully rebuilt with new pistons etc. by Bentley specialist Norman Woolfenden of Skelmersdale, Lancashire, in March 2003. Suspension, steering, brakes and all other mechanical parts were also overhauled as necessary, as was the rear differential.

 

Inside, all the woodwork was refurbished and new carpets and headlining fitted, but much of the original grey leather was retained. The brightwork was also rechromed where necessary, including the radiator cowling.

 

Since the restoration was completed about five years ago, the car has only covered some 2,000 miles and is said to drive very well with an MOT and tax until June 2010. It certainly fired up quickly and ran very smoothly and quietly during the occasion of our visit to take these pictures.

 

It comes with a large number of bills and photographs documenting the restoration, a green continuation log book from 1965 and a modern V5C. Altogether a lovely old car with effectively two owners from new that has many more years of vintage motoring ahead of it.