1927 Bentley 6 ½-Litre All Weather Touring

This Standard Six Bentley began life wearing a Gurney Nutting 'Weymann' four-door saloon body. It was the same design that J. Gurney Nutting had chosen for his own personal car, with front hinged doors and helmet wings with platform steps. The car was order by dealers Gaffikin Wilkinson & Co. of Hanover Square in London and fitted on the 12-foot, 6-inch wheelbase. It was built to 1928 specifications which included the C-Type gearbox and camshaft damper. It was sold in October of 1927 to Philip Worthington of Berkeley Square; reportedly, this was his third Bentley. The car was shown at the Olympia Motor Exhibition where it rested on the Gurney Nutting stand. It was awarded First Place in its division, 'Section 4 – Novelty Bodies including fabric-covered and flexible type.'

During the first two years of ownership, the car accrued more than 35,000 miles. During this time, service work included decarbonization, new connecting rods, and a new type of carburetor. A replacement engine was fitted, removed from chassis PR2317, and re-stamped with the number of the original unit, PR2308.

Around this time, the car was sold to Alfred Zeitlin of Piccadilly and by May of 1931, it had become the property of Captain R.A. Abercromby of Eaton Terrace. It was involved in an accident in early 1932 and in May 1932 it was sent to the factory for an overhaul. Damage included to the chassis frame, radiator, and steering components. The Bentley factory restored these items before being fitted with a new all-weather body by T.H. Gill & Son. The engine was also upgraded by Bentley with a Speed Six multi-port pattern inlet manifold and twin SU HVG5 carburetors in June 1932.

The body was either built for Abercromby or its next owner, Hugh Curling Hunter, who took delivery in the middle of 1932. After Mr. Hunter's ownership, it was owned by a Lady H.G. Walston of Newton Hall in Cambridgeshire, the last documented pre-war owner. The car later re-appeared in the West Country region of the U.K. with another titled gentleman, Major W. Enderby of Luxborough, in Somerset. The history is unknown from this point until coming into the ownership of Daniel B Schwartzkopf of Stowe, Massachusetts. In the 1980s, it went to a London auction under the gavel of Bonhams Malcolm Barber, and entered a Vintage Bentley collection. It was given a thorough restoration at Scott Moncrieff. A succession of owners has followed.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2019