1930 Bentley Speed Six Open Roadster

The Speed Six was developed form the 6.5-liter, six-cylinder engine, introduced in 1926 and known as the 'Big Six.' Of the 182 Bentley Speed Sixes built, this car is one of just four Speed Sixes built on the short 11-foot chassis, with the other three being the factory's own Le Mans team cars. So it is possible that this car was used or intended as a spare for W.O. Bentley's 1930 Le Mans efforts. Whatever the cars, the car's first owner was Mrs. Jill Scott, the racing wife of William 'Bummer' Scott. She was known as 'the fastest lady driver ever seen at Brooklands' by Motor Sport magazine. The couple was regular drivers at Brooklands during the 1930s and 1930s, and Jill was the first woman to be awarded the Brooklands 120 mph badge and to become a member of the Brooklands Automobile Racing Club. Scotts specifications included long wings for road use, and she clocked 5,400 miles in her first six months' ownership. Jill and her husband parted soon after the Speed Six was delivered, and the car was never raced at Brooklands. After World War II, it was acquired by Jean-Pierre Marechal, who drove it in several races and hill climbs in both Vintage Sports Car Club and Bentley Drivers Club events. Marechal wanted to enter his Speed Six in the first Postwar Le Mans 24 Hours race in 1949, but instead, he drove for the Aston Martin team and was fatally injured in a crash. The Speed Six was bought from Marechal's widow by Briggs Cunningham, and the car remained in his museum until the entire collection was acquired by Miles Collier in 1986.