1930 Bentley Speed Six Le Mans Replica Tourer

This Bentley Speed Six was completed on September of 1929 and was one of the 121 6.5-liter Bentleys resting on the short 138-inch wheelbase. As it is a later model it was equipped with the single port block which brought horsepower from 160 to 180 bhp. The original coachwork was by Gurney Nutting although factory records list it being a Weymann saloon. The agent for the car was H.M. Bentley and Partners. The car returned to Bentley Motors for its final test in November of 1929.

The car was a custom order built for its first owner Mr. William Lindsay Everard who retained it until April of 1936. By 1947 it was owned by Mr. William W. Cope in Nottingham. Lachland McPherson acquired it in 1949 and kept it for a year before selling it to E.N. David Pitts.

It is not known when the car received its current coachwork, with some evidence to suggest that it occurred before the war.

By 1973 the car was in the United States and in the care of Mr. L.D. Hopeman who owned the car until the mid-1980s. The next owner was Dr. Fred Simeone who acquired it as an unfinished restoration project. Dr. Simeone entrusted the restoration to David George. After its completion, the car was traded to Virgil Millett. Mr. Millett had further restoration work performed by Steve Babinski including a full rebuild of the engine.

After Virgil Millett passed away, the car was put into static storage. It emerged from storage early in 2019 and received extensive recommissioning by a Vintage Bentley specialist.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2019