History by Chassis

In 1929, Dr. William Leib, an American physician residing at 118 Hillwood, Hillsborough, California ordered a new Speed 6 Bentley. The chassis number SB2769 came with engine number SH2729. He ordered his car through Rootes Ltd. It is an 11’-6“ chassis, the shortest available for speed sixes and came with a 13/50 differential and a short steering column. The Bentley factory records in the BDC archives show that the car was for export and that the body was built in France.

To clothe this wonderful chassis, Mr. Lieb chose one of the pre-eminent French coach-building firms to design and build the body. Saoutchik Cromos Paris – Neuilly was that selected builder who designed and built the unique three-position drop head coupe.

An early photograph of SB2768, perhaps when new

This truly one-of-a-kind motorcar, despite its obvious aesthetic appeal and collector importance, is almost entirely a historic mystery. There is virtually no documentation available that this writer could unearth. This includes contacting enthusiasts in France that have familiarity or expertise with Saoutchik.

The Bentley Motors factory records, which normally yield much information about a car, its early owners and early mechanical history, are amazingly devoid of detail. There is only the original purchaser’s name and address and the most basic chassis specifications

Based on a verbal description provided to SB2769’s current owner, the original paint was cobalt blue with light leather interior and light canvas. SB2769 had its original paint and interior up until its first and only restoration in the 1980’s while in the ownership of its third owner, Robert Martin of Texas, USA.

What with the scanty traditional documentation, most of the car’s historic details are derived from a copy of the one article that appeared in a 1952 issue of Road & Track magazine. A photocopy of the original article has survived. It is supplemented by the recollections of the current owner.

SB2769 while in the ownership of Don Blank, Burlingame, California

SB2569 is a very low mileage car having traveled only 11,400 miles since new. There have been only 4 owners over the 78 years since the cars original date of delivery. They are 1929, Dr. William Leib; late 1940’s or early 1950’s, Don Blank, Burlingame, California; early 1980’s, Robert Martin, Houston, Texas; May 1999, Lawrence Smith, Wichita, Kansas.

While in the ownership of Mr. Martin, SB2769 was completely restored in the UK. This writer attempted to contact Mr. Martin to no avail. Consequently, all information about SB2769 during Mr. Martin’s ownership remains a mystery unless readers can shed light on the history of this car.

As was noted earlier, SB2769 was painted a shade of cobalt blue with the polished aluminum swaging line around the outer edges of all wings. The swaging lines were exaggerated on the inner portions of the front wings and give a very attractive styling flair to the frontal view of the body.

SB2769 front details

The subtle styling accents are so typical of the premier French coachbuilders. Yet, the body of SB2769 is restrained when compared with the very exaggerated bodies of some Delages, Talbot-Lagos and Delahayes amongst others. Such “swoopy” designs were typically crafted by the great houses of Saoutchik, Figoni et Falaschi and Le Tourneau et Marchand in the 1930’s and 40’s.

The coachwork tastefully blends traditional “vertical” British styling elements such as radiator, door, window and hood lines, carriage-type door handles with the French accents. The door bottoms are nicely rounded so as to break up the severity of too many horizontal lines in the lower portion of the body work. This body is one of the earliest on a vintage Bentley to include an integral boot as part of the coach work. The look is very nicely balanced from all perspectives.

SB2769 rear ¾ view while in the ownership of Don Blank

There is a complete set of luggage as originally fitted in the boot. The original cases remain with the car to this day.

SB2769 boot with fitted luggage from 1952 Road & Track article

The split windscreen is a shallow “V” and is slightly slanted. Both sides open for ventilation. There are two side-mounted spares. The chassis side rails are covered with louvered valance panels to finish SB2769’s clean appearance.

SB2769 currently owned by Lawrence Smith

There are four tubular front and four rear bumpers with cast aluminum tips. All of the exterior bright work is nickel silver. At the center of the rear bumper is a Saoutchik coach builder’s badge. There are also badges on the valence panel and the door sills. The original color scheme, accented with polished aluminum swaging lines and nickel silver trim with the light canvas top, must have been striking indeed.


Click for larger view

SB2769’s interior, although containing all of the instrumentation traditionally supplied with the chassis, departs from the traditional finishes in a material way. The most obvious difference is dashboard, dashboard capping rail and the door capping rails. They are all finished in nickel silver.

SB2769 interior and dashboard from 1952 Road & Track article

The interior is finished in magnolia leather with the canvas hood fully lined with a fitted beige wool headliner. All together, a very elegant design fitted into a traditional British “clubby” leather and wool atmosphere. It all comes together very tastefully as the fine French coachbuilders can do.


Click for larger view


Contemporary views of SB2769’s interior

Although the mileage by the 1980’s was very low, the decision to restore SB2769 was made and the car was cosmetically restored. It is assumed that the mechanical systems required little attention. The paint color was changed from the original cobalt blue to a medium brown. The interior and canvas colors remained much the same as when new.

The head lamps were changed to period Marchal’s and a matching Marchal spot lamp was added making for a very striking appearance. Subsequent to the restoration in the UK, SB2769 was displayed at Kensington Gardens. There is a period photograph documenting its appearance then with a ribbon hanging from its radiator cap.

SB2569 at Kensington Gardens

Wheel discs, spare tire covers and a second matching Marchal spot lamp were added by the current owner. All of these changes, although not originally supplied as best can be determined, add to the finished appearance of the car today. They make for a very refined, somewhat art-deco look and is an utter pleasure to view. This is, quite simply, one of the most handsome vintage Bentleys ever created. The current owner displayed SB2769 in August of 2001 at the Pebble Beach Concours and was honored with a First-in-Class award.

On the winners stand at Pebble Beach in 2001 Photo by Pebble Beach Concours

SB2769, it is a stunning one-of-a-kind motorcar. It is a significant part of its owner’s collection of important cars and is occasionally driven. The appearance of the car as it appears today is shown in the following photographs.