"The original body has been acquired and will be going back onto this car."

In England in 2006 / Owned by a BDC member

"This car has been in current ownership since 2000. Work has been done to this matching chassis and engine Speed 6 by two very well known and respected Bentley specialists (McKenzie Guppy/Grist) as follows:

- New hubs all round for safety
- New Spinners to fit the new hubs
- New Wheels
- Brakes relined
- Rebuilt shock absorbers
- Clutch relined for good measure
- Equipped with C type gearbox
- Winged B mascot
- New Le Mans tourer body, by Roger Cook of Swindon, commissioned and put on in the previous owner's hands.
- Combined present and previous ownership 30 years.
- This car has done few miles overall in the current ownership of 11+ years, which includes one trip to Le Mans."

 

1930 Bentley Speed 6 - matching number chassis and engine - Le Mans Rep body

"These are the pictures of the body that was separated from my Speed Six in favor of a Lemans Rep body. The owner kept the original body but then sold it on eBay some 10 years ago and cannot remember much except that he sold it to America and seemed to remember that it was either for another Bentley or a Lagonda. It has never been heard of or seen since. Naturally you can imagine that I am doing everything possible to find it and as such would greatly appreciate it if you could include it in your newsletter." If someone would have an idea as to who might have it I am easily reached at 800 648 5950 ext 232 or my email is: stevehamilton@hamiltoncompany.com. My intention is to restore the car to its original body."

Additional note: "We know that Mr Wild bought the converted car and the body and then about 10 years ago had an employee put the body on eBay and it was subsequently sold to a west coast USA buyer. The body has never surfaced and thus my search. Mr Wild regretted his decision and has been very helpful in working with me, unfortunately he does not have a lot of information. Returning the body to its rightful chassis is my effort and any information we can learn would be greatly appreciated."

Fitted with a rare fixed-head coupe body by H. J. Mulliner and built under Weymann patents, this car was originally owned by F. O. Mills. At that time it was finished in black. W. D. S. Lake had the car rebuilt to the present form in light grey fabric. This motor, one of 105 Speed Sixes produced in 1930, is capable of 100 mph.

1930 BENTLEY 6½-LITRE 'SPEED SIX' TWO-SEATER FABRIC FIXED-HEAD Coupe WITH DICKEY SEAT
BODY BY H. J. H J Mulliner
Engine no. NH 2744; Chassis no. 2735; Reg. UV 8639

Engine, six-cylinder, overhead camshaft, monobloc, bore 100 mm., stroke 140 mm., capacity 6,597 c.c.: magneto and coil ignition: four-speed gearbox, right-hand change: spiral bevel final drive: footbrake, self-wrapping on four wheels, handbrake on rear wheels: suspension semi-elliptic front and rear: wheelbase 11ft. 8½in,: tyre size 7.00 X 21: price new in England (chassis) £1,850.

The commercial failure of W. O. Bentley's first six-cylinder car, unveiled at the 1925 Olympia Show, has overshadowed its very real merit as a vehicle with a more than adequate standard of quietness, a wheelbase long enough (at 12ft. 7½in.) to take formal coachwork and a performance superior to the contemporary Rolls-Royce. It was unfortunate that the motoring public associated the name of Bentley exclusively with the 3-litre and were less than enthusiastic. The 'Speed Six' of 1929 was a development with raised compression, twin vertical S.U. carburetters replacing the original five-jet Smith instrument, and a radiator with parallel sides. Speeds of over 90 m.p.h. were readily attainable and the model's racing record was distinguished: wins at Le Mans in 1929 and 1930, plus first and second places in the 1930 Double Twelve at Brooklands. It was appreciably rarer than the Standard type, only 177 being delivered as against 368 of the original 6½-litres. Though a 'Speed Six' was displayed on the Bentley stand at Olympia in October, 1930, the model had already been phased out in favour of the ultimate from Cricklewood, the 8-litre which vindicated its designer's ideas by selling a hundred units at the depth of a Depression.

This car (chassis NH 2735) is an outstandingly original specimen of a late-type short-chassis 'Speed Six' with the single-port head and enlarged sump featured in 1930. The only mechanical modification is the use of twin S.U. electric fuel pumps in place of the Autovac which was standard equipment: this latter has been retained and goes with the vehicle. The body follows the style of its period, with shallow screen and side-mounted spare wheels: over the past five years the whole car has been progressively rebuilt to a very high standard. Bills for approximately £875 are available covering work undertaken since 1964: major items include a complete top and bottom engine re-build, rebuilding of the suspension and clutch and a recellulose of the painted parts of the bodywork in 1971. Only 6,000 miles have been covered since the principal part of the overhaul.