1954 Bentley R-Type Coupé by Abbott

In June 1952, Bentley’s new R-Type was presented to the public and it owed its name to the fact that the VI Series had, by this time, reached the chassis letter 'R'. The new model continued to utilise the MkVI’s independent front suspension, hydraulic front brakes and six-cylinder 'F-head' power unit, by now extended to 4,566cc. The standard R-Type was a lively performer, achieving 106mph in silence and reached 50mph from standstill in ten seconds, despite a curb weight approaching two tonnes.

As usual, the R-Type could be ordered in chassis form for bodying by specialist coachbuilders, and this manual transmission example was the work of E.D. Abbott of Farnham, Surrey. The stylish, streamlined, Continental-style fastback coupé coachwork, designed by Abbott's stylist, Peter Woodgate, had been intended for the superseded MkVI chassis and bore more than a passing resemblance to H J Mulliner's contemporary Bentley Continental. After two prototypes had been completed, Abbott bodied 14 'production' cars, this example being the first. Of the remaining 13, one was fitted with automatic transmission and one was built with left-hand drive.

We understand that this example was sold new to The Earl of Sefton, bodied in Aluminium and presented as a two-door ‘Continental’ style coupé in Ascot Grey.

OYE 700 is accompanied by a fascinating history file which contains a list of previous owners, confirming that the car’s first owner was indeed the Rt. Hon. Earl of Sefton at Croxteth Hall. In 1968 it became the property of Richard Clover from Worcester and, ten years later, it was registered to the Midland Record Company (Peter John Riley). Jeremy Pemberton of Yellowhammer PLC acquired the Bentley in 1990 before selling it in 2004 to specialists dealers Frank Dale and Stepsons who, according to invoices in the file, carried out quite a lot of work on the car. A Michael Percival is listed as owning the car in 2004 with Eric Adkins in 2005, prior to Mr and Mrs Silverstone, also in 2005. The famous car-collecting dentist, Dr James Hull, added it to his Collection in late 2009 and, naturally, it moved to a previous vendor’s significant Collection around 2012 when Dr Hull sold everything.

There are a number of older invoices with the car and it appears that by 1985, whilst in Peter Riley’s custodianship, the Bentley was looking a little sad. A.B.Price, Automobile Engineers of Studley provided an 'estimate' dated 4th February 1985 for 'totally stripping coachwork, rebuilding corroded and damaged panelwork, re-cellulosing the car, replacing wood frame in body structure, completely refitting the interior woodwork and reassembling all fittings etc'. The estimate totalled £14,338. Invoices over the next 18 months totalled over £20,000 from A.B.Price and detail the work completed. Later invoices over the years from Frank Dale & Stepsons and Hillier Hill detail subsequent maintenance and repairs, with the most recent one dated 8th October 2011, recording the odometer reading of 50,572 miles.

The history file also contains a number of old V5s, a dozen older MOTs, lots of correspondence, the original ‘buff’ logbook, its R-Type Bentley Handbook, an article by Bill Medcalf entitled 'R-Type Continentals' and a booklet titled ‘Twenty Years of Crewe Bentleys’. There is also a letter from Bentley confirming that, should the opportunity arise, they would be delighted to display OYE 700 at the factory as part of 'The Bentley Experience'.

OYE 700 is currently owned by a private Collector who has recently spent over £1,200 with DA Cooper in Sussex on some mechanical work to ensure the car is in splendid shape for the next owner.

This was the first of the Abbotts of Farnham aluminium-bodied cars, and one can only imagine the sort of attention the 'swoopy' Continental bodywork would have generated back in 1954, matched only by the sort of admiration it would garner in 2023. This car is effectively the same as a manual Mulliner R-Type Continental, but at a fraction of the price, and rarer. Both cars are alloy-bodied and drive identically.

We encourage you to view this remarkable piece of automotive art in the metal and to appreciate the sheer quality on offer.