1956 Bentley 4 door S1 Saloon

The Bentley 'S1' saloon was first announced in 1955 to replace the successful 'R' type. It was a larger five or six seater saloon with a pressed steel body and aluminium doors, bonnet and boot lid. It featured the straight six-cylinder 4887cc engine from the Bentley Continental and the equivalent model from Rolls Royce was the 'Silver Cloud 1'. Just over 3,500 were produced between 1955 and 1959 and the car was considered a sales success for the Crewe factory.This particular S1 saloon was supplied new in left-hand drive form to Norway and has covered an indicated 55,000 miles from new. It is a matching numbers car and was purchased by our vendor primarily for Continental cruising. The car has been fully restored in recent times and has proved to be both stylish and reliable.

Prior to the current vendor purchasing this Standard Steel Saloon we are informed that it underwent much restoration work by marque specialist Healey Bros (Automobile Engineers) Ltd. Stripped to bare metal its bodywork was treated to various remedial repairs before being completely resprayed in Grey over Silver. Sub-contracted to Gary Wright, the Bentley's interior was rejuvenated via a replacement headlining, re-finished interior wood door cappings, new Light Grey leather upholstery and fresh Grey carpets. Treated to a minor automatic transmission overhaul to address a leakage and drive problem, the S1 also had its water pump refurbished. In 2013 our vendor intrusted Marque specialists Balmoral Bentley "to make it perfect" the invoice in the history file for this element alone is close to £7,000.

The car inspects well close up, as does the underneath of the car, and drives well with no concerning noises or rattles. It comes to our Sale with a fresh MoT and a clean bill of health. Please note this car is currently registered in Norway and a five per cent import duty will be payable if the car remains in the EU.