French title

Chassis No B86KT

Engine No

- Well-preserved old restoration

- Unique torpedo bodywork!

- Same owner for 25 years

Delivered new in June 1937 in England to a Mr. George Byrne as a Park Ward saloon car, this Bentley was exported to Australia in 1974 by a collector residing in Sydney called Frank Illich. As the bodywork was decaying, he commissioned Sydney-based coachbuilder Diskon & Molyneux to build a bridged torpedo mounted like the style of a Castagna design. The car was then painted mustard yellow and the interior redone in brown leather with a wooden dashboard fitted with Bentley instrumentation including a wind-up clock. A black soft top is put away behind the bench seat and the car is accompanied by a jack and its crank stamped DYK 337, which may correspond to its original English registration. Equipment also include two mirror/light combinations, deflectors marked with the “B” for Bentley, Lucas headlights and two chrome horns.

Thereafter, this car was purchased by the York Motor Museum in Western Australia, where it was displayed and carefully maintained before being sold in 1999 via the specialist Franck Dale to its current owner, a major Swiss collector who brought it to France and has used it regularly in the Alpilles since then.

In 2003, the engine was replaced by another of the same type and in 2004, an electrically-controlled overdrive was fitted. In 2017, the clutch disc was replaced by the Sport Mecanique workshop in Chateaurenard, with regular servicing carried out by the owner’s mechanic, the former chief mechanic for the King of Morocco Hassan II.

Accompanied by a copy of its original manufacturing document,this Bentley Derby (with its well-preserved old restoration and mechanics which benefited from regular servicing) offers the unique advantage of a convertible bodywork, always pleasant for going on road trips with family or friends.