Story and History

1958 Bentley S Type Continental by James Young

The success of the R Type Continental between 1952 and 1955 lead to the creation of the S Type Continental chassis, which was released in April of 1955

Having worked with Victor Barclay at Jack Barclay we saw many versions of the James Young Continental's from the 1950's and 60's as well as the numerous Phantom V bodied by them too

Jack Barclay had a good eye and in owning James Young Coach Builders in Bromley, Kent he also had the undisputed genius of AF McNeill to head up his design team

Their designs are widely considered to be some of the most beautiful examples of coachwork in the post war era, regardless of marque

Chassis No BC26CH is one of just thirteen cars built to Design No CT29 by James Young in right hand drive on the S1 Continental chassis

A further three cars were built in left hand drive

Our example, BC26CH as mentioned above, was completed in June 1958 and supplied by Jack Barclay Ltd, (naturally) to her first owner, Mr William P Harrower of Edinburgh

He kept the car until 1960 when she was sold to L. M. Van Moppes of Basingstoke thereafter she popped over to the US before being acquired and repatriated in 1988 by Bentley specialist P.J.Fischer

Peter is a great chum of ours - he and I used to do a lot of business in the 1990's as his array of Continental's in immaculate condition was legendary

He found a French buyer, a Monsieur Ferrary-Berthlot (actually a keen car collector and Doctor of Medicine practicing in Pediatrics) in 1988 and took in part exchange a 300SE coupe and a 280SE DHC

The invoice price in 1988 was £49.000 - about half the price of a new Bentley in period and coincidentally this is in line with today's values

M.Ferrary-Berthlot kept the car for the next 29 years during which period he only rove a further 3.000 miles and happily Peter was able to re-purchase her again

Fully serviced whilst in France, he as a Swiss chap, still had to run through his usual checks still using his mechanical team, now called English Automotive

A small bill only was levied as the car is so good

The interior is so original, it's almost unheard of and the cockpit smells only like an old Bentley in good condition can smell - lovely

We particularly like the rear seat headrests and the manner in which they have been fitted plus the switches for the front seat electric windows too

These cars were super expensive in their day - and it shows these little details

Perfect wood veneers (a James Young feature - as are the beautifully crafted door handles too) a period 1970's air conditioning unit has been fitted and is in keeping with the normal fascia

The engine stars on the button, purrs along quietly whilst the chassis and body have no shudder all

The cross ply tyres have a small white band which sets off the very pretty light green metallic (Mistletoe) paintwork and the tan leather makes for a perfect colour combination

The steering wheel is a non period update by MotoLita - having said this, we have grown rather fond of it

Should a new buyer wish to find a period correct 'bakelite' steering wheel in it's place we can accommodate this very easily

Therefore in our humble opinion, all round it would be hard to find a better or more elegant Continental anywhere