Story and History

1961 Bentley S2 Continental by HJ Mulliner
Known owenership from new
Low mileage

What a find …… an untouched and mostly original Bentley S2 Continental by H.J. Mulliner

She has a fabulous history tracing every owner from the day the car was first delivered in February 1961 to today

Obviously she comes with her build sheets showing the original colours of Mist Green over Green upholstery, the very same paint and upholstery which still adorn her today

After 60 years her lines are as sharp as ever whilst the original paint is more for the patination class than concours arena - as one might expect from such an elegant old girl she does still wear it well.

Quite nice in the history folder is the retention of letters from H.J. Mulliner and Bentley Motors of Conduit Street to the first owner. Both are what we might call today warranties but in the day were more stylishly referred to as guarantees. Mulliners' offered only a year and yet Bentley supplied the car with three years.

Supplied new by the world renowned Jack Barclay Ltd to Mr P.R. Levy of Hampstead, he kept her for circa 40 years until she second owner purchased her in 2001

Within the history there is confirmation of mileage from 1983 at which point just a mere 11.770 miles was shown

There are various service records in the 1970's, all from Rolls-Royce / Bentley Cars for maintenance and servicing, which annoyingly (especially from the Factory) do not show the mileage!!

From 1983 onwards we can validate the mileage completely, which is now showing 28.500 miles

Moreover the first owner travelled only a further 3.000 miles from 1983 until 2001 when the Bentley was taken over by the second owner - clearly the first owner cherished her, having serviced by the factory and hardly using her

Hence the annual mileage from 1960 - 1983 was under 500 miles annually and thereafter from 1983 - 2001 it was even less being 200 miles per annum - clearly comparable usage from the outset and until he sold her

Our second owner didn't keep her for long, Mr R Harvey. He first had her serviced in March of 2001 at Rolls-Royce & Bentley specialists Colbrook - a check over was carried out and various works were undertaken to continue the constant attention to keep her mechanically up to scratch

The third owner, Mr G.S. Frost, purchased her in September of 2001, it's safe to suggest therefore that the second owner Mr R Harvey was in fact a trader who acquired her, hence he undertook all the necessary repairs over the course of 8 months or so before selling her on.

Mr G.S. Frost is our next long term keeper, he and his son Mr N.S. Frost kept the car between the two of them until 2012.

After the Frost's purchased her in 2001 regular service work was carried out by Rolls-Royce & Bentley specialists Specialist Cars of Exeter.

The next major service was undertaken in 2008 with the engine being stripped out fitted with all new pistons & liners, new big end bearings & freshly machined heads came together for a bill of £15.000 once everything was reassembled & refitted.

The Frosts kept the car until 2012 when she was purchased by Mr Robert Jewers, a main board director of the now no longer with us, JD Classics

He kept her in his private collection until 2017 retaining every invoice during the intervening period for parts, as all labour costs would have been swallowed up with in the business directly - whatever people say about the sad demise JD, their quality of works was exemplary

Our most recent owner bought her in 2017, to put into his rather fine collection of Bentley's all of ages

Again he hasn't changed the attention lavished upon her and although his usage is less than a few hundred miles, he has had her serviced always, including another major service in 2019

Amongst other things the carburettors & fuel supply hoses were overhauled, the steering box, joints & pivots were restored, all new engine & exhaust mounts, all brakes were overhauled, new HT leads, new tyres etc etc a mere £25,000 later and we can attest to the fine driving experience, as we drove her back from the West Country to central London, without a hiccup

Only for sale as the owner has moved, hence his complete collection has been disposed of

We drove her up from Yeovil to London, a two and a half hour journey, where she performed without hiccup and it was a complete joy to be at her helm

Finding an example like this is MORE than rare as so many have been repainted or restored and they can never go back to original

We think this is truly an outstanding opportunity