Legacy Metrics

1959 Bentley S2 Continental Drophead Coupé by Park Ward

BC54LARroadUnited Kingdom
Engine
Aluminum overhead-valve V8
Colour
Midnight Blue

A left-hand-drive 1959 Bentley S2 Continental Drophead Coupé bodied by Park Ward to design number 991, one of only 65 such cars produced, all to individual commission. Originally delivered to J. Robert Neal, heir to the Maxwell House coffee fortune, via Jack Barclay with an unusual specification including factory air conditioning, power steering, and a heavy-gauge frame. The car has since been refinished in Midnight Blue over a re-trimmed white leather interior and has undergone comprehensive mechanical recommissioning by marque specialists.

Ownership

  1. —Auction sale
    Sold US$173,600

    RM Sotheby's catalogue lot →

  2. 1959 →Factory delivery
    J. Robert Neal
    partial documentation

    Heir to the Maxwell House coffee fortune; reportedly took delivery in Europe during a tour, with the order placed through Jack Barclay's. Specified numerous custom features including power steering, air conditioning, and a heavy-gauge frame.

Competition

No competition history extracted from the catalogue.

Maintenance & restoration

  1. —
    Restoration

    Car refinished in Midnight Blue and interior re-trimmed in white leather with dark blue piping, dark blue carpeting, and a dark blue Everflex hood.

  2. —Mechanical
    Marque specialist

    Comprehensive mechanical recommissioning covering steering, suspension, gearbox, differential, brakes, exhaust, engine tuning, air conditioning, and hydraulic systems; work documented in file. Car noted to have a replacement engine.

    Supporting documentation on file for this work.

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How this record is sourced

Each chassis record is compiled from public auction archives and links to its source material. Ownership, competition and maintenance entries are extracted from those catalogue listings by an LLM, which can make mistakes — please contact us with any corrections. The summary is Legacy Metrics’ own writing; we do not reproduce catalogue text.

“Full” and “partial” documentation labels indicate how well each entry is corroborated in the underlying sources, not an audit of the car’s physical paperwork. Names of recent or living owners are withheld for privacy.