1928 Bentley 6½-Litre Tourer
- Engine
- 6.5L inline six-cylinder
- Colour
- Sea blue
Chassis MD2475 is a 1928 Bentley 6½-Litre, one of just 91 produced that year, originally delivered as a black Weymann saloon bodied by Albany Carriage Company. After passing through several pre-war owners and disappearing during the Second World War, it resurfaced in the 1960s fitted with a shooting-brake body. That body was subsequently removed and replaced by a Vanden Plas-style four-seat open tourer, built by James E Pearce of Wisborough Green, in sea blue over dark blue leather. The car retains its matching-numbers chassis, engine, steering box, and differential, with the original crankcase reunited with the car in 2015 and fully rebuilt in 2025.
Ownership
- —Auction saleSold £342,500 (≈ $428K)
- 1928-06-01 →Factory deliveryEdmund Danielspartial documentation
Original recipient of the car, delivered as a black Weymann saloon with red leather trim by Albany Carriage Company. Vehicle may have featured in a Henlys advertisement in late 1928.
- 1934 →Acquisition unknownW H Williamsonpartial documentation
- 1935 →Acquisition unknownR B H Bibbypartial documentation
- 1939 →Acquisition unknownK Nevepartial documentation
Car passed out of known records during the Second World War, a common fate for significant vintage vehicles of that era.
- 1969 →Acquisition unknownM D Geerpartial documentation
- → 2015Acquisition unknownDutch ownernone documentation
Car moved to the Netherlands after France before being sold back to the UK in 2015.
- 2015 → 2017Private salePrevious UK ownerpartial documentation
Purchased the car upon its return to Britain; identified that the installed crankcase was not original and successfully sourced the correct matching unit, reuniting it with the car in 2015.
- 2017 →Private saleConsigning ownerpartial documentation
Commissioned a full rebuild of the matching-numbers crankcase by vintage Bentley specialist NDR Ltd; rebuild completed September 2025 with engine reinstalled October 2025.
- Date unknownPrivate salePatrick Thomas Beasleypartial documentation
Acquired the car roughly two years after the original delivery. The current registration plate dates from March 1929 and remains on the car.
- Date unknownAcquisition unknownP R Danielpartial documentation
Car re-emerged in the 1960s under this custodian and was noted at that time to carry a shooting brake body.
- Date unknownAcquisition unknownFrench ownernone documentation
Car was held in France around the start of the 21st century; the shooting brake body had by some point been replaced with a four-seat open tourer body in the Vanden Plas style, built by James E Pearce of Wisborough Green.
Competition
No competition history extracted from the catalogue.
Maintenance & restoration
- 2015Maintenance
The correct original crankcase (numbered MD2460), which had been separated from the car, was traced and reunited with chassis MD2475, replacing a non-original unit that had been installed at an unknown point.
Work carried out under the stewardship of the previous UK owner.
- 2025Engine rebuildNDR Ltd
The matching-numbers crankcase was dispatched to vintage Bentley specialist NDR Ltd for a complete rebuild, which was finished in September 2025.
Following rebuild completion, the engine was reinstalled in October 2025; however, the car still requires a clutch assembly, fuel lines, control linkage, and ancillary components before it is fully operational.
- 2025MechanicalNDR Ltd
The freshly rebuilt engine was installed back into the car, though several ancillary items including clutch assembly, fuel pipes, and control linkage remain to be fitted.
Prospective buyers were advised to contact the auctioneer for further detail on the outstanding work required.
- —BodyworkJames E Pearce
The original shooting-brake coachwork was removed and replaced with a handsome four-seat open touring body constructed in the Vanden Plas style by coachbuilder James E Pearce of Wisborough Green, finished in sea blue with a dark blue leather interior.
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