We have hardly recovered from the staggering sales result (GBP 695,000) of the unrestored 1929 Bentley 4,5 litre Sports Saloon or another Bentley find pops in. A 1928 Bentley Drophead which was found in dismantled state some time ago. Since then a 'new school' restoration has been undertaken. Recommissioning and repairing while disturbing as little as possible of orginality and patina and adding as little as possible new material in the form of new bolts, paint and whatever needed. It is not 'crazy' that cars like these bring very large large sums of money nowadays. We foresaw and predicted this development 20 years ago. When you accept the fact that some cars - certainly not all cars - can be seen as automotive art it is only understandable that the best preserved items are valued best. Cars which have received a full "wash & shine" restoration inside and out will be valued lower than the same cars which are still very near the condition in which they left the manufacturer's premises.
"The 1928 Bentley 4½ litre with Victor Broom Drophead coachwork was found spread out over three stories of a central London home! William Medcalf, Bentley specialist, explains: “About a year ago a very nice lady called and said her father has passed away and that he had a couple of old cars in his house, one of which was a Bentley.” William headed to the house near Kew Gardens and as soon as he arrived he began to spot bits of the car spread throughout the house. “I walked into the house and sure enough on the bare entrance hall floorboards was a Bentley cylinder block. I saw a clutch on the stairs, then the conrods – there were literally bits everywhere and throughout the three-storey house.”
The Bentley, one of only eight built in this specification, had been bought back in 1962 by a Mr. Stuart Wallace who was on the lookout for something a little different. The Bentley had cost him less than half the price of a Mini, but one thing Stuart had not banked on was the cost of running the car – it’s 4 ½ engine made it expensive to run and as a student, the Bentley was laid up. Rather than simply being put into the garage, the Bentley was taken apart and the parts scattered throughout the house with every item being photographed and logged with some parts being stored in jars of oil. As William and his team continued to explore the house, they found headlights under the bed, while the dashboard and radiator were hidden in the spare room. William and the team had found enough components to complete a rolling chassis – an incredible find, but sadly, it seemed, the bodywork had been lost to time. Stuart’s daughter then informed William that her father had a garage. On the roof was the bodywork, stored in broad daylight for all to see. In the undergrowth that surrounded said garage lurked a tarpaulin – a tarpaulin that covered a large metal chest containing more missing pieces of the puzzle.
With all the parts gathered together the obvious step would have been to restore it, but William chose to take a different approach. “It can only be original once,” he adds. “Our plan was to keep it as preserved as possible. During its reassembly, the team added several new sections of wood to ensure the car was solid, but that was the extent the new materials – the rest is all original.” Despite its 87 years, the Bentley still has its original lead seals in place, and is on its original wire wheels and original tires, though the inner tubes have been replaced. Incredibly, not a single nut and bolt, anywhere on the car, has been replaced either. The mileage on the speedo reads 39,000 miles which William believes to be correct.