Back from the dead

Remember the barn find Bentley saloon that more than tripled its estimate at Bonhams' Beaulieu sale last year? Well, it's back on the road in all its unrestored glory.

Locked away to gather dust for 30 years, the Bentley's discovery and disinterment caused something of a storm in the Vintage car world, but it was still a surprise when the hammer fell at £695,000. Even before the sale, there was a lot of debate about what should be done with it. Of course, we favoured keeping it as original as possible to retain that hard-earned patina, so we were thrilled when the lucky new owner undertook a sympathetic recommissioning instead of a full-blown restoration.

The coachwork and interior have been carefully cleaned, the de-laminated windscreen replaced and the brakes overhauled, but otherwise it is much as it was when it was laid up in the 1980s. All the dials and gauges were found to work perfectly, and when the new owner opened the boot he discovered the complete original tool kit.

The Automobile magazine, who covered the car's history in detail last year, have been out in this fine Vintage saloon and explain the ins-and-outs of its return to the road in their latest issue, which is out now.

Photographs by Lyndon McNeil