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Bentley’s R-type Continental was seen as a major departure for the firm on its launch in 1949. Low, sporting, with streamlined coachwork and clearly designed for high-speed grand touring, it bucked the trend of increasingly heavy, upright saloons the firm had built since Rolls-Royce’s takeover in 1931.
But it had an antecedent. In 1933, Bentley began experimenting with the effects of close-coupled, heavily streamlined coachwork on the 3½ Litre chassis. The result, a Park Ward coupé on chassis B23AE, was unlike any Bentley that had come before. It was pared-down and stripped back to the absolute minimum, with cycle wings and a narrow, wind-cheating cabin with a sweeping fastback tail. Sadly, it remained unique and the public never got to benefit from Bentley’s brief change of direction. The car disappeared without a trace before the Second World War and was never heard of again.
That is, until 2013, when the coachwork was discovered – somewhat disguised, but complete and in excellent condition – on a decidedly unsporting Rolls-Royce 20hp chassis. It was decided to return the body to a Bentley chassis to as near as possible its original specification, a restoration that has only just been completed.
The finished car, painted in its striking original metallic color scheme, is back where it belongs, on the road and in regular use by its new owner. The Automobile magazine was lucky enough to secure an exclusive test of the car, and you can read the full story of its design, conception, rediscovery, and restoration in the October issue, which is in shops now.
Photographs by Stefan Marjoram