Lot 040: Bentley S2

When Bentley introduced its new S-Type in 1955, the imperious saloon drew gasps of admiration from the motoring press. The latest Bentley model offers a degree of safety, comfort and performance that is beyond the experience  and perhaps even the imagination  of the majority of the world's motorists, gushed Autocar. "It's a modern magic carpet which annihilates great distances and delivers the occupants well-nigh as fresh as when they started."Powered initially by a 4.9-litre straight-six, this was replaced with a much more effective all-alloy 6.2-litre V8 in the S2 model which appeared in 1959. Startlingly rapid for a stately home on wheels, it could surge to 60mph in 11.5 seconds on its way to a top speed of 115mph. First registered in September 1960, this lovely example was supplied new by Coffins of Eastbourne to Mr RM Tilling of Pullborough with the registration number JBP 1. An original right hand-drive car, it has the desirable options of power steering and air conditioning. Exported to the USA a long time ago, it spent many years in a private collection where it was treated to a bare metal respray in the fabulous Georgian Silver over Blue paintwork that you see today.The car was supplied and maintained in the States by Bentley specialists Charles Schmitt of St Louis (Tel: 00131 435 29100) who have confirmed to the current vendor that the mileage now on the clock, 38,589, is absolutely genuine. The vendor states that: "The interior is in superb order with a lovely patination to the grey leather that is impossible to duplicate on restored examples. Her woodwork is also in lovely order. She starts on the button and drives well on the road." At the time of cataloguing the car was not yet UK-registered but all import duties have been paid and re-registering it is said to be a formality. Due to have a fresh MOT before the sale, this looks like a huge amount of car for the money. But don't just take our word for it. Quentin Willson devoted his column to the Bentley S-Type in the March 2008 issue of 'Classic Cars' magazine. After rhapsodising about the fabulous looks ("achingly beautiful... incredible presence and majesty") and the performance ("wonderfully rewarding and special to drive") he got to the real point of the article which was to say how amazingly undervalued they were at the moment. Singling out the S2 with power steering as his pick of the crop, he wrote: "Nothing this side of a �150,000 coachbuilt Park Ward or James Young Continental looks as classically classy as these old Crewe dowagers... To buy the modern equivalent today would relieve you of a quarter-of-a-million quid... And that's why I reckon values of these exquisite behemoths will firm up strongly, and really good examples could eventually become a 50-grand touch." Whether you agree with the old smoothie or not, it's certainly food for thought..