1974 Bentley Corniche 2dr Saloon

A rare beast indeed and elegance personified is what you get with a Bentley Corniche 2 door saloon (or FHC in normal parlance)

Ours is from 1974, which according to a chum of mine, is one of only 4 made that year!

Actually from 1971 until their demise in 1980 only 63 (or 74 depending upon which source you use), as records were rather scant at the time, for most models we built as Rolls-Royce

Bentley as a marque were in their doldrums, at that time, with production accounting for less than 5% of overall cars built from the Factory

Anyhow, here we are with another gem from 1974, the second we've had the joy of offering for sale

The last owner bought her as an indulgence - for her previous owner had raced a D Type Jaguar in period, and as he owned the D Type now, he thought it would be fun to have both of this chaps' motors, as a matching pair, if you will

Sense got the better of him, for he already has a handful of Bentley's, and another just wasn't necessary - hence we are able to purloin her away from him

The famous previous owner was a very useful racer in the 1950's, piloting not only his D Type, but also an XK120, C Type, Aston Martin DB3S, Lister Costin, Tojiero amongst a plethora of others

He was quite the Gentleman driver and was rather successful, with many top ten finishes in a prodigious racing career, as well as many podiums too

He was a frequent visitor at Jack Barclay Ltd when I was a youngster, always wafting in wearing his Loden Coat, having muted conversations with Victor - he was a Specialist at Sotherby's Auction House, in their eponymous Bond Street store, as used by James Bond in the Octopusy film - for he was a fountain of knowledge in his field of sports racing cars and Bentley's too

He obviously chose the Bentley for its' rarity, and elegance and he kept her for nearly 20 years, until his death in 2021

Always kept in it top condition, she is in ready to go condition and has just passed her MoT, without a single advisory

On testing her myself on the way to her photography she was a pure joy - wafting along, as did Peter, all smooth and genteel

Everything works as intended, with electric seats, cold air conditioning, smooth power delivery from her 6.750cc V8 engine with a refined, subdued exhaust note

The stereo works from all four speakers whilst the electric aerial is operated with a switch adjacent to the steering column

A nice touch are the chrome door pulls which make the doors much easier to close and of course, they look quaint too

Originally she was a light champagne colour (Willow Gold) and was later was repainted in Velvet Green, which has held up well overall

While her interior still retains her original leather interior (Magnolia), with veneers pleasingly light in colour and again, have not been replaced, although a tiny crack is visible here or there - I am being rather pedantic for a 48 year old motor by the way, for she is stunning overall condition

The engine purrs as mentioned earlier and this may be as the engine had a major overhaul in 2003, since when only 13.000 miles have been driven

Overall this is an exceptional Corniche - one we would very much enjoy keeping...............