1948 Bentley Mark VI

The MkVI was the first car from Rolls Royce/Bentley to emerge fully completed from the factory, and also the first to feature al steel body construction.

This 1948 car has the 4 1/4 -litre engine (it grew to 4 1/2 litres in 1951). The firm famously refused to quote power figures for its powerplants but an Autocar magazine road test from 1950 reported that top gear provided ‘flexibility down to 6 mph’ and the ability to ‘climb a hill of 1 in 9 maximum gradient, complicated by bends’, all of which supported the manufacturer's firm belief that power, along with low speed torque, were adequate.

The current owners of this car have been enjoying it for the last 30 years, and tell us they’ve lost count of the amount of weddings its attended – not as a business, but just for family and friends. The Bentley’s been in storage since 2008, but the owners are now moving house, so it’s been to a local garage who’ve done some recommissioning work.

It came back from the garage under its own steam on trade plates. The husband used to use it to go to work every day when they first bought it, in 1995.

Prior to the current owners’ buying the car, it was owned by a person in Redruth, Cornwall, and the current owners drove it back to their then home in Redding.

This MkVI is by no means immaculate but it does appear to be very original, complete and quite possibly unrestored. The cream and dark blue paintwork is generally quite sound, and would benefit from a good session with some T Cut and wax polish. There is a small area near the boot handle where the paint has cracked, leaving a 50p sized area of exposed metal, but overall what is still there could be vastly improved with some elbow grease.

Possibly the worst parts of the outside are the bumpers, which are both very tired looking (the rear one has a bit of a parking ding in it too), but even these could be made to look a lot better with some TLC. It’s certainly an imposing looking front elevation, with the vast third light sprouting from the front apron like an ancient lighthouse.

Overall, we think it would be a shame to repaint this car. It wears its scars with pride and carries an enormous sense of a full and happy history with it, which we’d like to see preserved.

It’s a similar tale inside this magnificent old beast. Plenty of life has happened in here and over restoring it would remove all trace of that. That said, the steering wheel is cracked and has electrical tape hiding the worst of its sins, so it may be worth looking for a better replacement.

There’s also a small tear in the leather on the rear seat, and on both the armrests in the front doors, but the front seats, while a tad previously enjoyed, are sound. The whole lot could do with a few localised repairs and a deep clean and hide food application.

The lacquer on the wood work has lost its sheen but hasn’t cacked and fallen off, so could well respond to some cleaning and polishing too.

The headlining appears to be in great condition. With some hours put into it this interior could be wonderful, while still retaining its hugely appealing patina.

The B series Rolls Royce engine in this car has an overhead inlet valve with a side valve exhaust arrangement. It’s a tough old thing which went on to power various military vehicles for many years after the MkVI had left production.

Lifting the centre-hinged bonnet reveals a vast air cleaner the size of a Zeppelin, under which the 4.25-litre B Series Rolls engine hides – with two brass-topped and unfeasibly small looking SU carbs peeking out to confirm its existence. Lift the other side of the bonnet and you get a much better view of the alloy valve cover, complete with cast in Bentley script, and a plaque that reads ‘Bentley Motors, 16 Conduit St London.’

Everything again looks very original, save for what looks like a recently fitted ignition coil – the shiny bracket gives it away.

Underneath the car is scruffy and muddy – the latter no doubt as a result of its self-propelled five mile journey back from the garage that got it up and running. While there’s a lot of surface corrosion, particularly towards the rear of the car where the engine’s generous sharing of its oil is less pronounced, we couldn’t actually see any holes in the chassis.

The current owners say:

‘We acquired the Bentley 1995, and at this point it’d had four previous owners. We did a day trip to Redruth in Cornwall to collect it. Before we retired Simon used it for going to work every day. We have used it for pleasure and friends and family weddings over the years and have enjoyed it. It has been garaged the whole time and drives, but it needs checking over as we have only driven it a short distance recently.

‘Simon had owned one of these before I met him, when I bought a Fiat 500 from him. Two weeks after this he proposed and I accepted. One day I was on my way back from London in the Fiat, when I saw a MkVI in a garage. I went in and swapped the 500 for it. It wasn’t running but Simon’s good with cars and I knew he’d be able to fix it. He put a new clutch in it and we had it for a long time.

‘We loved it and used to go on holidays in it till we needed to sell it to pay for a new roof for the house. On one occasion I was driving home with our son in a carrycot in the back of the car, and it stalled in the road. A policeman on a bicycle came along and asked if he could help.

‘I was terrified as the car was not taxed. I told him there was a dodgy connection on the battery. I took off the driver’s seat and he got out his truncheon and gave it a clout – and after that the car roared into life. He didn’t notice the tax disc was out of date!

‘We missed not having such a lovely car and this prompted us to buy this one many years later. We have a copy of the workshop manual, and somewhere the original log book that we cannot, at the moment, find.’

However, with that impending house move there is, of course, a chance that the original log book will turn up.

This is a wonderfully original old Bentley that oozes charm. It’s the perfect choice for someone interested in a restoration project as everything is there and it hasn’t been modified or chopped about. You could build a show winner from this car.

Or – and this is what we’d do – buy it, clean it, replace the odd part and enjoy it, while allowing its bountiful history to keep building.

Our estimate for this car Is £14,000 - £18.000.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the current owners in North Devon; to arrange an appointment to view it please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.