Vehicle Description
West Coast Classics are proud to present an absolutely stunning and
exceptional example of this gorgeous last year and superby mostly
all original and unrestored 1965 Bentley S3 (Series III) 4 door
6.2L V8 sedan and which was owned and stored for many years by a
renown Saginaw, MI classic car collector in his climate controlled
storage facility until his passing and which was one of the cars we
recently purchased from his collection. For those who are
unfamiliar, the Bentley S3 and the Silver Cloud III were absolutely
identical with both vehicles hand built at the Rolls Royce factory
in Crewe, England with the only differences being their nameplates,
radiator and mascots. In the 1970's a few Bentley S3's were
imported from England to the U.S. and converted to Rolls Royce
Silver Cloud 'clones'; with the Silver Cloud III radiator, mascot
and nameplates; as the Bentley was not as appreciated or as coveted
at the time as it's identical cousin the Rolls Royce, making these
all original Bentley's all the more rare and desirable than their
cousins! This particular example is mostly all original which is
extraordinarly rare, with the car having been imported to the U.S.
in the seventies. It still boasts it's all original Beige color
'Connolly' leather front and rear hides showing quite obvious pride
and care of ownership, with the rest of the interior including the
carpets, wool headliner, door panels, window posts and kick panels,
chrome, paint, the African burled walnut wood, seals, rubbers etc
all in superb condition throughout! With decades of pride of
ownership and professional specialist maintenance mechanically by
its renown collector owner, this cherished and obviously always
garaged car has no rust or history of any accidents. The original
floor boards, trunk and all the typical rust-prone areas are
completely solid and rust free! The car was originally sold at the
renown 'Mann Egerton' Rolls Royce dealership of Berkeley Street,
London in 1965 and later acquired by 'M.V. Yorke Motors' another
Rolls Royce dealership of central London, England before being
exported to the USA and ultimately ti become one of the most
cherished cars of the legendary 'Tom McDonald' collection. The
beautiful color combination of the car's original 'Masons Black
over Cream' two-tone factory color exterior paint complete with
hand painted pin stripes is absolutely stunning and still quite
pristine. The car's full and all original 'Connolly' light beige
leather interior, which was exclusively used in Rolls Royce and
Bentley's and came from unfenced cows which produced unblemished
hides, has only been redyed once in it's original color and all the
chrome work, including the front Rolls Royce grille and the front
and rear bumpers, is absolutely outstanding. The car has it's
original spare wheel and original jack, factory tools and heavy
tools; electric inspection lamp and charging plug, pressure gauge
and tire pump are still located in their rightful place of storage
in the trunk compartment. An obviously always garaged example and
owned by obviously only very careful and meticulous owner's
driver's/collectors for over fifty years - never abused - see below
undercarriage photos for probably one of the finest shots of an all
original 1965 Bentley undercarriage anywhere! The car drives
exactly like a well maintained and serviced Rolls Royce or Bentley
should and must be driven to be fully appreciated and seen to be
believed! The original 6.2L V8 engine is extremely strong and the
engine temperature always remains cool. The car drives straight as
an arrow with no strange road wobbles, shakes or rattles and is a
truly remarkable and responsive daily driver! The car still boasts
its original radio, power steering, power windows, power brakes,
adjustable ride control, Lucas fog lights, electric window
defogger, twin picnic tables, lambs wool carpeting and mohair
headliner, electric clock and the car still retains its rare
leather wrapped rear leaf springs. Turn-key ready, as already
stated, this particular model truly must be driven and seen to be
fully appreciated. You will surely look long and hard to find a
finer example of this undocumented but seemingly original 51K miles
1965 Bentley S3, which looks virtually identical to its twin Rolls
Royce Silver Cloud III apart from grilles and hubcaps, still
boasting its original 'Marston Excelsior' of Leeds, radiator in the
front of the engine under the hood. Marston Excelsior originally
made metal fuel tanks for Wellington bombers and other aircraft and
were commissioned by Bentley to install their radiators in the
early sixties! For those who are unfamiliar, Rolls Royce no longer
exists as it had for over one hundred years - this is one of the
last in the original line of cars built in the legendary Rolls
Royce factory in Crewe, England with a quality and craftsmanship
that far surpasses that of today's mass produced models with many
BMW parts - this is a rare opportunity to own a piece of automobile
history, from a time when Rolls Royce and Bentley were truly
building the world's finest motor cars. This increasingly desirable
and the final year of the now most collectible of the last and
final third series of this legendary marque, the Bentley S3, boasts
the all aluminum powerful 6.2L V8 engine and the redesigned
front-end lower hood and radiator with quad front headlamps mounted
in oval nacelles - considered a shocking violation of RR tradition
at the time with one magazine went so far as to refer to the quad
lights as the equivalent to installing a jukebox in Winchester
cathedral! Along with it's tall grille and Bentley 'Flying B' hood
ornament mascot on the hood, the S3 is a moving work of art from a
time when Rolls-Royce and Bentley were famously building the "Best
Cars in the World" with the craftsmanship and quality of these cars
obviously speaking for themselves.It is becoming increasingly hard
to find such unabused and rust free examples as these models become
thinner and thinner on the ground and harder to find as time has
its way with them and with only some 1,286 Bentley S3 models built
between it's 1962-65 production years and with this being the first
model in which Rolls Royce production exceeded Bentley's, it should
ensure even greater rarity for this particularly rare Bentley S3
example, especially considering how numerous numbers of these rare
Bentley's were tragically and unceremoniously 'butchered'
(converted) into Rolls Royces by replacing their beautiful and
stately original 'Bentley' grilles and hubcaps and mascots!With all
models now very thin on the ground you will surely look long and
hard to find another such example in such fine and mostly all
original condition with its original owners manual, factory tools
and heavy tools and spare wheel! So bid with confidence, with
Silver Cloud III and S3 convertibles now regularly selling in
excess of $500K to over $1M, this will no doubt prove a fabulous
investment for the astute investor, Bentley or Rolls Royce
enthusiast or collector or simply a great daily driver or weekend
toy for the discerning luxury classic car owner!