Vehicle Description
FROM THE MISSOULA AUTO MUSEUM COLLECTION Vehicle to be offered for Auction sale January 19th - 22nd 2017 at Russo and Steeles 17th Annual Scottsdale Arizona Auction at the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Please contact us for more information.
Unlike many prewar automobile manufacturers Rolls-Royce survived the ravages of World War II and emerged into the new peacetime environment in relatively good financial health. Company management acutely understood the new realities of the difficult postwar economy and began to embrace greater standardization higher production volumes and their resulting economies of scale a product of the demands of the war years.
The new Bentley Mark VI was introduced in 1946 marking the first postwar Bentley automobile of Rolls-Royce design and most significantly the Mark VI represented a complete break from the past being designed and built as a complete car and fitted with new standardized pressed-steel saloon coachwork. The Pressed Steel Company of Oxford built the bodies which were reminiscent of the Park Ward-bodied Mark V models of the late 1930s while ex-Gurney Nutting Chief Designer John Blatchley applied the detail refinements.
While the Standard Steel bodies of the Mark VI signaled the end of the era of the custom coach building trade they were trimmed and painted to a standard that rivaled them. This was quite a change in philosophy on the part of Bentleys parent Rolls-Royce yet it reflected the reality that high-quality standardized bodies could be built in greater numbers at the new factory in Crewe.
A 4.3-litre 4257 cc inline six-cylinder engine initially powered the Mark VI with its aluminum-alloy F-head combining overhead intake and side-mounted exhaust valves. Similar to the B60-Series engine of the war years this new design was much simpler and utilized a one-piece cylinder block with integral crankcase as well as a fan belt-driven generator and water pump. By 1951 an increase in displacement yielded 4 1/2 litres. Combined with a four-speed manual gearbox and an independent front suspension the Mark VI provided outstanding performance and was capable of approaching 95 mph. Available information indicates total production of Mark VI chassis between 1946 and 1952 to have amounted to 5202 chassis. Finished in highly attractive livery this later-production 1951 Bentley Mark VI is offered from the Missoula Auto Museum collection without reserve.
