For Sale at Auction: 1949 Bentley Mark VI in Scottsdale, Arizona

FROM THE MISSOULA AUTO MUSEUM COLLECTION: Vehicle to be offered for Auction sale January 19th - 22nd, 2017 at Russo and Steele's 17th Annual Scottsdale Arizona Auction at the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Please contact us for more information. Unlike many of the world's great luxury automobile manufacturers, Rolls-Royce survived the ravages of World War II and managed to emerge into the new peacetime environment in relatively good financial health. Rolls-Royce immediately focused its efforts on all-new and highly refined post-war automotive designs. Company management acutely understood the new realities of the difficult post-war 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. Steel shortages heightened the sense of urgency. The company's Bentley Mark VI was introduced in 1946, marking the first post-war Bentley automobile of Rolls-Royce design. 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 saloon coachwork. The Pressed Steel Company located in Oxford built the bodies, which were reminiscent of the Park Ward-bodied Mark V of the late 1930s. Ex-Gurney Nutting Chief Designer John Blatchley applied the highly refined detail features to the Mark VI bodies. Power for the Mark VI was delivered by a simplified 4.3-liter (4,257 cc) F-head inline 'six' plus a four-speed full-synchromesh manual gearbox. A modern independent front suspension provided outstanding driving dynamics. From 1949, left hand drive Mark VIs were available for the crucial North American markets and from 1951 onward, the engine capacity grew to 4,566 cc (4 1/2 litres). In all, Mark VI production reached 5,202 examples, including 4,000 with the 4 1/2 Litre engine and 1,202 in 4 1/2 Litre form. Numbered B490EY, this right-hand drive 1949 Bentley Mark VI Saloon is finished in attractive livery and presents in nice driver quality throughout. Offered without reserve, it comes from the Missoula Auto Museum Collection and marks a wonderful find at auction.