Vehicle Description
To be OFFERED AT AUCTION at RM Sotheby's Santa Monica event, June
24, 2017.
Estimate:
$275,000 - $325,000 US
One of the most beautiful 3�-Litre Bentleys
Spectacular lightweight, aerodynamic one-off coachwork
Commissioned by its original owner for a Royal Automobile Club
tour
Former Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance award-winner
Featured in many important Bentley reference texts
This Bentley 3�-Litre, chassis B111FC, is absolutely unique, as
tailored by Windovers for its original owner, B. Gootnick, who
accepted delivery in March of 1936. The chassis and build
information sheets for this car, copies of which are on file, state
that the car was built for "Town work and touring . . . the car
will be used for RAC rally and acceleration should be �specially
considered.'" Undoubtedly, Mr. Gootnick was a gentleman, but he was
a gentleman with a lead foot.
As noted in Michael Ellman-Brown's book, Bentley: The Silent Sports
Car, 1931-1941, chassis number B111FC "could easily have come from
the drawing board of a continental coachbuilder. Although the rear
portion of the roof has the appearance of a drophead coupe and is
fabric-covered, it is in fact fixed; the hood irons are dummies.
Also unusual on this car is the very narrow scuttle section,
necessitating widening of the bonnet top at the rear, in order to
achieve a more graceful flow into the door, the leading edge of
which is forward of the norm, because of the rake of the
windscreen. The wheel discs are also unusual for an English
coachbuilder, adding to the continental "flavor."
The car's subsequent collector ownership included the well-known
Bentley and Rolls-Royce enthusiast, Dr. Mark Sheppard. Following
Dr. Sheppard's passing in 1978, it was sold to the renowned West
Coast collector Herbert Boyer, who exhibited it at the Pebble Beach
Concours d'Elegance in 1983, winning 1st in Class and the Lord
Montagu Trophy. Consistent with his reputation, Mr. Boyer then
commissioned a fresh body-off restoration of the car before showing
it yet again at Pebble Beach, in 1993. It was later acquired by the
Blackhawk Collection, and passed in 2002 to Chuck Swimmer, who, a
year later, returned it to Pebble Beach. When one considers how
seldom a car is invited to that famed event, that this car appeared
every 10 years for 30 years is incredible, indeed!
Boasting an honest and prestigious provenance, the car is listed on
page 96 of Stanley Sedgwick's seminal tome on the marque, All the
Pre-War Bentleys - As New. In addition, it is pictured on page 175
of the 2003 edition of Johnnie Green's Bentley: Fifty Years of the
Marque. It is accompanied to sale here by the aforementioned Hunt
House documentation, as well as by information received from the
Rolls-Royce Foundation. The car remains in fine condition
throughout, evidence of its good care, with paint, interior,
chrome, and brightwork that all present very nicely. The tool kit
in the boot is complete, and rather spectacular in its own
right.
In many ways, B111FC represents the "Silent Sports Car's" first
tentative steps back toward its performance roots. Specified with
lightweight bodywork for fast touring, with aggressive modern
lines, it could be considered the "3�-Litre Continental"�one of the
quickest and most attractive Derby Bentleys of its era.
To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction,
please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/.
