1953 Bentley R-Type Manual Sport
£ 29500
|
Body
|
Saloon
|
|
Transmission
|
Manual
|
|
Exterior Color
|
Blue
|
|
Upholstery
|
Leather
|
|
Steering
|
Rhd
|
A smart car, in an attractive shade of deep blue, and in good running order, driving well. The red leather interior – a colour which contrasts very nicely with the exterior, is original and appealing, with good carpets, nicely re-lacquered woodwork, original HMV radio and inertia reel seatbelts. The toolkit under the dash is impressive, and the large tools are in place in their clip in the lower boot compartment. Overall, the car is good, sound, correct, very useable. Offered serviced, MoT tested until October 2024, and comes with a large history file, which include the correct handbook, the original buff logbook from 1953, a great deal of invoices for repairs and maintenance carried out, letters and notes from earlier owners, etc, etc. MoT tested until October 2024.
Chassis No. B303TO Reg No. RMB 17 Price £29,500 Finance
Snippets: Smoking, SAS & Golfers
The chassis cards show the B303TO was registered in the name of Mrs K. M. Horton of Easthrope Lodge, Bottesford. Kathleen Mary Horton was the daughter of William Goodacre Player (1866/1959) & the grand-daughter of John Player & Ann Goodacre. John Player initially set up as a shop owner in Nottingham where he sold prewrapped tobacco - this proved so popular that in 1877 he bought the tobacco factory of William Wright and soon opened two more shops in Nottingham. By the time of his death in 1884 the Player Tobacco Company had 3 factories& 3 shops in Nottingham. William and his brother John took over the firm in 1893 and in in 1895 it became a private limited company. The firm continued to expand and prosper and the two brothers retired from the board in 1926 but remained involved in the company until 1932. At the time that Mary purchased B303TO the company had 15 brands of pipe tobacco and 11 brands of cigarettes on the market. In 1919 Mary married Frederick Henry Le Gendre Horton whose father Rev. Horton had added the extra name of “Starkie” to his surname. During WWI Frederick Horton had served with the 2nd Battalion in WWI but was invalided relatively early on whilst on duty in France. The 2nd owner of B303TO was Michael John Waller Marsh who during WWII had served with the Royal Armoured Corps and in 1943 (just prior to his 22nd birthday) was awarded the Military Cross for his efforts. He also served with the SAS and saw action behind enemy lines at the Battle of El Alamein. Whilst on active duty in France his code name during the D-Day landings was Jo-Jo! We have a copy of the family book “Melton Mowbray to Oakham” which has a rare photo of 1 Troop, 2nd SAS Regiment at Melton Mowbray in 1944 (taken illegally!). This book goes into some detail of Michael’s exploits during WWII, after demob he joined the family law firm and later became a judge. During the 1970s B303TO was owned by Dr G. M. Barling who during WWII was attached to No. 2 Commando and in 1942 he took part in ‘St. Nazaire – Operation Chariot’. During the 1970s John Simmonds met & played golf at the same club as Dr Barling which is where John Simmonds first saw and fell in love with B303TO which he duly bought from the doctor!
Would you like more information? Enquire about this vehicle.
