1938 Bentley 4 1/4 O'drive James Young Brougham de Ville B38MR

A very rare and desirable car. being one of the 200 overdrive cars built before the war stopped production. They are widely considered to be the cream of the Derby Bentleys. and this one is extra special. being a semi open Brougham. or ‘Barouche de Ville' as James Young named it. The car is in very good all round order. running very well. with a smooth engine. excellent gearbox. etc. and is a pleasure to drive. Comes with a history file. which includes invoices totalling £92. 00 spent since 1997. As well as the soft top. and as can be seen in some of the photos above. the car comes with a three piece 'targa top'. thereby giving a combination of open and closed configurations. The coach is sound and smart. with nice door fits. the chrome work is excellent. including the correct Lucas R100 headlamps and long trumpet horns. and the interior is also in good order. being beige leather. carpets and headlining. An impressive. sought after model. in good order. and based upon our records. one of very few built. possibly one of just two.

Chassis No. B38MR. Reg No. FGW386. £110. 00.

Snippets: The Indian Connections. Ordered by Basil Hamilton-Temple Blackwood (4th Marquess of Dufferin & Ava) in part-exchange for his 1936 Bentley 4 ¼ 3pos DHC B202GA. His father had died in 1930 in an aircraft & aged just 21 Basil became the 4th Marquess; he pursued a career in politics & made his maiden speech in the House of Lords in 1931 aged 22. he later became PPS to the 11th Marquess of Lothian (Under –Secretary of State for India) and then to the 3rd Viscount Halifax. In 1940 Basil Blackwood resigned from the Government & joined the Royal Horseguards. he was killed in action in 1945 whilst outside the old Royal City of Mandalay; a section of Mandalay had been renamed Fort Dufferin after his the 1st Marquess (Basil's grandfather) who in 1884 was Viceroy of India. When the 1st Marquess was raised in peerage (1888) he adopted the title of Dufferin (Co Down) & Ava (Province of Burma). The Dufferin & Ava family connections include Maureen Guiness who was presented at court to King George V –(she married Basil in 1930). Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (Play-write - The Rivals. The School for Scandal) and Archibald Hamilton-Rowan (Irish Landowner & advocate for Irish Liberty). After just 12months of ownership B38MR was with Richard Rylands Costain whose grandfather was in 1865 founded the engineering firm of Costain. Their construction works include 11 miles of the Trans-Iranian Railway (1935). during the Normandy landing in WWII they supplied the Mulberry floating concrete rafts & in 1984 the Thames Barrier Project. Richard Costain was born the same year that his grandfather died – 1902 & joined the firm in 1920 becoming Joint MD in 1927 aged just 25. After WWII B38MR was with Sir Geoffrey Leonard Winterbotham who also had connections with India having been born in Kerala in 1889. he was later appointed by King George V as Consul of Siam at Bombay. Sir Geoffrey sold B38MR to Cecil Herbert Spence Blatch who was a close friend of the author Dennis Wheatley. Cecil Blatch also had connections with India – in 1929 he married his 1st wife Joan Longbotham in Ceylon.

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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