1937 Bentley 4 1/4 H J Mulliner Drophead Coupe B135KU

1937 Bentley 4 ¼ H J Mulliner Drophead Coupe

A very handsome. desirable. semi razor edge Drophead Coupe. which has been subject to some major restoration work by the owner of the last twenty years. including complete re-paint. re-upholstery. re-chroming. lovely veneering (with brass stringing). new hood. etc. etc. Mechanically excellent too. with a lovely engine. re-cored radiator. new stainless steel exhaust & much more besides. We are continuing the process of renovation. including re-wiring. refurbishing the gearbox. fitting a stainless steel exhaust system. etc. etc. The car is offered completed. excellent & ready to go. Other features of note are correct R100 headlamps. with matching centre lamp. Lucas 'Alto' horns. Ace 'Conercroft' sidelights. twin side-mounted spare wheels & six matching Dunlop tyres. A very stylish car. with desirable. quality coachwork. the specification of which is described in detail on the copies we have of the original H. J. Mulliner construction records. which are included with the car.

Chassis No. B135KU Reg. No. SS4880 . £165. 00.

Snippets: From Mr. Reginald Nankivell to Sir Rex de Charembac Nan Kivell
In 1938 Alan Stewart-Clark registered B135KU at Greywalls in Gullane. East Lothian. This magnificent building was built in 1901 for Alfred Lyttleton who had commissioned Sir Edwin Lutyens to design the house. Within 4 years Lyttelton had sold Greywalls to Evelyn Forbes. wife of the American railroad magnate William D. James and she also commissioned Lutyens to build 3 lodges in the grounds of Greywalls. Evelyn was known for her dinner parties and guests at Greywalls included the James's neighbours – King Edward VII (rumoured to be her father!). After WWI Greywalls was sold to Sir J. Horlicks & during WWII the house was requisitioned for use as a hospital. It is not known why Mr. Stewart-Clark chose to register B135KU but perhaps it was due to the War? The second owner shown on the chassis cards is that of Rex de Charembac Nan Kivell (1898/1977) born as plain Reginald Nankivell in Australia to an unmarried lady & raised by his grandparents. He lied about his age in order to enlist in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and served on the staff of the N. Z. hospital in Brockenhurst. Hampshire. After WWI he took on the name of Rex de Charembac Nan Kivell (the Charembac was Rex's way of acknowledging a Frenchwoman who had promised to make him her heir!) the apparently upper-class name was enough to ensure that Rex's entry into the world of art & antiques. In 1925 Rex joined the Redfern Gallery and by 1931 he was the Managing Director and he remained associated with the Gallery until his death in 1977. During his lifetime he amassed an large collection of books. art. jewellery etc and in 1959 he sold the majority of his collection to the Australian government for a token £70. 00 having already donated many other items to both New Zealand & Australia. In 1966 Rex was appointed CMG & 10 years later was knighted. upon his death his bequests included water-colours to HM Queen Elizabeth II and jewellery to his chauffeur!. A book of his life was written by J. Thompson's book “Paradise possessed”. It is not known how long he kept B135KU for but by 1973 the car had moved across the water to be with the well-known collector Richard Hooper (PI – 114WR. PII – 169RY. 20/25 GBA64 & GAF29. 25/30 – GTL7 and another Derby-Bentley B102DG).

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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