1928 Rolls-Royce 20hp / Derby Bentley Project GKM20

A very exciting project indeed.

This car. originally a Hooper bodied limousine built for Sir Walter Runciman of Jesmond. Newcastle on Tyne. was re-bodied in the mid 1930s using a stylish Park Ward ‘Streamline' saloon. taken from a Bentley 3 1/2 litre. the work possibly carried out by Cooper Motor Bodies of Putney.

The lightweight body used. with modifications. was that fitted originally to a works experimental 3½ litre Bentley. chassis B23AE. This car was commissioned by Ivan Evernden. Bentley's project engineer at the time. to demonstrate to sceptical colleagues that some attention to lightness & to aerodynamic efficiency would pay dividends in terms of performance. particularly maximum speed. It was built by Park Ward to Evernden's design. numbered B201 and used for test & demonstration purposes in Europe & in the USA. In November. 1933 it was timed at 103mph on the A5 near Towcester. en route to Brooklands

The Bentley chassis on which this body was mounted was re-bodied as a Van den Plas drophead replica and sold to America. The original body was thought to have been broken up. but it resurfaced in 2013 in a collection that had been amassed by the late Ron Hopper and was immediately identified by Tom Clarke from a photograph as B201. Park Ward's body number has since been found behind the windscreen rail.

The body had been extensively and very professionally modified to fit the Rolls-Royce chassis & given a new scuttle. windscreen frame and graceful wings in aluminium. Nevertheless. it is now thought advisable in Bentley and Rolls-Royce circles to re-mount the body onto a 3½ litre chassis of appropriate date. especially as the original Park Ward blueprints still survive and the Bentley works registration number has become available. An appropriate Bentley chassis may be available & there is even the possibility of refitting the cylinder head and other parts from the car's original experimental engine – an exciting project which should result in a stylish. swift and very valuable finished product.

The complete Rolls-Royce chassis. the engine of which was rebuilt by John Reynolds in 1983 and has not yet been run. could then be re-bodied in any appropriate style. or sold onto someone who would like to do so.

B23AE was originally registered AUL 1. and by chance. we have this number available (at extra cost). This really would be the icing on the cake to finish off the renovation.

Chassis No. GKM20. Reg No. TY 4730 (But see above). £75. 00.

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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