1971 BENTLEY T1 / SHOW CAR AT THE ‘ALON DE L’AUTOMOBILE, PARIS

• Rich history, completely documented
• Show car at the prestigious Salon de l’Automobile, Paris 1971
• More than 40 years in the possession of its first owner

“To build a fast car, a good car, the best in its class.”

(W.O. Bentley, Founder Bentley Motors)

Bentley Motors

Walter Owen Bentley – he preferred to be called W.O. – born in 1888 as the youngest of nine siblings, founded the company that still bears his name on July 10, 1919. Now, more than 100 years later, his name is known around the world for creating cars with an unrivalled blend of performance and finest craftmanship and materials. As a result of the great crash on Wall Street in 1929, Bentley went bankrupt and in 1931 the proud company was taken over by its arch-rival Rolls Royce. From then on Bentley was the second brand of Rolls Royce and had to serve the sportier customers. No stand-alone Bentleys – with the exception of the Bentley Continental models – had been developed after World War II. The cars were all based on a Rolls Royce model with some details being modified. The Bentley T was introduced at the same time as the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow in 1965. They both were technically a real revolution for the conservative group. With more than 30.000 cars sold within 12 years, the Silver Shadow Saloon I and II was the best-selling Rolls Royce ever. In the same period of time the more exclusive Bentley T1 and T2 sold over 1.700 cars, which makes it a rather rare automobile compared to the Rolls Royce.

About this Bentley T1

This left-hand drive Bentley T1 is in an excellent and original condition. It was one of the show cars at the Bentley stand at the prestigious international Motor Show ‘Salon de l’Automobile’ in Paris in 1971. Until 2012 the car had just one owner, the ‘Marquesa de Vitórica’ (Luisa Yllera y Camino, Countess de los Moriles) from Madrid, Spain. The car was ordered by her on June 8, 1971 and registered on September 24th. After the Motor Show the Bentley, being brought into perfect condition, was delivered to the iconic luxury Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris, where the countess stayed. The Bentley is finished in the beautiful colour Caribbean Blue Metallic, the interior has a matching carpet in Mountain Blue and the headlining is in Fawn Ambla. There is extensive documentation available, including the Rolls Royce Crewe ‘Production line specification checklist” and a voluminous file with ticked control lists the requirements of which every exhibition car had to comply with meticulously. The documentation also includes many invoices; from the factory invoice of the first purchase to invoices for maintenance and repair work carried out over the years. Among these are also recent invoices for maintenance carried out by the present official Dutch importer ‘Bentley Leusden’. These illustrate the high quality of the periodic maintenance of this Bentley. In other words, this is a wonderful and rare Bentley T1 the new owner can really be proud of. Unlike the first owner, the Marquesa, who has always been driven by her driver, you can get behind the steering wheel of this luxurious car yourself and endlessly enjoy its comfort and its driving characteristics.

We would like to invite you to get to know this unique Bentley T1. Please make an appointment with Harm Derks in advance, e-mail harm.derks@broekhuis.nl, telephone number 0031 30 8507500

*Brooks Classics is a company affiliated with Broekhuis Groep and is a specialised, small-scale dealer in high quality Classic British and Italian cars. For more information see the website www.brooksclassics.nl or contact us. Telephone number 0031 30 8507500 / harm.derks@broekhuis.nl *