Bentley Mark VI For Sale

OFF MARKET

Coachbuilding is an art form from a bygone era. While a coachbuilt Bentley is almost unheard of these days, a few decades ago it was not so uncommon for Bentley customers to have their car sent to a coachbuilder to commission a more exclusive body. One such example is this exquisite 1951 Bentley Mark VI Special Boattail Speedster. The Mark VI was introduced in 1946 as Bentley’s first post-war model. The chassis were provided to independent coachbuilders and were built as 4 door saloons, 2 door saloons and 2 door drophead coupes. It was also available with a factory body, the “Mark VI standard steel sports saloon”, a 4-door saloon. 1202 4 ½ Litre models were built between 1951 and 1952, with just 180 of them being coachbuilt. Part of the reason for the low overall production numbers was the shortage of steel in Europe, which reportedly led to used models appreciating in value. Some of the more well-known coachbuilt models were those done by H.J. Mulliner, but many other coach-builders also commissioned these cars, including this example built by Northern Coachbuilders of Derbyshire, England.