Bentley S1 Radford Countryman

PICNICking WITH CLASS

THE MODEL

• The Bentley “S-Series” was a luxury motor car first introduced in the mid-1950s as Bentley’s equivalent of Rolls Royce’s Silver Cloud.
• The first generation, the S1, was noted not only for being the last production Bentley to feature traditional body-on-frame construction, but also for being the last in a long line of luxury motor cars to be powered by the well-weathered inline-six that was first seen in the Rolls-Royce 20hp.
• However, unlike most S1 Bentleys that were delivered as Standard Steel Saloons, a small number of cars were instead delivered to the West London coachbuilder, Harold Radford Ltd, where they received a variety of ‘Countryman’ modifications.
• Designed with laidback luxury in mind, the Radford conversion introduced:
  • Folding front seats (forming a bed-like platform in the back);
  • A 60/40 rear bench split to provide ample ‘through’ luggage space; and
  • Cocktail cabinets in the doors and seats

THIS CAR

• Originally supplied by the legendary London dealer, Jack Barclay Ltd, chassis no. B204BA was delivered to Rolls Royce’s famous ‘Lillie Hall’ showroom in Fulham, West London, in full Radford Countryman specification on the 13th February 1956.
• From here, the car was collected by its first registered owner, Clement Clarke Ltd of 16 Wigmore Street, London, (now Haag-Streit UK), well-known makers of high-quality ophthalmic instruments since 1917:

• Having subsequently left Clement Clarke Ltd in the summer of 1959, and passing briefly through the hands of neighbouring Bentley and Rolls Royce dealer, Mann Egerton & Co, B204BA was then acquired by its third owner and long-standing producer of world-renowned men’s outerwear, Aquascutum Ltd of 100 Regent Street, London:

• For the first several years of its life, then, B204BA remained within the tiny confines of the W1 postcode, and must have seemed an almost permanent feature on the roads of Central London.
• The story remained more or less the same after being acquired its fourth owner in April 1961, the well established rubber planters A. Wilson Stores Ltd based only a few miles across town in Gresham House, Old Broad Street (EC2).
• Sadly, the story goes rather quiet after this, with records only resuming in 1999 after B204BA had made its way over to the USA, where it remained for the next 12 years.
• The car benefitted from a major service and light recommissioning in 2011 from Pennsylvania based Rolls Royce & Bentley specialist, The Frawley Company, shortly before being shipped back into the UK by its subsequent owner in 2012.
• In the decade since, B204BA has passed through a number of different hands and has received a fair deal of mechanical, cosmetic and electrical attention along the way.
• Today, the Bentley runs and drives well, with the bodywork, interior and mechanicals in overall good condition. By no means a concours car, but certainly ready to be used and enjoyed.