1952 Bentley MK VI Sports Saloon with appealing upgrades B40PV

A very special MKVI, which started life as a desirable ‘big bore, small boot’ example, but now much better still, having been upgraded discreetly and tastefully, with 4.9 Litre S Type engine, high ratio back axle and adjustable electric power steering! The car is in sound, very smart condition, driving well, and benefitting greatly from the upgrades. Excellent interior, re-upholstered very correctly, with new carpets, headlining, etc, and particularly lovely re-finished woodwork, with pronounced and attractive grain pattern and a deep lustre, all to a very high standard and lovely! Paintwork too, is good, and the whole car is very appealing in many ways. Even a ‘standard’ MKVI can be a very practical car to use, easy to drive, pleasant gearchange, with synchromesh, etc, yet with plenty of character and charm. They deal very well with modern traffic conditions, keeping up well, and this example, with its upgrades, does more than just keep up! A rare opportunity, at a price disproportionate to the changes made, and therefore offering excellent value for money.

Price £49,500

Snippets: Brick Builders to Particle Physics

From 1952 to 1969 B40PV was owned by two brothers Henry Roy Garlick (1905/1980) & Austin Arthur Makepeace Garlick (1898/1986). Henry & Austin joined their father William (1875/1935) & their uncles Horace & Charles in the family firm of Garlicks Ltd which their grandfather Charles Garlick (1834/98) started in the late 1800s – in the 1861 census Charles was noted as being a joiner & by the 1891 census he was described as a master builder. In 1968 Henry Roy Garlick was interviewed about the family firm prior to it being bought out by Deeleys & Henry recalls that when the firm started the excavation at the GEC site in Stoke they had some 300 horses & carts and in 1928 Garlicks acquired their first lorry which had solid wheels! In 1935 the firm constructed the factory for the Standard Motor Company and at the same time they built what was known as a “Shadow Factory” – these factories were the result of a plan devised in 1935 in the buildup to WWII to try to meet the urgent need for more aircraft using technology transfered from the motor industry to implement additional manufacturing capacity. During this construction Garlicks employed circa 800 – 1,000 men plus a further 400 subcontractors – this ensured the factory buildings were completed in about 12 months! In 1969 B40PV was acquired by Joseph Adrien Letiere Petit who owned B40PV until his death in 2000, Joseph Petit can trace his family tree back to Jean Petit who was born in Beaurevoir, France in 1748. Due to the persecution that members of the Hugenot faith were facing in those time the Petit family emigrated from France to England with Jean Petit settling in Birmingham where he trained in metalworking & in the 1800s his grandson Joseph followed Jean’s footsteps becoming a toolmaker in the pen trade & in due course the founder of a family business that lasted for over 150 years. The Petit & Brandauer families merged their business interests and over the last century the firm have produced pen nibs (used by commoners & Royalty), been involved in the motorcycle industry with Edward Gorton (his wife was a Petit), ink cartridges, circuit frames & in 2008 CERN commissioned Brandauer to produced 2,800 pressure relief springs which are essential to protect the 27kms of LHC cryostats from over-pressure and the accidental release of helium.