1953 Bentley R Type Manual Sports Saloon
A clean, correct and very appealing example, smartly finished in black and deep red, with excellent beige leather, carpets and headlining. The wood work too, is lovely, all adding up to a charming package. The paintwork exhibits some cracking and marks in places, and will perhaps ideally need attention at some point, but nevertheless, the overall appearance is smart and attractive, just as it is. The car is equipped with correct lamps (not always the case), original ‘Ace’ type number plates, has a pair of fitted suitcases in the boot, various correct tools, comes with a car cover, and has been upgraded to flashing indicators, front and rear. Factors such as these can make a significant difference to the appeal of a car, and this example is no exception! Between 1987 and 2024, a total of £77,000 has been spent on maintenance and repairs, some minor, some major, all documented in the history file, which also includes the original handbook, a run of MoT certificates (the earliest from 1963), and various other paperwork. Fitted with well-suited Michelin radial tyres, serviced and MoT tested.
Chassis No. B594TN.
Reg No. NYW 507.
Price £32,500.
Snippets: Oil Chemists, Hand Surgeon & Stacking Chairs
Samuel Robert Miller bought B594TN the same year that his father John Fletcher Miller died – his estate was in excess of £150,000. The family firm were involved in the oil business and their products included Clearedge, Cooledge, Lardedge, Rodol & Swift.
By 1961 The R Type had been sold, via Onward Garages Ltd of Hyde to Harold Bolton FRCS (1918/2015), Harold’s parents Nina (nee Houldsworth) & Alexander Black Bolton were directors of Coronation Rock company based in Blackpool but Harold decided that he would become a medical man. He attended Manchester Medical School and in 1942 was the winner of the Butterworth medical prize and the John Henry Agnew prize in children’s diseases. During WWII he was stationed in India, Burma & Palestine and after being demobbed he returned to Manchester. In 1952 he spent a year in Chicago working alongside the renowned hand surgeon Sumner L Koch (1888/1976) and upon his return to Manchester he was appointed consultant orthopaedic surgeon to the North Manchester area, he retired from the NHS in 1985 but remained active within the medical profession until 1991.
From 1964 to 1987 B564TN was with Raymond Reginald Whittle (1921/2009) whose father Reginald Wood Whittle (1883/1950) had, in 1935, established the firm R.W. Whittle Ltd, general engineers. R W Whittle Ltd products were suppliers of nursery, school and university furniture and in particular their tubular steel stacking chairs with early adverts showing them neatly lined up in the Whitworth Hall of Manchester University – in fact we, at Real Car still have a few of these chairs in our staff canteen!