01248 602649 mail@realcar.co.uk

1963 Bentley S3 Continental H.J.Mulliner ‘Chinese Eye’ Drophead Coupe

Following a comprehensive, 1,200 hour body restoration and a superb, top quality re-paint, this is an extremely smart example of a sought after and desirable car. Beautifully finished coachwork, complemented by excellent chrome work, lovely refurbished interior, supple leather, and newly re-finished wood. New, fully lined hood also fitted, and the car looks wonderful in its tasteful colour scheme. The work is documented with invoices and a 15 minute video of stages of the restoration taking place. Drives very nicely indeed and all-in-all is as good as you could hope to find! In fact, perhaps unusually, the car looks even better ‘in the metal’ than maybe it comes across in the photos. Comes with a large history file, which includes, amongst many other things, a 1960s green logbook and the car is offered MoT tested until June 2025.

Chassis No. BC66XA

Reg No. 519 EGK

Price £ 195,000

BC66XAroof2
BC66XAdet3
BC66XAroof9
BC66XAint18
BC66XAint11
BC66XAroof4
BC66XAtools2
BC66XAroof6
BC66XAdet7
BC66XAext13
BC66XAint7
BC66XAtools3
BC66XAext14
BC66XAext5
BC66XAint10
BC66XAroof1
BC66XAdet10
BC66XAroof5
BC66XAint12
BC66XAdet5
BC66XAext4
BC66XAeng6
BC66XAdet6
BC66XAext3
BC66XAeng7
BC66XAext19
BC66XAext18
BC66XAext6
BC66XAext2
BC66XAint5
BC66XAdash7
BC66XAdash6
BC66XAint6
BC66XAdet1
BC66XAdash5
BC66XAdet4
BC66XAint1
BC66XAdash1
BC66XAdash4
BC66XAdash2
BC66XAboot1
BC66XAext20
BC66XAeng3
BC66XAroof2 BC66XAdet3 BC66XAroof9 BC66XAint18 BC66XAint11 BC66XAroof4 BC66XAtools2 BC66XAroof6 BC66XAdet7 BC66XAext13 BC66XAint7 BC66XAtools3 BC66XAext14 BC66XAext5 BC66XAint10 BC66XAroof1 BC66XAdet10 BC66XAroof5 BC66XAint12 BC66XAdet5 BC66XAext4 BC66XAeng6 BC66XAdet6 BC66XAext3 BC66XAeng7 BC66XAext19 BC66XAext18 BC66XAext6 BC66XAext2 BC66XAint5 BC66XAdash7 BC66XAdash6 BC66XAint6 BC66XAdet1 BC66XAdash5 BC66XAdet4 BC66XAint1 BC66XAdash1 BC66XAdash4 BC66XAdash2 BC66XAboot1 BC66XAext20 BC66XAeng3

Snippets: G. E. M. S. Nobel.

George Ernest Michael Sinclair Noble was a secret agent, a journalist & a sculptor! Born in Durham in 1919 he joined up in 1939 and after Dunkirk he became an officer in the VIII army in Libya before he was posted to Italy. His task was to assist post-war relationships between Italy and Great Britian and alongside the writers Afeltra, Fini & Buzzati he founded the Gionale Lombardo. This in turn led him to meet Ida Borletti the daughter of the industrialist and politician Senator Borletti who owned the Corriere Della Sera newspaper. Ida was some 20 years older than Noble and sadly he felt that “one wife was not always enough” which led him to drink. Michael & Ida would attend the San Giacomo Hospital for his daily de-toxification meeting arriving, but of course, in their Rolls-Royce! As a consequence of this Michael volunteered at the Psychiatric Hospital in Verona alongside the sculptor Castagna which was where he met & encouraged the patient Carlo Zinelli whose talent in turn led to the formation of a gallery for the “in-patients” to display and sell their art in. It is not known if BC66XA spent much, if any time, in Italy as by 1967 the car was with Noreen, the Countess Raben whose parents were Colonel Sir Abe Bailey & his 2nd wife Hon. Mary Westenra both of South African descent. The Countess’s mother Mary Bailey was an Anglo-Irish aviator (she was the daughter of 5th Baron Rossmore) who during WWI volunteered as an aviation mechanic and in 1927 she gained her pilot’s licence. She became the 1st woman to fly across the Irish Sea and in 1927 she set a world height record in here de Havilland with her passenger being Louise de Havilland. Mary continued to set flying records & was one of the first people to use aerial photography in combination with archaeological surveys including the Kharga Oasis in Egypt.