Bentley 3.5 Litre 1933 - Barker 2dr Drophead Coupe B17AE

0 Previous Owners, A very striking car which incorporates various unusual & appealing design features. Sporty in appearance, sharp and lovely in condition and running very well. One of the very first Derby Bentleys built, originally bodied by Park Ward & the current Barker body was built for a slightly later 3.5 Litre in 1935, but transferred to this car in the 1950s. The car features a very sleek wing design, shallow windscreen, some very attractive body mouldings and swage lines to the scuttle & louvred bonnet, the rear quarters and the doors also have sweeping, curved lines, enhanced by colour division. Early photos of the body when mounted on B178DG, although black & white, suggest a very similar colour scheme to that still on the car. These photos, together with shots of various documentation, an old logbook, etc, can be seen on the on our website. The paintwork, chrome plating, upholstery, woodwork and cosmetics generally are all excellent, and the fitment of a full set of Ace wheel discs and a clam shell spare wheel cover, correct P100 headlights, the facility for mounting luggage on the lid of the already quite spacious boot, all add to the practicality of the car. An excellent, probably unique & a rare opportunity to acquire such a special specimen. The car has a recent aluminium cylinder head, freshly fitted five new tyres & tubes. Offered serviced, prepared & with a fresh MoT.Chassis No. B17AE Reg. No. AUU 17 Snippets: Embiricos, Potatoes & Extravagance The first owner of B17AE was A H Embiricos a member of the Greek shipping & finance family whose brother Andre M. Embiricos commissioned & raced the Paulin designed & Pourtout built Bentley. The love of automobiles ran in the Embiricos family as their cousin Nicholas raced an ERA alongside a Bugatti Type 57S! From 1934/36 B17AE was owned by Lyonel Francis Stone, a Captain in the Coldstream Guards who registered B17AE at his club at 41 Brook Street. His mother was descended from the Plantagenets & she was christened with the following names: Lyona Decima Veronica Esyth Undine Cyssa Hylda Rowena Viola Adele Thyra Ursula Ysabel Blanche Lelias Dysart Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache. During WWII B17AE was converted to a Utility Van for use by Messrs Mash & Austin Ltd of Covent Garden, the earliest reference found to this firm is in the early 1800s when an Admiral in Lord Nelsons fleet owed the sum of £3/7/6d to Mr. Joseph Mash! The firm changed their name was in August 1873 when Henry John Mash of Beaulieu married the wealthy Miss Lucy Austin of Beaconsfield, this enabled them to acquire two farms where they grew their own produce enabling them to widen their customer base to include hotels & restaurants. In 1947 Hugh Curtis, a vet from Hungerford acquired B17AE & in 1958 the car (with the Utility body) was used by him at the Police Motor Driving School in Hendon. This annual event comprised of concours & driving ability tests in which B17AE took place as participant Nr. 20. The current bodywork on B17AE is from B178DG which Mr. Curtis also owned (B178DG was built to the exact specifications of Lady Dorothy Roll, the widow of Howell Thomas Ball (killed 1915 during WWI) & in 1927 Dorothy wed Sir Cecil Roll. By June 1932 Sir Cecil had placed a notice in The Times that he would not be responsible for any contracts & expenditure entered to his accounts by her! This did not appear to stop her buying B178DG in 1935 - a photo of the car is shown in the Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News. When Sir Cecil died in 1938 his estate was circa £460,000 and the majority of it was divided between his 3 sons and not his extravagant widow...... prior to Sir Cecil dying she had ordered a Rolls-Royce 25/30, chassis nr GAR22 & shortly after his death WLB2, a Wraith!