As one of only 23 RHD 4 door S2 Continentals by James Young the rarity of these wonderful cars is something we almost now take for granted
This particular car is one of the finest examples we have come across, indeed having only had two family owners from new with a history folder that dates back to before delivery with correspondence between B O David Esq, General Manager of Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd & A F McNeill of James Young Ltd detailing the special requests of the first owner Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Pitman
Lt. col. Pitman was clearly quite a short man with an extra hole at the front of the Drivers seat runner specified as well as a removable cushion to be stored away in the boot for when he wasn't driving
The mountings in the boot lid for said cushion are still there but alas the cushion has now gone, of course there were other special orders such as GB plates, rubber stripes in the overriders & the coach lines design, all of which and more are detailed on the original specification sheets & drawings
During Lt. col. Pitmans custodianship she was serviced annually with supplying dealer Broughtons and records of this fill only a portion of the 10 folders (yes that's correct, it is not a mistake ten folders) accompanying her, given in detail a storied account of her charmed and well cared for life
The second keeper took over at the helm in 1988 after Lt. col Pitman had covered just 65,000 miles and continued in the same vein of regular maintenance with only appropriate purveyors
P&A Wood, Ristes Motor Co Ltd, JEG Automotive, Peter Fisher & most recently Hillier Hill have all ensured the fine running of this car has been guaranteed
More over she was given a bare metal respray, engine rebuild & retrimmed interior in the 1990s, since when she has only covered circa 20,000 miles
The respray was in her original colour of Velvet Green and even the coach lines were applied in the same gold and red hues
Originally Lt. col. Pitman had specified three coach lines, two red with one gold in between and a signet half way along the side of the car, the second keeper honoured his fine choice of colour but omitted the signet and opted for the more elegant double coach line as opposed to the triple
The seats were naturally all trimmed in the finest Connolly leather and the carpets similarly are of the highest quality, the samples for both are still in the history folders
It may be taken as read but also present is the original owners manual
More recently, in 2013, the chassis was given a restoration by renowned restorers Clark & Carter Restorations Ltd
The immaculate door shuts, bonnet lines & finishing, that can only be found on an aluminium bodied James Young car, are of course exactly as you would hope
Naturally she drives as elegantly as she appears in the photographs, with the smooth V8 pulling her ever so gently, oodles of mid range power, silky changes of the 4 speed gearbox, supple suspension and very reassuring brakes - against other motorcars of the period these really were imperious
To find an example in such honest and true condition is extraordinary indeed and we fell lucky to have her in our midst presently