- A beautifully presented special aluminium bodied Park Ward Saloon
- Long-term ownership and continuous history
- A superb Sports Saloon benefiting from the 4 1/4 litre engine
This handsome car, chassis number B130GA, carries special aluminium coachwork by Park Ward and is believed to be one of just 12 cars to carry this design. Finished in black over maroon, the car has an attractive and low stance. The coachwork has a tapering waist moulding which falls at the rear of the car. Wheel discs are fitted and the car has a rear mounted spare wheel, enclosed within a sophisticated cover.
It was sold new via Bradburn & Wedge of Wolverhampton to Ronald Lovatt, Bromley House, Penn, Wolverhampton. The car was finished in maroon, with matching wheels and supplied without standard horns (or slots in apron for horns). The car was registered BLM5 on 13th June 1936, a personal registration number removed from his 3 ½ Litre Bentley.
Chassis cards indicate the car was returned to works to cure complaints on several occasions and indeed, Mr Lovatt did not keep the car long. By 31st December 1936 it was registered to Bentley Motors with registration number BJW 556. Today, the car retains this registration, together with the original logbook issued in 1936 for this number.
In 1938, John Maxwell Watson Boyd of Southport (and latterly Kirkby Lonsdale) acquired the car keeping it until 1960, some 22 years. A brief succession of owners then followed during the 1960s until the car was purchased by Peter Richardson of Solihull in 1968. Mr Richardson was to keep the car for a further 44 years.
A vast amount of documentation remains with the car from Peter Richardson’s ownership. He took the car off the road in 1973 and in 1983 commissioned Excel Engineering to carry out mechanical recommissioning, with coachwork repair and painting carried out by Healey Bros. Work was completed in 1985 and the car was then parked up again until 2010.
Warren Kennedy, a highly regarded restorer and specialist in Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars was commissioned to carry out repair work for Mr Richardson, following vandals breaking into the barn where the car was stored. During this work in 2010, Mr Kennedy agreed to buy the car. Again, the car was parked up until 2015 when Mr Kennedy decided to carry out a detailed engine overhaul, and repaint the car in its current black over maroon colour scheme.
The current owner purchased the car in 2018 and has continued to improve and look after the car to a high standard. Today, B130GA presents and drives very well indeed. It has a known history form new, backed up by an impressive history file confirming two long term owners and 42 years in storage.
