This particular 6.5-Litre, registration number 'UE 6835'', is one of 242 erected on the long ST3 (12' 6') chassis intended for formal coachwork and favoured by the majority of customers. This particular chassis was laid down in 1927 and bought by the Bird family of Bird's Custard fame, who sent it to Gurney Nutting for bodying. Gurney Nutting bodied 101 6.5-Litre chassis, of which seven survive: 'FA2504', the car offered here; a second Standard Six Weymann saloon on chassis 'FA2507'; and five Speed Sixes, one of them a four-door Weymann saloon.
Standard Six saloons are now extremely rare; indeed, there are only six known survivors: two by HJ Mulliner, two by Gurney Nutting, one by Barker, and one by Freestone & Webb. As Bentley authority Dr Clare Hay remarks in her customarily thorough report (copy on file), far more Standard Sixes were fitted with such coachwork new than with open sports bodies. The style is fairly formal, a four-door four-light with a bench front seat and a dropping division, with occasional seats to the division to seat up to seven. The finish was originally fabric throughout, with the bonnet fabric covered.
'UE 6835' is a remarkable survivor, and in 2005 was featured in Nick Walker's book, Coachwork on Vintage Bentleys. The Bentley remained in the Bird family's ownership until just after WW2 when it was sold to the Reverend Noakes, a Master of Foxhounds in the West Country.
After the last entry in the Service Record in February 1939 there is a gap in the records until 1963, when 'UE 6835' was owned by LW Peachey. The next owner listed in the logbook is Christopher Patrick O'Driscoll Lumley in May 1964, followed by the present owner from March 1966. The first available photograph of 'UE 6835' was taken at the BDC Kensington Gardens concours in June 1966. It is unclear how much work has been carried out over the
years, though the body had been panelled up to the waistline before 1966. This is not unknown as a repair method to cover damaged fabric.