1963 Bentley S3 Continental Coupé
Coachwork by H J Mulliner, Park Ward Ltd
Registration no. NWR 733A
Chassis no. BC46XC
Engine no. 23ABC

Described by The Autocar as, 'A new stage in the evolution of the post-war Bentley,' the magnificent Continental sports saloon has been synonymous with effortless high speed cruising in the grand manner since its introduction on the R-Type chassis in 1952. The Bentley Continental was, of course, exclusively a coachbuilt automobile. The firms of H J Mulliner, Park Ward and James Young all offered bodies on the Continental S2 (and S3) chassis, which differed from the standard version by virtue of its four-leading-shoe front brakes, shorter radiator and, up to chassis number 'BC99BY', higher gearing. By far the most striking of the S2 Continentals were those bodied by Rolls-Royce's in-house coachbuilder Park Ward, and this design by Norwegian Vilhelm Koren, with its influential continuous front-to-rear wing line, would continue on the Continental S3. Quad headlamps were the S3's major styling innovation, and on the H J Mulliner, Park Ward-bodied Continental, were contained in slanting nacelles, giving rise to this model's 'Chinese Eye' sobriquet.

Chassis number 'BC46XC' it is the first production Bentley Continental S3 'Chinese Eye' bodied in this style (design number '2035') by H J Mulliner, Park Ward Ltd after the two firms' merger. One of only 76-or-so of its type produced, 'BC46XA' is featured in Martin Bennett's book 'Bentley Continental, Corniche & Azure 1951-2002', published by Veloce, appearing on pages 127 and 128 of the 2009 edition.

Copy chassis cards on file show that 'BC46XA' was scheduled for display at the 1962 Earls Court Motor Show. The car's original specification details include Shell Grey paintwork, red leather upholstery, electrically operated door windows, plain Sundym glass throughout, Hirschmann electric aerial and safety belts to all four seats, though the latter were to be left off until after the show.

The June the following year, 'BC46XA' was sold via Jack Barclay Ltd to its first owner, Bernard Myers of Walton Manor Stud & Farms near Bletchley and registered as '966 FYN'. A copy of Jack Barclay's order form is on file. At some time the registration was changed to '115 HYV', which remained on the Bentley until 2002 when it was reregistered as 'NWR 733A'.

There is a paper trail on file dating from 1987 onwards, which consists in part of various bills for repairs and maintenance when a Mr George Sutton of Henley-on-Thames owned the car. He then sold it in 1989 to Mr Raymond Seal from Harrogate. It appears that the Continental was sold in 2002 to James Seymour from Otley, who is believed to be the Rolls-Royce and Bentley dealer J K Seymour. Mr Seymour owned the car for five months before it was sold to Peter Owen from Surrey. Mr Owen kept the car for five years and in 2008 it was sold at auction to an Australian buyer in Adelaide, Mr George Flourentzou, a well-known Bentley collector in Australia.

Mr Flourentzou commissioned a restoration, undertaken between 2008 and 2103, which included a bare metal repaint and re-chroming; new leather upholstery, carpets and over-rugs; removal and re-lacquering of all wood work, etc. Only 500 miles had been covered post-restoration when Mr Flourentzou sold the car to a Bentley dealer in 2014 together with several other Continentals his collection. The current vendor bought the car from the aforementioned dealer in 2014 and shipped it back to the UK.

During his ownership the cross-ply tyres have been replaced with radials and the brakes have been overhauled by renowned marque specialists Fiennes Restoration Ltd in Oxfordshire. Lack of space and use is the reason for the sale. Accompanying documentation consists of the aforementioned paperwork, a V5C registration document and current MoT certificate.