1927 BENTLEY
6 1/2 Litre
Harrison Coupé Special
A unique Vintage Bentley combining the identity and documented history of BX2411 with surviving original-period Harrison fixed-head coupé coachwork from fellow 6½ Litre chassis BR2365.
Reg - YF 2186
Chassis - BX2411
Engine - BX2410
1927 BENTLEY 61/2 Litre
Harrison Coupé Special
A unique Vintage Bentley combining the identity and documented history of BX2411 with surviving original-period Harrison fixed-head coupé coachwork from fellow 6½ Litre chassis BR2365.
Reg - YF2186
Chassis - BX2411
Engine - BX2410
YF2186 is Now For Sale
After enjoying YF2186 for over seven years, and with new projects in mind, I have decided to sell this wonderful Bentley at the Gooding Christie's auction at Rétromobile New York in November 2026. Please note:
This website was created prior to my decision to sell the car and solely as an information resource for concours events, and tours. It is not a sales document, and statements online are my opinions based on the restoration journey and relevant research undertaken at the time. Bidders are entirely responsible for conducting their own independent physical and historical due diligence prior to bidding.
If you are interested in the car it is important you read the Now For Sale section at the end of the website.
What is YF2186?
YF2186 is Bentley 6½ Litre chassis BX2411, constructed in 1927 with engine BX2410.
It did not leave Cricklewood in the form seen today. Originally completed with formal landaulette coachwork, the Bentley has undergone a succession of documented transformations during almost a century of use in Britain, Africa and beyond.
Its present form was created between 2019 and 2022, combining BX2411 and its established mechanical identity with surviving original-period Harrison fixed-head coupé coachwork formerly fitted to another 6½ Litre Bentley, chassis BR2365.
The result is deliberately presented for what it is: a Bentley Special whose history, changing coachwork and restoration are documented rather than disguised.
YF2186 is therefore best described simply as a Bentley Special: a car whose present form combines its established Bentley identity and mechanical history with period Bentley components, surviving historic coachwork and carefully documented restoration work. It is comfortable in its own skin, not pretending to be anything other than what it is: a remarkable Bentley with an equally remarkable history, built to a bespoke period-inspired specification.
Why 'Le Mans Coupe'?
The Le Mans Replica tourer is a well-established and widely recognised format. A significant number of Bentley 6½ and 8 Litre chassis have, over the years, been fitted with Le Mans-style tourer bodywork and the associated visual details. That was precisely how YF2186 was configured when I acquired it in 2019.
Following a three-year restoration centred on surviving original-period Harrison fixed-head coupé coachwork, incorporating selected Le Mans design elements, I began describing YF2186 as a ‘Bentley Le Mans Coupe Special’. The description emerged naturally in response to questions about the Le Mans fuel tank, the fully instrumented dashboard and the dramatic wing treatment. It proved apt, and it endured. For this bespoke two-door coupe, the name makes complete sense.
There is a persistent assumption that tourers are glamorous, fast and desirable, while saloons are formal and conservative. YF2186 challenges that cliché directly. It demonstrates that a coupe can be equally stylish, equally powerful and equally capable. The engineering, proportions and intent are unmistakably sporting.
That is what defines YF2186 as the Bentley Le Mans Coupe Special.
This website exists to document that journey in full: the car’s origins, its various transformations, and the vision that guided its restoration into the car presented here today. YF2186 is not simply another Vintage Bentley. It is a car that has evolved, been reimagined and executed with conviction, and one that refuses to conform to expectation.
Not just any Vintage Bentley
YF2186 is one of a kind
YF2186 began life in 1927 as Bentley 6½ Litre chassis BX2411, originally completed with formal landaulette coachwork framed by Harrisons and finished by Offord.
Its subsequent history is anything but conventional. It was rebodied for use in West Africa in 1947, spent decades in Africa, was recovered in Uganda by David Gaul in 1969, later wore period Park Ward coachwork and in 1993 was rebuilt by Gaul as a Le Mans Replica.
Today it carries surviving original-period Harrison fixed-head coupé coachwork from 6½ Litre chassis BR2365, comprehensively reconstructed and adapted to BX2411 during the 2019–22 project. It is the combination of those histories, not a claim of untouched originality, that makes YF2186 unique.
Harrison & Sons were long-established British coachbuilders, founded in 1883 and recorded as motor body makers as early as 1906. During the 1920s they bodied a significant number of high-quality chassis, including more than 200 Bentleys, before the firm ceased trading in 1931.
Harrison developed a reputation for well-proportioned enclosed saloons and limousines. Contrary to the modern perception that most Vintage Bentleys were open tourers, many left Cricklewood fitted with substantial closed coachwork, reflecting the preferences of owners who wanted refinement alongside performance.
Harrison bodies of the late 1920s and early 1930s typically displayed balanced rooflines, carefully modelled wings and a dignified presence suited to the 6½ Litre chassis. Although the company’s life was comparatively short, its contribution to the visual identity of early Bentleys was considerable, and surviving Harrison-bodied cars remain an important part of the marque’s coachbuilt heritage.
Between 2019 and 2022, YF2186 underwent a comprehensive reconstruction and mechanical restoration. The surviving project archive records 3,399 workshop hours and expenditure totalling £424,702.41. Every effort was devoted to ensuring it emerged as a bespoke creation: fast, supremely comfortable, and unique.
The journey of this car, from its origins in 1927 to the sleek, powerful two-door coupé seen today, is fascinating. Remarkably, the Harrison name appears twice in the story of BX2411, but in two entirely separate contexts: first in the construction of its original 1927 landaulette body frame, and again through the surviving Harrison fixed-head coupé coachwork from BR2365 that it carries today.
Early History
BX2411 was completed in 1927 with formal landaulette coachwork. Claire Hay's research records that the chassis was dispatched first to Harrisons for construction of the body frame and subsequently to Offord for finishing. The car was delivered new to Mrs Henry Bull on 1 February 1927.
Bentley's surviving factory Service Record documents BX2411 from September 1927 until January 1939. During those years the car returned regularly to Cricklewood for maintenance, repair and factory updating. At its final recorded pre-war visit, BX2411 had covered 81,051 miles.
The records also show that BX2411 was continually maintained and developed during its early life. In February 1928 it returned to Cricklewood for a series of factory updates to bring it closer to the latest specification, including changes to the dynamo, radiator and bonnet. In July 1935, at 57,854 miles, the engine received significant factory attention: the original cylinder block was bored to 100.5 mm and new connecting rods and pistons were fitted. That original 6½-Litre cylinder block survives today and accompanies the car.
From the beginning, BX2411 was a well-used Bentley rather than a static object. Its subsequent history would continue that pattern of use, modification, deterioration, recovery and reconstruction.
The photograph here is a period comparison image illustrating the type of formal landaulette coachwork associated with the original BX2411 specification. No photograph of BX2411 in its original 1927 coachwork is presently known. Below that are the surviving factory records from 1927–1939.
But of course, the real question is: how did YF2186 transform into the unique, sleek two-door Le Mans Coupé Special you see today? That is an almost 100-year story of reinvention and survival. And it begins here…
YF2186 - Documented History & Custodians
Almost 100 years have passed since YF2186 left the factory. Remarkably, a substantial record of its owners, custodians and movements survives through Bentley factory records, Bentley Drivers Club material, contemporary documents and later research.
Mrs Henry Bull
The first owner, who resided at Queen Anne Mansions, Westminster SWI
Formal landaulette coachwork, framed by Harrisons and finished by Offord
1927 to 1939
Bentley factory service history to accompany ownership documents
As reported by Claire Hay in 2018 as part of her report on the car
'There is the usual gap in the records for the Second World War years'.
Lieutenant Colonel JRG Cowan,
Who was stationed in Plateau Province, Nigeria, West Africa
Cowan's December 1947 Bentley Drivers Club application records one of the most significant changes in BX2411's history: “Original landaulette body removed in 1947 and a 3 seater coupé and kit-car fitted for use in W. AFRICA.”
It is the first firm evidence of BX2411's transformation from formal Landaulette into the Special it would remain thereafter
Mr D. Lamont Smith, Arthur T Lindsey & L Parsons
After Cowan, the surviving record becomes less complete. Later research associates BX2411 with D. Lamont Smith in South Africa, while a surviving invoice dated 9 August 1952 records Arthur T. Lindsey of Johannesburg purchasing a 6½-Litre Bentley from Smith. Claire Hay's research and David Gaul's later account subsequently place BX2411 in Kenya with L. Parsons, before it passed to Stephen Hemsted.
The surviving evidence does not establish every transfer or date in this period with certainty, and the history is therefore presented as a developing sequence rather than an unbroken chain of documented ownership.
Mr Stephen T R Hemsted
Londiani, Kenya
Later research records BX2411 receiving four-seat open coachwork during its period in Kenya. The precise date and coachbuilder have not been conclusively established.
Mr Thomas J Leonard
Entebbe, Uganda and Drumree
A Bentley Drivers Club application dated 12 July 1953 records Thomas J. Leonard at the Public Works Department, P.O. Box 10, Entebbe, Uganda. BX2411 subsequently remained in Uganda, although the surviving record of its ownership and use during this period is incomplete. By the late 1960s the car was dismantled and, according to David Gaul's later first-person account, material from its former location had been transferred to a Ugandan Public Works Department yard.
Earlier accounts have described BX2411 as being owned by the Ugandan Government. The surviving evidence establishes an association with the Public Works Department and later government control/custody, but does not establish government ownership.
Mr David T Gaul
South Africa and latterly England
Gaul recovered BX2411 in Uganda in 1969 and began the next major chapter of its history. By now the car was in pieces and towards the end of this period David Gaul restored the car.
In 1989 he re-bodied YF2186 with a Park Ward Saloon body from LB2348
In the early 1990s BX2411 passed to Casper Scharrighuisen. David Gaul's own account records that Scharrighuisen asked him to convert the Bentley into Le Mans Replica form. Gaul undertook the work himself, completing the car in 1993 before it was shipped to South Africa.
Mr Casper Schaarrighuisen
South Africa
Mr Gilbert S Goodchild
East Sussex, England
Mr Casper Schaarighuisen
South Africa (again)
Mr Craig A Davis
USA
Mr Anthony Thompson
Devon, England
Anthony Thompson acquired BX2411 in 2019 while it was still configured as the Le Mans Replica created by David Gaul. His subsequent project retained the car's sporting mechanical character while replacing the open Le Mans-style body with surviving original-period Harrison fixed-head coupé coachwork from BR2365.
Restoration Partners
The dedicated professionals driving the project
David Ayre Cars
David Ayre was in charge of the project and was responsible for turning the original vision into an engineered reality. David is an engineer like no other. I have never met anyone else quite like him. He made the project happen, despite my constant nagging and interfering with the details. We stretched each others patience - But he finished the car and was the ultimate professional. I don't think anyone else could have delivered YF2186.
R.C. Moss - Vintage Bentleys
Graham Moss was another cornerstone of the project. He supplied countless essential parts, brought the car’s interior back to life, finished the roof and trunk in Rexine, and assembled the stunning tool set. Graham's massive experience of Big Bentley Projects and his considered approach to everything we did gave me so much confidence.
Robert Dean Ashframing
Robert Dean was responsible for restoring the ash frame of our surviving Harrison body and completing the 'missing' rear where the boat tail once sat. Robert welcomed me into his workshop and we dismantled the original body together. I learnt a lot from Robert, including which jazz radio stations to listen to when fiddling with cars.
The Old Coachworks
Sean Watson and Gary Fowler restored the panel work and carried out the amazing black paintwork that completed the restoration of YF2186. They also painted so many of the components that you just don't see. Sean did this with the same care and attention to detail as the rest of the body. He was also amazingly patient when I kept asking for 'yet another black paint sample'.
To install this Web App in your iPhone/iPad press
and then Add to Home Screen.
