Selecting the right car 

How I came to own YF 2186

I’ve always dreamed of owning a Big Bentley. My fascination began as a teenager in the 1980s, when I went to a car show with my brothers. One of them drove an Austin 10 as his daily car, but it was the Bentley that stopped me in my tracks. From that moment on, I was hooked. I devoured every book I could find about Bentleys, especially the mighty 6.5 and 8 litres, until it became something close to an obsession.

Of course, owning one of those legendary machines always felt out of reach. So, in the early 2000s, I settled on the next best thing: a beautiful Racing Green Speed 8 replica. It was a fantastic car, full of character and presence. But deep down, I knew it wasn’t the real thing. I’d always promised myself that, if I ever had the chance, I would own a genuine Vintage Bentley from the 1920s.

I’ve always admired the 3 Litre and 4½ Litre cars, but nothing makes my knees go weak quite like a 6½ Litre Bentley, particularly one with closed coachwork. They may not have the immediate sporting image of the open cars, but that is part of their charm. Many 6½ Litres originally carried substantial closed coachwork, while over subsequent decades numerous cars were converted into open tourers and Le Mans-style Specials.

So when I finally decided to restore a Big Bentley, I began searching for a 6.5 litre tourer.  Ideally one that had started life with closed coachwork, retained a strong degree of original Bentley identity, had a well-documented history and as many original components as possible. I looked at four or five cars, bid on a couple at auction, and even flew to Germany to see one in person.

Then I found YF2186.

I first test-drove it in 2018 and immediately knew it was something special. It had an amazing history, was mechanically strong, and full of character. But at the time, the price was just out of reach. The car was rightly valued highly, and it was listed with both Fiskens and The Classic Motor Hub. For months I kept going back to it online, downloading photos, even making one of them my screensaver. It was the car I couldn’t stop thinking about.

By early 2019, the market had softened slightly, and in April I finally decided to take a leap. On impulse, I put in an offer, almost certain it would be rejected. Days passed with no word, and then, to my surprise, the offer was accepted.  And so, in April 2019, I became the proud owner of YF2186. A dream I’d carried with me since that very first car show all those years ago.

Although YF2186 came with an unusually substantial documented history, Claire Hay's report made clear that the Bentley had evolved considerably since leaving Cricklewood in 1927. That is hardly unusual for a Vintage Bentley approaching its centenary.

When I bought BX2411 it was presented in the Le Mans Replica form created by David Gaul in 1993. The body, interior and much of the dashboard belonged to that later configuration. It was a very well executed and attractive car, but I knew from the outset that I wanted to take it in a different direction.

Although the history of YF 2186 is well documented, and Claire Hays report was extremely useful, I accepted that some elements of the car were not as it left the factory. This is not unusual for any car that is almost 100 years old, and very often the status for a vintage Bentley. 

I was already fascinated by the surviving period Harrison coupé body that David Ayre and William Medcalf had identified. Although it had never originally belonged to BX2411, it offered the opportunity to return the car to closed coachwork using genuine period Bentley coachwork rather than creating another replica body from scratch.

That in turn prompted a broader idea: wherever possible, could we source genuine period Bentley components and build the finished car around historic material, while being completely open about where each element came from? The challenge was set.

Why BX2411?

YF2186 wasn't a blank canvas. That was part of its appeal. It retained the identity of a genuine 1927 Bentley 6½ Litre, engine identity BX2410, an unusually substantial documentary history and decades of real use. Equally importantly, its history of changing coachwork meant that creating another carefully considered chapter did not require us to dismantle an untouched original-bodied car.

The more we understood BX2411, the more it seemed the right foundation for what we wanted to create.