BENTLEY S1 SPORTS SALOON by JAMES YOUNG, 1956
One of just 39 S1 Bentleys coachbuilt by James Young, one of 26 to the B10 design, and one of only 6 known still to survive, chassis B456AN was delivered to the coachbuilder on 9th June 1955. Eight months later the Bentley was completed and delivered via Wadham Bros Ltd of Southampton to its first owner, the Longford Engineering Co Refrigeration (better known by its initials LEC Refrigeration) of Bognor Regis, for use by its founder and Chairman, Charles Purley. It was registered UPO 1, the number it still wears today.
As well as being the founder of LEC, Charles Purley was also the father of David Purley GM, an ex-paratrooper and racing driver whose F1 debut took place at Monaco in 1973. It was on lap 8 of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort later that year that Purley abandoned his March racing car and attempted, sadly in vain, to save the life of his friend Roger Williamson who was trapped in his overturned and burning car, an action for which he was awarded a most richly deserved George Medal, against the backdrop of what is arguably the most shameful display of organisational incompetence in the history of Formula 1.
Passing through a handful of subsequent owners, the S1 was acquired in 1997 by one Commander Dennis Udy RN OBE, a long-standing friend of the fastidious gentleman who acquired the car in 2015 and who then embarked on what was self-evidently an almost all-consuming restoration to concours standards, the financial costs of which dwarf the asking price here.
The restoration was completed on 16th July 2021 and all the effort and expenditure was vindicated: its first major outing was to the Concours d’Elegance at Hampton Court on 5th September, where it took third place from a total of 41 Bentleys taking part on the BDC exhibition day. On 19th June 2022, the car was awarded first in Class and second overall at the BDC Summer Concours and this success was repeated on 25th June 2023, achieving second place at the RREC Concours at Burghley House and a win at the BDC Summer Concours Master Class at Kelmarsh Hall on 9th July.
*****
Offered now with its comprehensive history file, complete and correct complement of original tools, deserved concours achievements and its original registration mark, ‘UPO 1’.
£ POA
*****
