1931 Bentley 8-litre Sedanca de Ville

To many followers of the marque, Bentley’s 8-litre is the company’s finest product, but by the time it was launched the company was already in trouble, which ultimately saw it being taken over by RollsRoyce. This car’s first owner, Lord Brougham & Vaux ordered a two-seater model at the same time as this long-wheelbase eight litre with luxurious H J Mulliner bodywork, with dealer Jack Barclay taking his Lordship’s Speed Six in part-exchange. This sedanca’s design (the only 8-litre with this type of Mulliner bodywork) hides its generous proportions well. It’s history records Brougham moving it on after one year (and 10,000 miles) and by the late 1950s it was in the Sword Collection, from where it was sold in 1962. It returned to the UK in the 1990s and the vendor bought it in 2008. Considerable specialist work since the mid-2000s means this is a proper thoroughbred.