This Bentley 4 ¼ Litre was originally fitted with a body by Park Ward. When delivered new in January 1937 it was a 4-door 4-light Sports Saloon. At some later stage in its life after many years of service had taken their toll it was decided to restore the car from ground up; such action however was not to include the coachwork.

 
Instead a lightweight 2-seater exactly complying with the specifications and instructions of the then owner, a certain Mr. Payling, was built by Clarke. The new creation combined elements of an open tourer with certain characteristics of a roadster. It is worth a note that in this case no attempt was considered to shorten the wheelbase. Thus the chassis didn’t suffer the fate of a considerable number of other Bentley motor cars. Transformation of those into Specials very often had included as a major step to take sections out of the chassis and reduce the wheelbase. Inevitable other components of the chassis, quite often “safety-related” components, were subject of alterations, too.

With its present lightweight sport dress this Bentley 4 ¼ Litre is capable, of course, of even more sparkling performance then at the time when it did long distance tours clothed with the elegant suit that had been tailored by Park Ward. As regards acceleration and handling the car does offer the niveau that is promised by its appearance.