Description

Motodrome offer for sale this wonderful 1957 Bentley S1 H J Mulliner Lightweight 6-window sport saloon, finished in the original colour combination of Shell Grey over Black Pearl, with contrasting Green full leather interior.
• Registration number: TLL 5 (it's original number, still with the car)
• Chassis number: B150 BA
• Engine number: BB 75
• H J Mulliner design number: 7401
• H J Mulliner coachwork number: 6001

An outstanding, nicely patinated example and very rare - believed to have been 1 of just 27 built to design no 7401 by coachbuilders H J Mulliner on the standard Bentley S1 rolling chassis, as was common practice for high-end machinery at the time, assuming your pockets were deep enough.
Importantly, the body is fully aluminium, hence the 'Lightweight' designation, rather than the standard steel body of a normal Bentley S1, and looks really elegant in my opinion.
The H.J. Mulliner coachwork displays a number of distinctive styling features of the period, including elegant suicide rear doors and sharply defined rear wings, giving the car a graceful yet commanding presence.
The beautifully appointed interior is equally stylish, retaining the unusual and highly appealing rear-seat vanity set, complete with clothes brush and mirror. This charming feature is a wonderful reminder of the luxury, craftsmanship and attention to detail associated with Bentley and H.J. Mulliner during the 1950s.
The car is powered by a numbers matching 4.9 litre straight-six engine and automatic gearbox, which was rebuilt approximately 20 years ago
Fitted with automatic transmission, and it has also been retro-fitted with electric Power Steering, making it a doddle to drive.
History-wise it has excellent provenance. We have the original build sheets, showing the rolling chassis was dispatched to Mulliner on the order of H R Owen Ltd on 21/02/1956, and first registered on 01/01/1957 to a tailor in Liverpool that specialised in 'clothing for the sporting gentleman' ie shooting, fishing etc. Obviously a very lucrative business as this car, with it's bespoke bodywork, would have cost a king's ransom when new.
From around 1970 to 2018 it was in one family ownership, and correspondence with the Bentley Drivers Club states it underwent externsive mechanical overhaul around 1998 - helpfully said family owned Community Garage in Manchester.
The last owner, an avid Rolls Royce and Bentley collector, has had this as part of his collection since 2018, and it came directly from him to us.
The odometer reading of 24000 miles isn't likely to be correct, as there's a bill in the history from 1975 showing 33854 miles. However old paper MOT certificates from 1998 to 2005 show a gentle increase in mileage from 11556 to 15640, so if (as is likely) it's had a speedo change, it was before 1998.
To sum up, it's a vanishingly rare, elegant classic Bentley, with matching numbers, and it's original registration number, that presents beautifully, with a nice level of patination that restored cars can't easily replicate, and will grace any RREC or BDC gathering.
Comes with the original toolkit, and the original-style owners handbook
On our own website, you’ll find our usual two videos: a walkaround appraisal, and driving impressions, which form part of the description..
viewing by prior appointment.