1948 Bentley Mark VI

To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys The Hershey Auction event, 7 - 8 October 2026.
Offered Without Reserve $40,000 - $60,000 USD

• One of just 53 examples built to James Youngs elegant C10 Saloon Coupe design
• Retains numbers-matching engine, according to factory build sheet copy on file
• Originally delivered to winery executive Major Richard C. Bett
• Formerly displayed at the San Diego Automotive Museum
• Older restoration offering an excellent foundation for sympathetic recommissioning

The Mark VI represents a pivotal moment in Bentleys history as its first post-war offering and the first model offered with factory-produced coachwork, the Standard Steel Saloon. Yet Bentley wisely continued to offer a bare chassis for discerning clients who desired the individuality and craftsmanship of Britains finest coachbuilders. Among those firms, few achieved a more graceful balance of elegance and restraint than James Young of Bromley, Kent.

James Young had earned a reputation before WWII for refined proportions and meticulous craftsmanship, qualities that translated beautifully to the new Mark VI chassis. Influenced by emerging Continental styling while remaining unmistakably British, the firms coachwork featured crisp lines, restrained ornamentation, and exceptional attention to detail. The result was an automobile of understated sophistication that remains one of the most admired custom-bodied Bentley designs of the immediate post-war era.

According to noted Bentley historian Bernard King, chassis B271BG is one of only 53 examples fitted with James Youngs desirable C10 two-door Saloon Coupe body. Ordered through E. Abbott, Ltd. for Major Richard C. Bett a Director of Williams & Humbert, the famed Spanish winery best known for producing Dry Sack sherry the Bentley completed production in July 1948. Equipped with desirable features including a sliding sunshine roof and power windows, it was registered MPF 3, a registration it still carries today. An evocative period photograph of the car awaiting its original finish among a line of James Young bodies was published in The Flying Lady in 1966.

The Bentley later spent several years on display at the San Diego Automotive Museum before receiving a cosmetic restoration. In 2014 it was acquired by noted collector Henry Petronis of Easton, Maryland, from whom James G. Robinson subsequently purchased the car. At the time of cataloguing, the odometer displayed 64,678 miles.

Combining one of the Mark VIs most elegant and sought-after coachbuilt body styles with documented history, numbers-matching engine, distinguished provenance, and exceptional rarity, this James Young Saloon Coupe represents a compelling opportunity to acquire one of post-war Bentleys most graceful and exclusive custom-bodied motor cars.
To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/auctions/hf26/.