1963 Bentley S3 Continental H J Mulliner “Chinese Eye” Drophead Coupe BC66XA

Following a comprehensive, 1,200hour body restoration and a superb, top-quality re-paint, this is an extremely smart example of a sought after and desirable car. Beautifully finished coachwork, complemented by excellent chrome work, lovely refurbished interior, supple leather, and newly re-finished wood. New, fully lined hood also fitted, and the car looks wonderful in its tasteful colour scheme. The work is documented with invoices and a 15minute video of stages of the restoration taking place. Drives very nicely indeed and all-in-all is as good as you could hope to find! In fact, perhaps unusually, the car looks even better 'in the metal' than maybe it comes across in the photos. Comes with a large history file, which includes, amongst many other things, a 1960s green logbook and the car is offered newly MoT tested.


Chassis No. BC66XA                    Reg No. 519 EGK       



Snippets: G. E. M. S. Nobel
George Ernest Michael Sinclair Noble was a secret agent, a journalist & a sculptor!  Born in Durham in 1919 he joined up in 1939 and after Dunkirk he became an officer in the VIII army in Libya before he was posted to Italy.  His task was to assist post-war relationships between Italy and Great Britian and alongside the writers Afeltra, Fini & Buzzati he founded the Gionale Lombardo.  This in turn led him to meet Ida Borletti the daughter of the industrialist and politician Senator Borletti who owned the Corriere Della Sera newspaper. Ida was some 20 years older than Noble and sadly he felt that “one wife was not always enough” which led him to drink.  Michael & Ida would attend the San Giacomo Hospital for his daily de-toxification meeting arriving, but of course, in their Rolls-Royce!  As a consequence of this Michael volunteered at the Psychiatric Hospital in Verona alongside the sculptor Castagna which was where he met & encouraged the patient Carlo Zinelli whose talent in turn led to the formation of a gallery for the “in-patients” to display and sell their art in.  It is not known if BC66XA spent much, if any time, in Italy as by 1967 the car was with Noreen, the Countess Raben whose parents were Colonel Sir Abe Bailey & his 2nd wife Hon. Mary Westenra both of South African descent.  The Countess’s mother Mary Bailey was an Anglo-Irish aviator (she was the daughter of 5th Baron Rossmore) who during WWI volunteered as an aviation mechanic and in 1927 she gained her pilot’s licence.  She became the 1st woman to fly across the Irish Sea and in 1927 she set a world height record in here de Havilland with her passenger being Louise de Havilland.  Mary continued to set flying records & was one of the first people to use aerial photography in combination with archaeological surveys including the Kharga Oasis in Egypt.