Born in England, raised in Hollywood. We are not speaking of a famous movie actor, but of a very special Bentley S1.
This handsome Bentley’s story, bearing chassis number B202LAN, begins when it left the Bentley factory in Crewe, in 1955, to be delivered to the waiting craftsmen and designers of the famed coachbuilder’s workshops at Freestone and Webb, located in Brentfield Road, Willesden, North London. This was the year the Bentley S1 and Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud were first introduced, presenting a new canvas for coachbuilders on which to paint.
Like many companies during World War II, they both switched to military production, producing highly detailed and intricate wing tips for the Supermarine Spitfire. After the war, Rolls-Royce elected to offer a complete car produced entirely inhouse, beginning in 1946 with the Bentley Mark VI and the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith. Although they still offered a chassis-only option, orders to coachbuilders like Freestone and Webb dwindled, and the company began to suffer financial difficulties. Sadly, 1955 was also the year that Freestone and Webb co-founder A.J. Webb passed away. The fact that the new Silver Cloud and S-Series cars retained a separate chassis kept the coachbuilding industry afloat for a few more years. The new S1 was not offered as a chassis only option. With its main chassis supplier relationship now at an end, it continued to refurbish and build bodies until 1958, when it became a pure showroom brand.
The sleek, new Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud and its Bentley S-type sibling were conceived as replacements for the ageing Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn and Bentley R-Type. At the time of the S1’s introduction, The Autocar magazine was impressed, proclaiming, “The latest Bentley model offers a degree of safety, comfort and performance that is beyond the experience and perhaps even the imagination of the majority of the world’s motorists.” They went on to describe it as “a modern magic carpet annihilating great distances.”
The S1 incorporated improvements to the brakes and suspension, the latter featuring electrically controlled damping. The engine was enlarged to 4,887-cc and the adoption of a six-port cylinder head boosted the traditionally undisclosed power output of the dependable inlet-over-exhaust six-cylinder engine, which for the first time was identical in specification for both its Rolls and Bentley forms.
GM’s 4-speed Hydra-Matic Automatic transmission was now standard equipment, with a manual transmission available as a Bentley-only option up to 1957. The S1 was fast, with a 100 mph-plus top speed, but at the same time relatively economical and cheaper to maintain than the successor V8-engined versions. The classically elegant S1 is arguably the most user-friendly of all post-war Bentleys.
A coachbuilt Bentley was prohibitively expensive for most, and required a special buyer that would not only appreciate the design and craftsmanship involved, but be willing to wait for his or her hand-made car to be painstakingly created over a period of time. One such customer was Hollywood mogul Jack L. Warner. Warner was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, California. Warner’s career spanned some 45 years before retiring in the early 1970s, its duration surpassing that of any other of the seminal Hollywood studio moguls. Along with his brothers Harry M. Warner, Albert Warner, and Sam Warner, he founded Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. in 1923. They released the first motion picture with synchronized sound in 1927, The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson. In the 1930s, Warner Brothers Studios gave employment to a galaxy of stars, including the great Bette Davis, Errol Flynn and Paul Muni, as well as James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, and a man whose star would eventually rise in the 1940s, Humphrey Bogart. Decades later, the company’s successor, Warner Communications Inc., merged with Time Inc. to become Time Warner Inc., the world’s largest media and entertainment company.
Warner was fond of cars, with previous purchases that included a new 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 Transformable by Hibbard & Darrin (chassis S319KP) and a new 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster. This time Warner desired a saloon, and the new Freestone and Webb design number 3191 caught his attention. Although registered as a 1955 car, delivery to Warner did not occur until 1957. It is one of only seven 3191 design cars Freestone & Webb would produce, and the only one with left-hand drive. Freestone & Webb turned out about 15 Rolls-Royce and Bentley automobiles a year during this period. As mentioned earlier, coachbuilding was on the decline resulting in a total of only 145 coachbuilt S1 Bentleys being constructed by all coachbuilders combined during its entire production run.
The styling is elegant and dignified, but sleek and sporting at the same time. Freestone & Webb had created some daring designs in the post-war era, the famous “Copper Kettle” P3 rebodied in 1946 and the finned “Honeymoon Express” in 1958 come to mind. This car had very special, but unique styling cues. This particular car has a highly unusual painted radiator shell adding to the sporting look of the car.
The surviving design number 3191 models all appear to have chrome radiator shells. The headlights protrude from the front wings with chrome bezels, however several of the other seven cars have headlights and park lamps recessed into a hooded, teardrop-shaped cavity.
A promotional piece printed in 1955 states that “The extremely thin windscreen pillars are a commendable feature.” The body sculpting flows back gracefully then kicks up towards the end of the rear door before rising up, giving it a muscular look. As the quarter panel gently descends to the rear, it is interrupted by a vertical scallop inserted with brightwork that is not visible when seen in profile. The quarter panel stands up, creating a valley between it and the substantial boot lid, and the sail panels swoop down into it all, perhaps a nod to more formal designs.
All in all it is a modern design that balances the new sporty style of the Flying Spur with the tradition of the Wraith, but with the dimensions of the S1, creating a brilliant design that will have you noticing different styling features every time you see it. More details of this remarkable shape emerge with the changes in the light and shadows as one moves around it.
Other features include power steering, which didn’t become standard until 1957, plus air conditioning (front & rear), power antenna, a unique rear defroster and unique rear passenger trays with a vanity mirror. A large, clear, rear sun roof allows light into the spacious interior trimmed sumptuously in red leather.
In 1963, Mr. Warner loaned the car to his own studio to be used in the production of the movie thriller Dead Ringer, directed by Paul Henreid, starring Betty Davis, Karl Malden and Peter Lawford. It was conveniently shot in the Los Angles area so the car was never far from Warner’s garage. Davis plays the working-class twin sister of a callous, wealthy woman who impulsively murders her out of revenge and assumes her identity. The movie was released in 1964 and the Bentley S1 appears in several scenes.
Warner kept the Bentley until his death in 1978. After Jack Warner’s wife Ann Page Alvarado Warner passed away in 1990, it was purchased from the estate by well-known Rolls-Royce and Bentley restoration shop Vantage Motorworks in Miami, Florida, who performed a correct, show-quality restoration. In 2002, it was acquired by the Blackhawk Collection, in California, and was displayed at the prestigious Blackhawk Museum for several years. In 2008, the car was freshened up by world renowned restorer, Fennel Restorations in Saugus, California. Today, it still resides alongside a bevy of other historic and significant automobiles at the Blackhawk Collection in the United States.
