Against a background of jazz riffs, Bright Young People strutting like peacocks and the emergingarts décoratifs, what car could better fitthe genius of the Roaring Twenties than a Bentley owned by the leader of a big band? It was the era of the Brooklands set and "too, too awful" all-night parties in Bloomsbury, ofVile Bodiesand diminishing restraints, culminating in acrescendoof hedonistic decadence which, as we know, was all too much fun to last. Indeed, the world was already slipping down the road to Depression when a certain Bert Ambrose completed the purchase of his new Bentley Speed Six with Weymann sports saloon body by Lancefield in the summer of 1930.
Registered GH 2027 in June or July, 1930, and built on the 11ft.8½in. chassis, SB2775 was an extraordinarily modern-looking machine when Lancefield announced it as "Our outstanding design for May, 1930." The Weymann body was presented in an attractive combination of dark blue fabric with a light grey roof, and the extended bonnet is believed to have been Lancefield's own creation, rather than a modified Bentley original. For one of the more minor coachbuilders, it was a masterpiece; its strikingly curvaceous coachwork accentuated the "goose neck" profile of the chassis, and twin rear-mounted spare wheels lent an air of purpose to what was otherwise pure elegance. It was the quintessence of a grand tourer.
The Speed Six had not originally been conceived as a grand tourer. W. O. Bentley had developed the 6½-Litre of 1926 not for sporting purposes, but as a luxury carriage fit for sophisticated high-end coachwork. Seeing that the 4½-Litre was losing some of its edge in motor racing, however, he saw fit to redesign the 6½'s prodigious chassis for competition, and the Speed Six was the result, débutingat the 1928 Olympia Motor Exhibition for the 1929 season. With twin SU carburetters, it produced 160 b.h.p. against the 147 of the standard 6½-Litre, and was externally identified by its parallel-sided radiator. Famously, the Speed Six went on to win Le Mans for Bentley in 1929 and 1930, but the majority entered private hands with tourer or saloon coachwork.
Bert Ambrose (1896-1971), meanwhile, was very much in demand as a dance band leader on both sides of the Atlantic. Born in Warsaw, he moved to London while still a child and learnt the violin. Aged 15, his aunt took him to New York, where he became a professional musician. Being at the head of his own band by the time he was in his early twenties, he returned to London in 1922, went back to New York in 1924 and then settled in England from 1925, supposedly at the behest of the Prince of Wales. By 1930, he was halfway through a six-year stint at the May Fair Hotel.
An up-to-the-minute Bentley was exactly the car for such an esteemed and fashionable member of London society, and Ambrose evidently took some pride in his new wheels as he was photographed by C. K. Bowers for an article inThe Autocar, January 30th, 1931,entitled "Stars and Their Cars." In 1933, he returned to his old home the Embassy Club, after refusing a pay cut from the May Fair, and in November, 1934, he part-exchanged the Bentley for a Rolls-Royce Phantom II sedanca coupé by H. J. Mulliner from Jack Barclay, also paying the sum of £1,700. Ambrose was living then in Hereford House, a magnificent modern mansion block at the junction of London's Oxford Street and Park Lane. Barclay recorded the car as a close-coupled coupé by Brainsby Woollard, reflecting the close relationship between Lancefield and Brainsby Woollard, the precise nature of which has always been uncertain. In January, 1935, Barclay sold SB2775 to F. J. Bosham Jones of Berncastel, High Cross, Rogerstone, Monmouthshire. Barclay exchanged it for £350 against Bosham Jones's old 4½ Litre, valued at £300, so only £50 changed hands. By October, 1936, the car was back in London with J. Furnival of 7, Tennison Mansions, Queens Club Gardens, S.W.14.
The Bentley entered a new era in 1938, when it was acquired by H. R. Coxhead of Penyston Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire. Coxhead reregistered it with the Berkshire number BBL 162 on June 4th, 1938,and fitted a new two/four-seater sports body by Corsica. However, it was advertised for sale by June 7th, and its history vanishes during the war years. It was recorded in the ownership of E. van Moppes in 1951 and was in Hampshire by May 4th, 1953, and come 1959 it was in the hands of the Great Chart Motor Co., near Ashford, Kent. By 1960, it belonged to A. E. Fletcher, but the car was not used on British ownership after 1959 and by 1966 it had migrated Stateside to Henry Petronis. Sadly, in the period that followed it was dismantled, and in 1991 it returned to Britain as a kit of parts. We do not know the fates of the Lancefield or Corsica bodies, but SB2775 was put back on the road as a Le Mans replica with Vanden Plas-style touring body and was reregistered with its original London number.
As Le Mans replicas go, it looks to be a very fair one, although it is a pity that its chassis was shortened to 11ft. 2in. Nevertheless, it should be a welcome sight at rallies, race meetings andconcours, or else it may simply be enjoyed on the road to suit one's own taste. We say "one's own taste" because this car could be yours—it is being offered for sale with Indutax GmbH in Germany (it left Britain again in 2015) viâan online auction. Valued at 4,000,000euros (approx. £3,300,000), it is accompanied by a full history and authenticity report by Clare Hay, and bidding has started at 550,000 euros (approx. £460,000). As it is, it could be a lot of fun but, if any millionaire is feeling really philanthropic, wouldn't it be especially satisfying to restore it as a beautiful Lancefield sports saloon once more?
