Best of Britain: 1947 Bentley and 1948 Triumph on Hemmings Auctions
In postwar Great Britain, the automotive industry scrambled to restart car production following several years of manufacturing dedicated to the war effort. Given the need to jumpstart the economy, regulations were enacted—or repealed—to provide support for manufacturers who prioritized export. The automobile industry was primed to make an impact and, within a few years, Britain was indeed the biggest exporter of cars in the world.
That scramble to resume production of automobiles in Great Britain yielded a pair of distinctive cars that are now offered on Hemmings Auctions: a 1947 Bentley Mark VI Mulliner four-door saloon and a 1948 Triumph 1800 Roadster. Bentley, at the time, was the sister company to Rolls-Royce, and generally offered a more sporting and more affordable alternative to the Rolls. Triumph, in business for decades but on the ropes for years, became a part of Standard Motor Company in 1944.
1947 Bentley Mark VI Mulliner
The Mark VI was the first postwar model from Bentley, and the first of its cars to be built at the Crewe plant, which had been established just before the war to produce Rolls-Royce Merlin 27-liter V12 aero engines. Unlike previous efforts from Bentley, the Mark VI was primary built using a standard stamped-steel body rather than custom coachwork. Mark VI production proved to be so successful for Bentley that it became its most popular model to date by the time production ended in 1952, with more than 5,000 produced.
However, there were still customers who appreciated custom coachwork and chassis were delivered to a variety of coachbuilders in both the U.K. and continental Europe. Those coachbuilders included the likes of Park Ward, Farina, Hooper, Gurney Nutting and others. Among the most prominent of those were the Mulliner-bodied cars, from the H.J. Mulliner & Co. works based in London.
This 1947 Bentley Mark VI Mulliner four-door saloon presently accepting bids on Hemmings Auctions is listed as being unrestored. The blue leather seats do show signs of aging, with notable cracks in the leather surfaces, particularly at the driver’s seat, but nothing that screams neglect. The rear seats seem to have aged far better. Those rear passengers are also treated to occasional tables that fold down from behind the front row seats. The seller notes some cracks in the blue and silver two-tone paint as well. The carpets, indicated to be replacements, and interior wood appear to be in good condition.
The engine bay, too, looks to be in decent shape and likely to have been treated to some refurbishment. Bentley’s 4.25-liter (“four-and-a-quarter”) F-head inline-six was rated at 132 horsepower and estimated to provide a top speed of 100 mph when new. An F-head engine is also known as an “intake over exhaust” as the intake valve is overhead and the exhaust valve is positioned like a flathead engine’s, to the side of the piston.
The car otherwise appears clean, even underneath in the photos provided by the seller. As one of just 241 Mark VI’s to feature a Mulliner body, this 1947 Bentley also presents as a rarity. Take a closer look at what British luxury style meant in the late Forties over at Hemmings Auctions.
1948 Triumph 1800 Roadster
Like the Bentley Mark VI above, the Triumph 1800 Roadster’s lines borrowed heavily from prewar designs, perhaps even more so for the smaller Triumph, which rides on a 100-inch wheelbase compared to the Bentley sedan’s 120 inches. But that short wheelbase was certainly intentional for a car with more sporting ambitions than the Bentley.
Standard boss John Black tasked Triumph designers and engineers with creating a sports car based on the 1800 Saloon, a vehicle that used Standard’s 1.8-liter OHV inline-four that has previously powered Jaguar’s late prewar models. The 1800 Roadster’s overall length and wheelbase were both about 6 inches shorter than those of the four-door sedan.
Given a shortage of steel and an abundance of aluminum (the latter due to a surplus following the shutdown of much of Britain’s wartime aircraft industry), much of the 1800 Roadster’s body was made of aluminum panels, save for the fenders, which were formed from steel. Overall, the Roadster was advertised at a dry weight of 2,420 pounds, compared to the Saloon’s 2,700 pounds. Despite the light relatively light weight, its 63-horsepower 1.8-liter engine did not provide particularly overwhelming performance. Top speed was listed at 78 mph, with a 0-50 mph time (not 60) of 18 seconds.
This 1948 Triumph 1800 Roadster now listed on Hemmings Auctions, however, has a solution to that issue installed under its hood. In place of the original 1.8-liter engine, it features a 2.1-liter OHV inline-four from a 1965 Triumph TR4A, which the company rated at 99 horsepower and 133 lb-ft, both big improvements over the original.
The seller indicates that this 1800 Roadster was recently treated to a ground-up restoration. The provided photos show that the Mazda Cooper Red finish appears to have been expertly applied and holding up with no blemishes or flaws noted. The tan vinyl interior presents without any cracks, rips or untoward creases. That vinyl extends to the “dickey” seats in the rear of the car; we might rather call such an arrangement the rumble seat here in the U.S. The carpeting, wood trim, chrome, gauges and more all present quite well, as does the undercarriage, photos of which show clean and fresh paint, a rust-free exhaust, and no signs of excessive road use.
Triumph’s first postwar sports car was the precursor to several generations of beloved automobiles, most of which ended up on our shores. Head on over to Hemmings Auctions to get a closer look at the thorough restoration of this classic British automobile.
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