Paul Hardiman

This year, the Bentley marque passes its centenary. It is a huge achievement, not least because throughout those 100 years it is a company that has always been associated with the utmost sporting and luxurious cars. That reputation was founded on the basis of magnificent automobiles like the 6½ Litre offered here today, cars which…

Having made his fortune during World War II, Chicago-based industrialist Stanley Harold “Wacky” Arnolt II was able to indulge his lifelong love of automobiles, and by 1952 was a regional BMC distributor and U.S. distributor for Bristol cars. In 1952, a visit to Carrozzeria Bertone led to Arnolt buying a stake in the Italian company…

Manufactured by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin, the first Aston-Martins (the hyphen is correct for the period) rapidly established a reputation for high performance and sporting prowess in the years immediately following The Great War. Unfortunately, the management’s concentration on motor sport, while accruing invaluable publicity, distracted it from the business of manufacturing cars for…

First registered in November 1958, chassis no. AN57565 was prepared by Donald Healey and his team for the 1959 Monte Carlo, Sestriere and Alpine rallies. It would go on to be the only Works Rally Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite produced. Its early history was detailed in John Sprinzel and Tom Coulthard’s book Spritely Years. The…

Quite a few Land Rovers crossed the block at Bonhams’ July 13 Goodwood Festival of Speed auction, but three Landies in particular give us an interesting glimpse at the current market. All three of the recent Land Rovers sold way over their estimates, while the 1963 80-inch Series I was bang on the money. What…

Chassis S814286 was built on May 25, 1955, as a left-hand-drive XK 140 SE coupe. The Jaguar was delivered new in France via the French distributor, Charles Delecroix, to its first owner, Mme. Jeanne Gaymard in Paris. It is the 286th left-hand-drive coupé built, with body number J4457. The original colour scheme was cream with…

This magnificent 8 Litre is one of only 100 such cars produced by W.O. Bentley, of which only some 80 or so survive. Originally bodied as a limousine by Thrupp & Maberly, it was sent directly to Singapore, where its Chinese owner used the Bentley for sporting adventures with his lady friends. The Bentley was…

Searching for new engines in the 1960s, Morgan concluded a deal with Rover for supply of its all-aluminum 3.5-liter V8, thus creating a car — the Plus 8 — that combined vintage charm with Cobra-like grunt. Morgan’s Plus 4 chassis, strengthened and extended, formed the basis of the new car, while the existing Moss 4-speed…