A Rare 1936 Bentley Found in an English Garage Sells for over €450,000

An authentic 1936 Bentley that spent the last 30 years locked away in a garage has sold at auction for £454,250. The car belonged to World War II pilot Charles Blackham, who took part in a raid on Adolf Hitler’s Bavarian retreat, and is one of only six factory “works” cars built by Bentley.

H&H Classics sold the “unusual” vehicle for more than twice its pre-sale estimate. Mr. Blackham, from Stockport, bought the car in 1952 for £260 and drove the classic convertible for 36 years. He then stowed it in his garage for three decades, and it was only rediscovered after the 96-year-old’s death in January.

Now featuring torn leather seats and covered in rust, the Bentley is one of just six 4.5-litre W.O. Bentleys assembled by the service department in 1936 using spare and reconditioned parts. Damian Jones, sales director at H&H Classics, described Wednesday’s sale to the Imperial War Museum Duxford as “the ultimate Bentley barn find.”

The car had been estimated at between £150,000 and £200,000, but auctioneers in Cambridgeshire were stunned when the hammer fell at more than double the top estimate. “This Bentley is so unusual because it was built in the mid-’30s using a chassis and mechanical components no newer than 1931,” Jones explained. “Only the chassis frame was newly produced when they assembled and sold the car as new in 1936.”

Mr. Blackham served with No. 550 Squadron RAF and took part in the bombing of Hitler’s famed Bavarian Alpine retreat in April 1945.