Bentley’s S2 Continental adopted the company’s new V-8 engine, the first of its kind for the firm and capable of adding superb performance to match the dramatic coachbuilt bodies fitted to this specially built and tuned chassis.

Chassis number BC95LCZ, offered here, was one of 65 left-hand-drive S2 Continental Drophead Coupés built by Park Ward to Vilhelm Koren’s design 991, a fully modern style with straight-through wings, slightly finned in the rear, and lightweight steel and alloy construction. Finished in Velvet Green with Beige interior and power-operated hood, it was equipped with Sundym glass, Windtone horns, and a radio, and exported to the United States in March 1962. The following month it was delivered to original owner E. Clayton Gengras of Hartford, Connecticut. A self-made man, Mr. Gengras had dropped out of school to become a car salesman, eventually building one of the largest agencies in the United States, Gengras Motor Cars, as well as further fortunes in banking and insurance. He was also an active philanthropist and an important figure in Connecticut politics.

Mr. Gengras apparently did not retain the Bentley for long; by 1964 it had been traded on a new model and was then acquired by printing company owner Hyman Safran of Detroit, Michigan. By the early 1990s it was in the ownership of the late Steven Elkman, a very prominent and respected American collector of postwar coachbuilt Bentleys, with a special fascination for the S2 Continental in all its forms. In 2000, Mr. Elkman donated BC95LCZ to the Rolls-Royce Foundation, which resold it in 2007 to Howard Krimko of New York.

Now offered from The 20th Century Collection, the car remains in its original livery but, having been in storage for many years, is now a sought-after restoration project. When complete it will be eligible for many prestigious concours on both sides of the Atlantic, as a superb example of an advanced design.