Thursday, July 25, 2019

This Custom 1960 Bentley Wagon Will Make You The King Of The School Pickup Line

This Bentley can pick the kids of at school, and drive on the lawn at Pebble Beach.

Here at CarBuzz, we absolutely love wagons. Unlike SUVs, wagons have a low center of gravity so they handle just like a normal car. There are still some amazing wagons left on the market, but most modern consumers prefer the higher ride height of an SUV. The Bentley Bentayga is a pretty cool SUV, but we would much prefer to buy a Bentley wagon. Unfortunately, Bentley doesn't sell a wagon. There have been some cool renderings of what a Bentley wagon could look like, but we have our sights set on the real thing.

What we have here is a 1960 Bentley S2 with a custom body from a coachbuilder called Wendler. The car is currently being sold by a dealership called Hyman LTD., with a massive asking price of $575,000. This is more than twice as much as a brand-new, W12-powered Bentayga, but we think it is worth the asking price. This 1960 S2 has a unique story and is one of the most unique Bentleys in the world.

The Bentley S-Series was introduced in 1955 in standard and long wheelbase forms. Most were fitted with standard bodywork, but a few special customers had their cars built with custom body work. All told, only 57 long wheelbase models were built, and a mere six of those were fitted with custom bodywork. This car is chassis number LLBA9, and it was originally ordered by a New York dealer called J.S. Inskip.

The original owner remains a mystery, as the original factory order was put in the name of the buyer's agent with the New York Yacht Club listed as their home address. The buyer originally wanted a custom wagon from Mercedes, but the German automaker turned down the request. Since Mercedes wasn't interested in building a wagon, the owner turned to Wendler, who grafted a Mercedes W112 300 body onto a Bentley chassis.

Wendler used many of the parts from Mercedes such as the lights and exterior trim, but many pieces had to be fabricated to fit the Bentley body. The result is a car that is both a Bentley and a Mercedes. The original owner donated the car to a museum, and it was restored from 2012 to 2013. It now looks beautiful once again, and ready to carry five passengers and their luggage. This looks like the perfect car for an elite car show such as Pebble Beach, and we would love to have it in our collection.

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