The Bentley episode
In the meantime, the 4½ litre Bentley was still going strong, but in July 1956 it was replaced by a new H.J. Mulliner bodied S Series Bentley (chassis G32BA, engine number BB 16) which gained the EHS 2 registration plate, having inadvertently been registered SYE 546 before Jack Barclay knew about the personalised number. It cost £7,510, which included £2,499 4s 6d purchase tax and £4 for 18 gallons of petrol. The body was to have been built by H.J. Mulliner as EHS knew the company of old. When the company first knew of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud and Bentley S Series they sent EHS some preliminary sketches of what they envisaged on the chassis. EHS looked at them and decided he needed something a lot more luxurious inside. Plainly, H.T. Johnstone, a director of Mulliner's agreed as he likened the Bentley's interior to an inferior Mk VII Jaguar!
EHS had been told of the new S Series of 1954 and had placed his order immediately, but it took until mid 1956 and a lot of chivvying for it actually to appear. In mid 1955 he had decided that the extended body looked alright externally so the additional £2,200 for the coach-built Mulliner was excessive. Instead he decided to send a standard car to Mulliner's for them to finish to perfection and add their own seats.
Mulliner's plans for a lightweight saloon and Continental had been held up by some special drawings for the Shah of Persia about which H.T. Johnstone commented "It appears that our Government is all out to impress him and those special drawings have upset my calculations".
Anyway, after a long delay EHS's car was ready (chassis B32-BA) and by August 1958 it had covered 12,000 miles, involving some opulent Continental tours. The only real problem with it turned out to be the Jaeger clock, which lost 7-10 minutes per week, compared with the 2 minutes that had been the maximum limit for a pre-war Armstrong-Siddeley clock. Reams of correspondence followed which, if typical, does much to explain the high cost of Rolls-Royce or Bentley in which the customer expects absolute perfection.
In 1959 Jack Barclay had high hopes of interesting EHS in the new V-8 SII, but instead the SI went back to Mulliner's for a machine polish and touch up, which returned it in virtually new condition for £42 18s 6d. Soon afterwards it was hit by a 1958 Hillman Minx in the Cromwell Road, which cost £80 in repairs and for some reason, that seems to have convinced the by now elderly Ernest Siddeley that a smaller car would suit him better in London. He had looked at a new Rover 3 litre in 1959 but delivery was too slow. Instead, in 1962 he replaced the Bentley with a new Mercedes-Benz 230 coupe. This was used extensively on the Continent and very complete accounts of the various trips exist. They show just about everything from the cost per mile to the amount of tip left to the various hotel doormen to park the car. One journey in 1964 involved leaving Cherbourg at 1pm and arriving 223 miles and 4 ¾ hours later at Tours, then reaching Bordeaux after 302 miles in 6½ hours the next day. Even with autoroutes today these are times that would be hard to beat. In the 1930s EHS had lent a Siddeley Special to Jack Barclay for the same journey. Jack Barclay was very impressed though we don't know his time. He asked for the exclusive agency and EHS was keen – but not Rolls-Royce!
After the 230 came a 280 saloon and then finally a Renault 30 for EHS and a Renault 5 for his wife.
It might seem something of a come-down, but by then EHS had been driving for over sixty years and was looking for some peaceful and comfortable everyday transport.
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