1965 Bentley SSSC2

This vehicle is no longer available for sale

$1,050,000

Approx.

1965 Bentley SSSC2 for sale in for sale on GoCars

Approx.

THIS VEHICLE IS LISTED BY

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Gateway Classic Cars
1237 Central Park Dr.

O'Fallon, IL 62269
United States

Show Telephone Number

VEHICLE DETAILS

CONDITION:

Used

YEAR:

1965

TRIM LEVEL:

Not Specified

MILEAGE:

0 mi

VIN:

Not Specified

FUEL TYPE:

Not Specified

ENGINE TYPE:

Not Specified

ENG. DISPLACEMENT: ENG. DISPL.:

6.23L V8

CATEGORY / STYLE: CATEGORY:

Classic/Custom

TRANSMISSION:

Manual

DRIVE:

Not Specified

DRIVETRAIN:

Not Specified

NO. OF DOORS:

Not Specified

EXTERIOR COLOR: EXT. COLOR:

Blue

INTERIOR COLOR: INT. COLOR:

Black

STOCK NO:

ORD160

VEHICLE DESCRIPTION

Used 1965 Bentley SSSC2 for sale in Lake Mary, Florida

For sale in our Orlando showroom is a 1965 Bentley SSS C2. In 1965 Rolls Royce management asked their apprentice group to build two factory exhibition display vehicles without bodies as prototypes for their next generation 1966 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and the Bentley T-type chassis. The first was to be displayed at the factory in Crewe while the second was to be displayed at the car shows and dealerships. Later on chassis #1 was quietly donated to the Rolls Royce Museum in Mechanicsburg PA. where it still resides. Then much later chassis #2 was secretly sold to Bentley Drivers Club racer Barry Eastick for the purpose of building it into a racing car. This totally unique direct sale which bypassed the normal sales distribution system was facilitated by the Marketing Director of Rolls Royce John Craig. This was done as a special favor in complete defiance of the long established company policy that prohibited participation in auto racing which has existed since Rolls Royce purchased Bentley in 1931. This may be the last traditionally coach built chassis to ever leave Crewe. What made this Rolls Royce policy against racing totally illogical was that it berated Bentleys long history of auto racing wins from 1923 to 1931 when Rolls Royce purchased the company. Bentley entered cars in the 24 Hours of Le Mans seven times in that period and won the race outright five of the seven times they entered. That record gave Bentley the greatest win to entry history of any make at Le Mans. Bentley did not return to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans until seventy one years later in 2001 and they finished first in class and 3rd overall. In 2002 they returned to finish first in class and 4th overall. Then in 2003 they returned again to enter two cars and 24 hours later finished first and 2nd overall and mere minutes later they were immediately forced into racing retirement again. This time it was done by the arbitrary and heavy handed policy of their new corporate master Volkswagen to protect the best interests of their rival and team mate Audi. S.S.S. C-2 is believed to be the only factory chassis sold to be a racecar during that seventy one year factory hiatus from racing. The beautifully proportioned body was originally designed by the legendary Bentley racecar designer and builder Alan Pagett. The conversion from prototype chassis to a finished alloy bodied racecar was done by Lyncar Engineering masters of open wheel single seat racecar construction. The engine is a blueprinted Rolls Royce 6.23 liter aluminum dry sump solid lifter V-8 . It has a single four barrel carburetor in the road configuration and a supercharger with twin carburetors in the racing configuration. This is a true dual purpose sport-racer that was both raced and road driven on the roads and tracks of England. It is also a correct unaltered authentic un-restored and original one of a kind piece of historic automotive art patina and all. Documentation includes two signed original and confidential factory letters from John Craig to Barry Eastick that clearly explain the terms and conditions of the sale the original Rolls Royce Bill of sale and original letter with concept drawings from Alan Pagett photos of the car racing at Silverstone the complete invitation package to the 1996 Pebble Beach Concours dElegance photos at Pebble Beach the invitation package to the 1999 Meadowbrook historic Races and Concours various magazine articles about this historic racer and much much more. Located in our Orlando Showroom this 1965 Bently SSS C2 can be seen including HD pictures and videos at www.GatewayClassicCars.com. For additional information please call 407-771-2000 or Orlando@gatewayclassiccars.com .

Reference ID: GC-9280