Vintage Thing No.169.1 - Bentley MkVI James Young saloon.

Although damaged this photo of 1112RH must have been very cherished and looked at often (Photo : Vivian Bush)

Vintage Thing No.169 attracted an interesting comment last month. I’d blogged about a Bentley Mk VI James Young two door saloon belonging to some friends of mine and mentioned that a four door version had apparently been also offered.

Vivian Bush invited me to email him because he had personal knowledge of one and had photos.

1112RH was a Bentley MkVI with James Young four door coachwork to design C10BM (Photo : Vivian Bush)

“My father arrived home one autumn evening at the wheel of the 1952 James Young Mark VI registration 1112 RH, and I think that was October 1961. I was approaching 4 years old and loved the car at first sight. It replaced a small 1.5 litre Wolseley saloon we’d had, and was a big step upwards in terms of body size and horsepower.

Could this have been the Wolseley it replaced? (Photo : Vivian Bush)

“The first owner was a local millionaire, in the days when that was serious money - he’d commissioned it from James Young for his 50th birthday, with various bits of interior trim personalisation to suit his requirements.  Fifty years later he was still alive and told me about the car, and how he'd driven it to Vienna and Yugoslavia - that was fascinating because, in 1966, my father drove us to Istanbul in the same car, and we travelled across Yugoslavia.

1112RH on an overseas trip (Photo : Vivian Bush)

“I had been contacted in the 1990s by Paul Seitz, somewhere in the USA, who had acquired 1112RH. We’ve lost touch since and I reckon he’ll have died long ago - if you can find any contact details for the current owner I’d love to keep in touch.

“Now, as to the James Young C10BM two door design, I have a friend in Edinburgh who owns an example, and was with a Swiss chap a few days ago who owns another. I’ll send a photo separately.

I really like the sense of continuity this history evokes - previous owners sharing their adventures with each other. 

I can just imagine them saying, "You went to Yugoslavia in it? So did we!"

For comparison, here's the Swiss two door version (Photo : Vivian Bush)

Can anyone help Vivian Bush track down the present owner of 1112RH, his father’s old James Young Bentley?

To my eyes, the two door saloon is more of a coupe and has cleaner lines but the saloon looks very well balanced (Photo : Vivian Bush)

Having ridden in the two door version, I can appreciate what an adventure a trip across Yugoslavia must have been but also what a comfortable adventure.