A very striking car which incorporates various unusual and very appealing design features. Sporty in appearance, sharp and lovely in condition and running very well. One of the very first Derby Bentleys built, originally bodied by Park Ward the current Barker body was built for a slightly later 3 Litre in 1935, but transferred to this car in the 1950s. The car features very sleek wing design, shallow windscreen, some very attractive body mouldings and swage lines to the scuttle and bonnet (which are also louvred), the rear quarters and the doors, too have sweeping, curved lines, enhanced by colour division. Early photos of the body when mounted on B178DG, although black & white, suggest a very similar colour scheme to that still on the car. These photos, together with shots of various documentation, an old logbook, etc, can be seen on the 'More Photos' page. The paintwork, chrome plating, upholstery, woodwork and cosmetics generally are all excellent, and the fitment of a full set of 'Ace' wheel discs and a 'clam shell' spare wheel cover, correct P100 headlights, the facility for mounting luggage on the lid of the already quite spacious boot, all add to the car's practicality. Excellent, probably unique and a very rare opportunity to acquire such a special specimen. The car has a recent aluminium cylinder head and we have just fitted five new tyres and heavy duty tubes. Serviced, prepared and offered newly MoT tested
Chassis No. B17AE Reg. No. AUU 17
Snippets: Embiricos, Potatoes & Extravagance
The first owner of B17AE was A H Embiricos a scion of the Greek shipping & finance family whose brother Andre M. Embiricos commissioned and raced the Paulin designed & Pourtout built Bentley; the love of cars ran in the family as their cousin Nicholas raced an ERA alongside a Bugatti Type 57S! B17AE was only with A. H. Embiricos for a short time before it acquired by L. F. Stone who registered the car at his club - The Guards on Brook Street so little is known about L. F. Stone. During WWII the body on B17AE had been converted to a that of a Utility Van and was used by Messrs Mash & Austin Ltd of Covent Garden - the earliest reference found to this company is from the early 1800s when an Admiral in Lord Nelson's fleet owed the sum of £3/7/6d to Mr. Joseph Mash! The firm's name was change in August 1873 when Henry John Mash (then living in Beaulieu) married the wealthy Miss Lucy Austin of Beaconsfield enabling them to acquire two farms where they grew their own produce enabling them to widen their customer base to include hotels and restaurants. In 1947 Hugh Curtis, a vet from Hungerford acquired B17AE and in 1958 the car (with the Utility body) was used by Mr Curtis at the Police Motor Driving School in Hendon - this was an annual event & comprised of concours events and driving ability competitions in which B17AE took place as participant Nr. 20! The current bodywork on B17AE was originally on B178DG which Mr. Curtis also owned - B178DG had been built to the exacting specifications of Lady Dorothy Roll & by coincidence her stepson (Jack Roll) owned B101MX which we also have here! Lady Dorothy was the widow of Howell Thomas Ball - he was killed during WWI in 1915 - Dorothy married Sir Cecil Roll in 1927 but by June 1932 Sir Cecil had placed a notice in The Times that he would not be responsible for any contracts & expenditure entered to his accounts by her - this did not appear to stop her buying B178DG in 1935 and a photo of the car is shown in the Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News. When Sir Cecil died in 1938 his estate amounted to some £460,000 and the majority of it was divided between his 3 sons and not his extravagant widow...... prior to Sir Cecil's death she had ordered a Rolls-Royce 25/30 - GAR22 & shortly after his death a Wraith - WLB2! ^^Show Time at Burghley House, Stamford. Friday the 23rd June to Sunday 25th June 2023 inclusive. We will be attending the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts Club Annual Rally with a selection of our stock and an indoor display of Rolls-Royce & Bentley cars that we have sold since 1987. Come & look at our display both indoor and outdoor - perhaps you can spot your car on the marquee walls!
Central Locking; Electronic Stability Program (ESP); V5 Registration Document; Safety Belt Pretensioners
About Us:
The Real Car Company was established in 1987 by Ray Arnold & Ian Johnstone. It was a hobby that 'Got out of hand'. Our interest in cars of the type that we now sell goes back to our childhoods, and ownership back to the 1970's. Gradually more cars started passing through our hands, and by 1986 we had decided to make a full time occupation of buying and selling the cars that we love.

We started with a single car (all we could afford) which we sold quickly, and before we knew it we had 4 or 5 on our hands! This was alongside another business that we were involved in at the time. In the Spring of 1988 we gave up the other business, (exhaust systems), rented part of the premises that we still operate from now, and went full time.

We had a good start in the boom years of the late eighties, which set us up well enough for us to ride the storm of recession in the years that followed. As the years went on the number of cars going through our hands increased gradually, we built up a workforce, and now in 2009 we carry a stock of around 40 to 50 vehicles and there are ten of us here. In 1999 we were awarded 'International Classic Car Dealer of the Year' by Classic Cars Magazine. The market for 'our' kind of cars is nicely stable, generally prices are creeping upwards all the time, and we feel that investing in a car - or cars - of the type that we sell is generally a great place to put your money. Don't do it just for investment, but you can get a great deal of pleasure from these vehicles, prices are - in our opinion - unlikely to drop, and you can't drive a share certificate! Some prices in the last three or four years have moved up considerably, and these cases have shown a tremendous return on investment.

Over the last fifteen years or so we have brought home several hundred cars from the USA, and we are always looking for more. If you know of a Rolls-Royce or Bentley anywhere in the world, in absolutely any condition, please let us know. Distance no object, commissions happily paid. We always particularly enjoy the 'barn finds'.

Opening Hours:
Mo: 09:00 AM to 05:00 PM
Tu: 09:00 AM to 05:00 PM
We: 09:00 AM to 05:00 PM
Th: 09:00 AM to 05:00 PM
Fr: 09:00 AM to 05:00 PM
Sa: Closed
Su: Closed
Why buy from us?
* Classic Cars
* Over 30 years in business
* Cars are physically at our premises
* Lovely roads to test drive on
* Our reputation