It’s no real surprise to those of us that work in the rarefied heights of MotorMartin Towers that popular classic car dealer, JD Classics is celebrating its eighth consecutive award-winning year at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. JD Classics’ superb Bentley R-Type Continental picked up the FIVA Postwar Trophy, among a field of more than 200 of the rarest and most incredible cars in the world. An incredible achievement I’m sure you’ll agree.
All these cars are invited to the Pebble Beach Golf Links each year to compete in the Concours d’Elegance, which rounds off the Monterey Classic Car Week event. Among them this year were two JD Classics cars; a customer’s Shelby 260 Cobra that had recently undergone a full JD Classics restoration, and a Bentley R-Type Continental.
JD Classics have shared with MotorMartin that the highly original Bentley was ordered new in 1954 by golfer, Philip F. Scrutton, and was fitted with a number of unique features. The one-piece tail lights and cut away rear wheel arches are two standout examples, along with the instruments and steering wheel matched to the red leather upholstery.
Its next owner was Stanley W. Hailwood, a successful pre-war MG and motorcycle racer and father to renowned racing driver Mike Hailwood. In 1968, it was sold to a family in Australia where it remained until it was bought by JD Classics in 2015. Never restored, the R-Type’s appearance at Pebble Beach was its first public showing in fifty years, and it even completed the 80-mile pre-concours Tour d’Elegance.
It’s also been explained to MotorMartin that the customer-owned Shelby 260 Cobra, chassis number CSX 2005, was the fifth 260 Cobra ever built, and was shipped from AC Cars base in Surrey to Shelby America, California. Following a colour change from white to black, the car was loaned to Universal Studios and featured heavily in the 1964 film The Killers, featuring Ronald Reagan.
After it’s starring role the car was bought by the Carroll Shelby School of High Performance Driving and was painted in the Shelby American team colour of 1964; Viking Blue. During its tenure at the school, the car was driven by many noteworthy names, including actor James Garner. CSX 2005 was bought by Donald Bell in 1975 and stayed under his ownership for 35 years, before being bought by JD Classics in 2016 and subsequently commissioned as a restoration project for Pebble Beach by a customer.
Derek Hood, Managing Director of JD Classics, confirmed the following to MotorMartin recently: “With more than 100 judges, many of whom have over 30 years’ experience judging events like this, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is the most competitive classic car event in the world. Even for our two entries to be invited to compete is an absolute privilege, let alone our Bentley R-Type preservation being awarded the FIVA Postwar Trophy. It’s another standout example of the dedication and expertise of all our craftsmen at JD Classics’ Maldon headquarters.”
And you can’t really argue with that can you?
Where will you go?