BENTLEY SPOTTING: The Who

Or should it be "The What?"…

That's right…this is a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II Shooting Brake…

One originally commissioned by the late John Entwhistle of the legendary British rock band "The Who" to transport his Irish Wolfhounds around his country estate.

Chassis #SRH0040422 was bought from John Entwhistle's wife following his death, and has since been kept in Perthshire, Scotland being mainly used for grouse shooting trips.

It's now being offered by Bonhams at their upcoming auction of Collectors' Motor Cars at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu on 7^th September.

The coachbuilder is unknown, but suspected to be FLM Panelcraft, founded in the early 1950s by former staff of James Young, Corsica and Alpe & Saunders.

Let's take a closer look…

The brown paint is very late seventies, but I quite like it.

Unlike some other aftermarket shooting brake conversions this one looks"right"….the coachbuilder has maintained the slope of the roof and incorporated the large three quarter window so that it flows with the lines.

And unusually for a Shooting Brake conversion, it doesn't have an everflex roof.

For me, the lack of an everflex roof and the fitting of roof rails only further improves the overall appearance.

I normally dislike gold plated mascots, door handles, badges etc.

This car has them, and gold plated side rails, and headlight surrounds too!

But the gold actually seems to match the overall colour scheme.

The interior has been updated with later seats and headrests in cream leather.

And it has been fitted with a rather nice bar in the back!

Its covered around 115,500 miles and is being offered with restoration invoices, current MOT and road tax.

The guide is GBP 14-19,000, but I think it could fetch more.

What's nice is that Flickr user goldscotland1971 has previously seen it out and about.

Here are his pics…

And this isn't the first Silver Shadow II Shooting Brake to have been offered at auction.

In October 2009, H&H Sales offered a 1978 Silver Shadow II Estate (#SRH33570) at its auction of Fine Collectors' Vehicles at the Haynes International Museum.

Finished in seychelles blue with a black everflex roof and dark blue leather upholstery, the catalogue describes the conversion having been commissioned by the 9th Earl of Carrick (Brian Stuart Theobald Somerset Caher Butler: http://www.thepeerage.com/p1076.htm) a cousin of Her Majesty The Queen and Chairman of Ralli Bros Ltd, Merchant Bank.

A later catalogue amendment advised that The Chelsea Workshop had converted #SRH33570 into a shooting brake when it was approximately ten years old and not when new as previously thought.

It was offered as being in generally good condition with "some service history", current MOT certificate and 102,680 recorded miles.

Guided at GBP 18-20,000, it fetched GBP 14,300 including commission.

Interestingly, #SRH33570 had been offered at Bonham's Collectors' Motor Cars and Automobilia, RAF Museum, Hendon, London in April 2009, just 6 months earlier.

Bonhams catalogue describes it as being presented in metallic blue with a black everflex roof, dark blue leather and with blue carpets and over-rugs to front and rear.

Service invoices documented that during that summer of 2008 it had been driven from Lands End to John O'Groats and back (the full length of the UK , twice) and had averaged an impressive 22mpg for the trip.

The recorded mileage at the time of cataloguing was 26,899 miles, but a new speedometer had been fitted at 70,288 miles, bringing the total to 97,187 miles.

Against a GBP 20-25,000 guide, it sold for GBP 15,525 including premium.

#SRH33570 has also been photographed in use.

Here in London…

And in Paris....

Back in May 2003 Bonhams also offered a 1980 Silver Shadow II Shooting Brake (#SRH0041210) at the The Edwin C. Jameson Jr. Collection of Motor Cars, Exceptionally Fine Locomotives and Traction Engines, Live Steam and Automobilia Part III at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.

It is catalogued as being by FLM Panelcraft and finished in green with matching everflex roof and leather interior and fitted with a sunroof.

Documentation included the owners handbook and three expired MOT certificates covering the period September 1999 to November 2002, with the earliest recording 2,024 miles on the odometer.

Also included in the file was a service invoice from Straight Eight, dated October 1998, detailing works including the fitting of a new fuel pump.