Back to Back: Bentley or Auburn?

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One thing to get you in the mood for Christmas already is a stroll through London’s Bond Street. Window shopping alone can give you an enormous sense of the merry season, with beautiful galleries and shops from Burberry, Mulberry and, of course, Asprey.

It’s also where Bonhams’ yearly December auction takes place, with no exception for this year, so let’s have a look at two of the cars they have on offer. We decided to compare a 1933 Bentley 3½-Litre Cabriolet with a 1935 Auburn 851 Supercharged Speedster. Wacky comparison? Perhaps. But we think there is more to this duo than their two-tone paint with the lighter of the two hues in that typical round shape over their doors (anyone who has a name for this?).

1933 Bentley 3½-Litre Cabriolet

The Bentley was originally a Park Ward bodied beauty, which was a display car at the ’33 Olympia show. The first owner was Mister A H Embiricos. And if that name rings a bell somewhere, we’ll tell you that his brother was a Bentley works driver, who famously had this built. Two more owners followed of which the second had the car re-bodied in its current (Barker cabriolet) shape. The current owner bought it in 1983 for his wife, who used it as a chauffeur-driven carriage. It comes with a large history file and – despite not wearing its original body anymore - we quite like it.

1935 Auburn 851 Supercharged Speedster

For those who want something rather less demure and like their prewar motor as flashy as it can be, the Auburn offered for sale has to be seen. It’s estimated to be about five times as expensive, but then this is quite a car! It was sold new to Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton, who bought it for her husband, Prince Alexis Mdivani, although the ownership was about as short as the marriage. Like the Bentley, the Auburn’s body was also updated by a subsequent owner, when coachbuilder Bohman & Schwartz came into the picture. They lengthened the wings, added ‘frenched’ outside exhausts and rear lights, reworked the firewall and bonnet; concealed door hinges; modified kick and fender plates et cetera. By the late 1950s, the front was re-modified to its original guise, as were the badges, door handles and bumpers. It’s in the UK since 1989 and was restored some eight years ago for a whopping price. Again, it comes with a comprehensive history file and certainly is desirable. Your favourite?

Words by Jeroen Booij. Photographs courtesy Bonhams Motor Cars.

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