The Story of ‘The Irish Six’

It isn't every day that one Rolls-Royce leaves and six classics arrive to take its place.

Not long ago, our rather rare Mulliner Park Ward 2-Door Saloon found a new home. In return came something altogether less glamorous, but arguably far more exciting: a transporter loaded with six Rolls-Royce and Bentley classics making the journey across the Irish Sea from the Emerald Isle.

It was quite the sight.

A Bentley Mulsanne Turbo, two Bentley S1s, a Bentley S2, a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and a Bentley T1, all spanning decades of Crewe engineering and all perched on one lorry. They arrived looking tired, weathered, and carrying the sort of honest scars you'd expect from cars that have spent years waiting for somebody to decide what comes next.

We've nicknamed them The Irish Six.

Standing in the yard watching them arrive, it was difficult not to imagine the attention they must have attracted on the journey over. A transporter carrying six classic Rolls-Royces and Bentleys isn't something you pass every day. Even in their current condition, lined up together they told the story of Crewe in a way few collections can. Different decades. Different purposes. Different lives. Yet somehow they all ended up making the same crossing at exactly the same time.

That journey only happened because another Rolls-Royce had begun one of its own.

Our Mulliner Park Ward 2-Door Saloon was never destined to become another donor car. Quite the opposite. It represented an important chapter in Rolls-Royce history, bridging the gap between the Silver Shadow and the Corniche that would follow. Coach built, elegant and increasingly rare, it deserved the chance to be restored by someone prepared to take it on.

Thankfully, somebody was.

The deal itself felt rather fitting.

The MPW wasn't exchanged simply because six cars are worth more than one. It changed hands because both sides represented different ways of preserving the same marque.

On one side sat a rare coach-built Rolls-Royce with every chance of returning to the road in the hands of someone willing to take on a proper restoration. On the other sat six classics that had each reached a crossroads of their own. Some looked surprisingly complete. Others had clearly been waiting years for somebody to make a decision about them. Between them lay decades of Crewe engineering, each carrying its own history, each about to begin a very different next chapter.

That's the reality of what we do.

People often ask whether we decide to save or dismantle a car the moment it arrives. The truth is, we almost never do.

First impressions can be remarkably misleading. We've seen immaculate-looking cars reveal terminal corrosion once they're on the ramp, while others that appeared destined for dismantling have earned themselves another chance after a proper inspection. Until we've been through them properly, every arrival is still writing its story.

Of course, we're not convinced all six belong in the same category.

The Bentley Mulsanne Turbo rolled off the transporter under its own power and immediately caught our attention. Complete, smart and remarkably honest, it already feels like a strong candidate for a second life.

The Bentley S2 tells a similar story. Rough around the edges? Absolutely. But complete. And completeness is often the hardest part to find. With careful assessment, there's every chance it could become a rolling restoration rather than another donor.

The Silver Shadow still has us intrigued, too. From photos it looked remarkably promising. Then we caught sight of its underside while it sat high on the transporter, and optimism gave way to caution. Whether it can be saved remains to be seen, but it deserves a closer look before anybody reaches for the spanners.

The remaining cars have rather less convincing cases to make.

One Bentley S1 looks as though it's wandered out of a post-apocalyptic film set, held together by optimism and rope. The other has already been stripped back to little more than a shell while still wearing the iconic Bentley grille. The Bentley T1 has spent long enough battling rust that nature has started joining in.

Unlike the MPW, whose future is already clear, the fate of these six is still being written. Some have simply travelled too far down another road. Years of corrosion, abandoned projects and countless missing parts have already made certain decisions for us. Others, however, have done just enough to keep our hopes alive.

That doesn't make the donor cars failures.

Quite the opposite.

Around here, dismantling isn't the end of a story. It's often how dozens of other stories continue.

It's recycling, certainly.

But it's also preservation.

Thousands of parts will eventually leave our shelves because of cars like these. Engines will run again. Hydraulic systems will be rebuilt. Interiors will find new homes. Somewhere, owners all over the world will solve problems they don't even know they have yet because one of these cars arrived here today.

Not every classic can be restored. That's the reality of preserving cars that are now fifty, sixty, sometimes seventy years old. Some become restoration projects. Others become donors. Neither role is more important than the other.

As for The Irish Six, this is only the beginning.

Over the coming weeks each car will make its way through the workshop, where we'll discover exactly what years of storage have hidden beneath the surface. Some may surprise us. Others may confirm what we already suspect.

As the last of the six rolled into position, the transporter wasn't quite finished.

The ramps folded down one final time, and our MPW climbed aboard for the journey back across the Irish Sea.

For a brief moment, all seven cars shared the same patch of tarmac.

One was leaving to begin the restoration it deserved.

Six others had only just arrived to discover what their futures might hold.

Now, somewhere in Ireland, a rare Mulliner Park Ward is beginning a new life.

Here in Leicestershire, six more stories are only just getting started.

 

SOLD