By Jay Hirsch
The 1952 Bentley Continental is a four-passenger car with a body built by the English Coach House H J Mulliner. The aerodynamic styling “was wind tested by Rolls Royce.” Before going any further, it should be noted that the Bentley has a very strong resemblance to the 1941–1949 Cadillac sedanette or fastback. Similar sedanette-styled bodies were made by Buick, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Pontiac.
The R-Type is powered by an inline-6-cyl 280 cid/4.6-liter engine with an output of 150 hp at 4,500 rpm. Top speed was 118 mph, which made the Continental the “fastest four-passenger production car in the world” at the time. The car sold for $12,000 in 1952.
The story behind this particular Continental began in the early 1970s when a young Eric Weissberg, a musician who played guitar and banjo, walked into the Vintage Car Store in Nyack, N.Y., which was owned by Ed Jurist.
Ed was a WWII pilot who flew the B-17 flying fortress. In March 1944 his plane was shot down over Germany and Ed became a POW. Upon Ed’s return to the U.S. after the war, he became a writer. But his fascination with cars was embedded deep inside him. In 1962 he had the opportunity to be part of the Vintage Car Store, and the rest is history.
This R-Type was sold new in Paris. In the late 1950s it was sold to an American who brought it back to New York. By 1970 the then-second owner “wanted something more modern to ride around in on weekends.” The right hand drive was also “a pain for paying tolls.”
By this time Ed Jurist was well known as a reputable dealer in the small vintage car world, with Rolls Royce being a specialty. Neither the owner nor Ed thought the R-Type would be desirable, given the right-hand-drive, the awkward placement of the four-speed manual floor shifter next to the drover’s door, and the bucket seats that were just that, buckets covered in smooth leather with little padding underneath. The paint was also “getting tired looking.” The asking price was $7,500.
One day Eric Weissberg stopped into the Vintage Car Store on his way home to Woodstock, N.Y. Eric was a studio musician for several years and also did arrangements for other musicians and bands.
Eric saw the R-type and was attracted to its fastback styling. But the Bentley grill was what captivated him. Eric knew very little about the car itself. Eric was young, had a house, was making more than decent money, so a week later he came back to see Ed, and a deal was made.
Eric did not mind the right drive, as he knew he would only be driving in the Woodstock/Hudson Valley area and never in winter.
About two or three years after buying the Continental, Eric decided the car indeed needed a paint job. Eric always thought of the car as a novelty item, and it was not worth that much in the 1970s. He brought the car to an Earl Scheib paint and body shop and got their premium paint job for $75.00. The “only catch” was the choice of colors was limited: One of those colors is the coppery-brown seen on the car now. The car has never been painted since. Earl Scheib was an auto-body business with franchise’s in 23 states. It was the Maaco of its day.
Eric is the third owner of the R-Type and has owned it longer than anyone, almost 47 years. Eric has owned other collectible cars over the years, but the R-Type was the first vintage car he bought, and the memory of that day in Nyack when he met Ed Jurist and saw the Bentley is etched into his brain. Aside from the Earl Scheib paint job the Bentley is all original. The motor and transmission have never needed any major work — only the normal maintenance of changing oil, filters, spark plugs, etc. As for the leather, when Eric was growing up “every kid used Neatsfoot Oil on their baseball glove to keep the leather soft and preserve the leather. It was good enough for my Rawlings glove, and it has been great for my Bentley.”
Have you seen the 1973 movie “Deliverance”? Eric Weissberg is the banjo player you hear in the “Dueling Banjos” scene. Among the recording artists and bands Eric has recorded with are Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel and The Talking Heads.
The Bentley Continental R-Type was made from 1952 until 1955, with 203 being right-hand drive and 43 being left-hand drive. It rode on 6.50 x 16 tires on a wheelbase of 120 inches and a length of 206.5 inches. In 1954 an automatic transmission was offered, it being the Cadillac HydraMatic
As for that $7,500 asking price in 1970-1971 — a 1953 Bentley Continental R-type recently sold for $1,347.000. •
