This 1960 Bentley, Formerly Owned By Peter Sellers, Is up for Grabs

The 1960s marked a significant pivot in cultural mores, from the adherence to convention both socially and stylistically at the dawn of the decade to the age of antiestablishment fervor and personal empowerment as the period progressed. On the automotive front, that character arc can be represented by the transition from the baronial elegance of the Bentley S2 Continental to the manifestation of rebellion found in the muscle cars from Motor City.

An example of the former, a 1960 Bentley S2 Continental Drophead Coupé, will be auctioned through Bonhams|Cars on September 13. Its provenance adds to an already dramatic presence as it was formerly owned by the late actor Peter Sellers, another icon of that era. Sellers, given the accolade Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1966, was twice-nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, and starred in such cinematic classics as The Pink Panther movie franchise (beginning in 1963), the 1964 film Dr. Strangelove, 1968’s comedy The Party, and the critically acclaimed film Being There from 1979.

As for the model being presented, which debuted in 1959, Bentley’s S2 Continental built on its S1 predecessor’s legacy, predominantly through engineering improvements. Most notable was the new-at the-time 6.2-liter aluminum V-8 engine that, according to the marque itself, was “replacing a six-cylinder unit from the S1 that dated back to the 1920s.” Bentley also notes that “power steering, electrically operated ride control, and fully automatic transmission were standard.”

The car on offer, chassis No. BC119AR, was bodied by coachbuilder Park Ward and was one of 60 examples to feature a right-hand-drive configuration. According to the auction house, the vehicle’s first owner was LE Lawrie of Sussex, England, who put around 8,000 miles on it before it came under the stewardship of Sellers in 1961. Fittingly, that was the same year Sellers directed and starred in the film I Like Money.

During his ownership, Sellers had the car given quad head lamps, and made sure it was meticulously cared for by Jack Barclay of dealership Jack Barclay Ltd. “Sellers was notorious for getting bored with his cars and quickly moving them on but, unusually, kept his Bentley Continental for the best part of five years,” mentions Bonhams in its auction notes for this lot.

In 1966, the car changed hands again, this time to GS Edgson of London. Bonhams goes on to cite that, after Edgson’s ownership, the car has been part of an impressive Bentley and Rolls-Royce assemblage, “and is now in need of recommissioning or possibly more  extensive restoration.”

As for the value of this previously celebrity-owned example, Bonhams puts it at between $140,000 and $160,000. To give that price range context, in 2024, a 1962 Park Ward example of the model sold through RM Sotheby’s for €85,100 (approximately $99,700), and a year before that, another 1960 example—bodied by the same coachbuilder—fetched £196,875 (approximately $265,700) through Gooding & Company.

Regardless of the price range, the S2 Continental is a classic in every sense of the word. Within the lot description, the auction house cites the publication Autocar as stating in period that “the latest Bentley model offers a degree of safety, comfort, and performance that is beyond the experience, and perhaps even the imagination, of the majority of the world’s motorists.”

This ex-Sellers Bentley S2 Continental Drophead Coupé will cross the auction block as part of the Goodwood Revival: Collectors’ Motor Cars and Automobilia sale in England. Also included will be thorough documentation on the car, as well as numerous pieces of memorabilia related to the actor, who would have turned 100 years old today.

Click here for more photos of this 1960 Bentley S2 Continental Drophead Coupé.