The Barnato-Hassan Special comes up for sale.
He has owned it since 1952, but after a relationship spanning nearly 48 years Keith Schellenberg has put the Barnato-Hassan Special up for sale.

One of two Bentley specials designed by Walter Hassan, this one which was designed for Woolf Barnato, the man who bankrolled Bentley for several years, was seen for possibly the last time in the hands of its owner Keith Schellenberg, opening the 1999 Brooklands Society/VSCC Dudley Gahagan Memorial Speed Trials.

The 6½ litre engine was suitably breathed upon and in 1934 the Barnato-Hassan special was run in the BRDC 500 Miles race but failed to finish.

A new 8 litre engine was fitted for 1935 and in the hands of barrister Oliver Bertram the car won the Easter Short handicap race from scratch at 134.97 mph.  It was re-handicapped which put it at a disadvantage but it was clearly comparable in speed to John Cobb's Napier Railton.

This inspired Bertram to have a crack at the outer circuit lap record and on the 5th August 1935 he became the first man to take the lap time under 70 seconds.

His time was 69.85 seconds, 0.83 seconds better than Cobb's previous best at a speed of 142.60 mph, but his record was to stand for only two months, Cobb having the last word on 7th October when in the Napier Railton, he achieved a never since beaten 143.44 mph.

The car's ultimate race speed around Brooklands was 143.11 mph, only 0.33 seconds above Cobb's record.

After the war the car was rebodied as a two seater. The new radiator cowl design was ugly in the same sense as that of such cars as the Daimler SP250, subsequently earning it the unfortunate nickname of  'The Whale'. In this form it competed in VSCC events with some success until Keith Schellenberg acquired it, later rebodying it in its single seater form and campaigning it extensively over many years.

Last seen out at the 1997 Goodwood Festival of  Speed alongside the Pacey-Hassan Special, it went from there to the Brooklands Museum where it has since been a welcome exhibit adjacent to its old sparring partner the Napier Railton.

For more news watch this space.

Technical Specifications.
Date:  1929-1934
Engine:  Bentley 6 cylinder, 7,963 cc ohc.
Carburation:  four S.U. carburettors
Gearbox:  4 speed Bentley.