Rock star Ray Davies' Bentley coming up for sale

| 27 Apr 2017

A 1960 Bentley S2 that has been owned by The Kinks’ Ray Davies since 1966 and has been in storage since the early 1990s is coming up for sale.

The Bentley, which Davies has never even driven will go under the hammer at Silverstone Auctions’ sale on 13 May.

The rock star shelled out for the Bentley on the proceeds of a raft of hits around the world, even though he couldn’t drive at the time.

He said: “I succumbed to the pressure and purchased a second hand Bentley from Hadleigh Green Garage in Barnet. My then wife drove it on my behalf because I was unable to drive at the time.

“We lived in a little semi in Muswell Hill and the neighbours were in shock and awe when they saw this huge black Bentley drive up along the narrow shingle path to the house. We subsequently went on holiday in the Bentley to Cornwall, an exotic spot in England which was our family outing with my two daughters in the back with their buckets and spades.”

It was also in this very car that Sir Ray wrote the next single after the hit Lola as he explains: “While on our holiday in Mullion in Cornwall I sat in the back seat of the Bentley and wrote a follow up to Lola called Apeman on a Spanish guitar which I carried in the back.”

When Davies moved to Surrey in the 1970s he took the car with him, but its use was still limited, not least due to fans writing on it with lipstick. 

The Bentley requires some restoration work and is estimated at £25-30,000.