Page 32 - Bentley Mark VI & R-Type

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DALTON WATSON FINE BOOKS
Park Ward & Co. Ltd
473 High Road, Willesden, London NW.10
The coachbuilding house of Park Ward was formed in 1919 when two
employees of Sizaire Berwick left that firm’s employ and formed a
partnership to build coachwork on chassis of other makes. A factory
was established in High Road, Willesden, with elegant showrooms at
40 Conduit Street, London W.1, very near the better-known offices and
showroom of Rolls-Royce Ltd. Park Ward built their first body for a
© DALTON WATSON FINE BOOKS
UPPER: On the post-war Bentley
chassis Park Ward & Co. specialised
in two-door coachwork. This artist’s
impression shows their drophead
coupé styling, design number 552,
that appeared on the R-Type chassis.
LEFT: The same styling was made in
smaller numbers in a fixed-head, or
two-door saloon form as seen here
in the courtyard at the coachbuilder’s
High Road, Willesden works.
OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP: This re-
touched photograph from one of the
Bentley Mark VI catalogues shows Park
Ward’s design number 99 drophead
coupé which was also offered on the
Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn chassis.
Rolls-Royce within a year and by the end of the ‘twenties nearly all their
work was on Rolls-Royce chassis. Advanced engineering techniques in
metalworking developed by Park Ward in the ‘thirties resulted in Patent
No. 470698 being obtained in 1935 to cover their all-steel body framework.
This made for great strength and rigidity and immunity from dry-rot,
plus it helped Park Ward produce bodies of standardised designs in
comparatively large numbers. In the late-1930s, standardised saloon and
limousine bodies were offered on the Wraith chassis. In the case of the
Phantom III, the Wraith, and later the post-war chassis, all with the added
210
© DALTON WATSON FINE BOO
OPPOSITE PAGE, LOWER: This
Park Ward advertisement from the
September 24, 1952 edition of The
Motor showcased the same design.
ALTON WATSOBentley Mark VI & R-Type