It is not every day that vintage Louis Vuitton suitcases come up for sale, particularly cases in such condition as those you see here. Buyers of these exceptional cases will receive not merely the finest in French bagages, they'll also get a very handsome (and period-appropriate) luggage carrier: a 1931 Bentley 8 Litre, one of just a hundred built. Offered by UK-based William Medcalf Vintage Bentley, the car features a dashing two-seat sports body in British Racing Green over green leather. A bespoke removable metal frame, added late in the car's history, secures the vintage Vuitton cases, which feature leather handles, spring buckles and the luggage maker's famed "unpickable" lock.Rico says that James Bond drove a four-and-a-half-liter version... (And Rico's late wife had a Vuitton suitcase just like that one, which she'd bought in Brussels, Belgium. No telling where it is now, alas.)
Bentley's flagship 8 Litre was the last model designed by company founder Walter Owen Bentley before a corporate takeover by Rolls-Royce in 1931. Bentley took the second production example for himself, in fact (the first went to Scottish music-hall star ‘Gentleman’ Jack Buchanan). The car's 8000 cc in-line six-cylinder engine produced somewhere between two hundred and two hundred and thirty horsepower, fairly monumental for the time. Buyers could opt for a twelve- or thirteen-foot wheelbase with open or closed body work and seating for two or four. The 8 Litre, said Bentley, could be put into top gear then accelerate from zero all the way to a hundred miles per hour with a full load of passengers and their luggage.
The price for these exceptional Louis Vuitton cases and the Bentley? "Around £800,000", reports the seller. In plainer terms, that's two suitcases full of cash, or approximately $1,600,000.
10 February 2016
Antique luggage, car included
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