Harold Radford & Co Limited of Melton Court, South Kensington

South Kensington

South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....

, London SW7, were bespoke coachbuilders. The business began in the late 1940s making relatively minor changes to bodywork for owners of new Bentleys

Bentley

Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley known as W.O. Bentley or just "W O". Bentley had been previously known for his range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later...

, amendments to suit the rural lifestyle of the landed gentry

Landed gentry

Landed gentry is a traditional British social class, consisting of land owners who could live entirely off rental income. Often they worked only in an administrative capacity looking after the management of their own lands....

. Radfords became best known for luxury versions of Minis

Mini

The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...

 from the 1960s to the latest BMW versions

MINI (BMW)

Mini is a British automotive marque owned by BMW which specialises in small cars.Mini originated as a specific vehicle, a small car originally known as the Morris Mini-Minor and the Austin Seven, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959, and developed into a brand encompassing a range of...

.

External links

• Bentley Countryman by Radford circa 1950
• Aston Martin DB5 Radford Shooting Brake
• Peter Sellers' Radford Mini auction at Christie's Los Angeles, 1999

Reference

• The Sydney Morning Herald - Apr 21, 1958 page 5 British Cars Star At New York Show
• New York Times 6 Apr 1958 LUXURY MODELS, TOO; German, French, Italian, British Cars Join US