A RARE 1954 Bentley R-Type Continental Fastback, described as a ‘barn find' restoration project has sold at auction for almost £750,000.

The car went under the hammer at the Barons' sale at Sandown Park near London and fetched almost double its estimate of between £200,000 and £400,000.

It was the highest price Barons had ever achieved for a car and took the sale total to beyond £1 million.

The R-Type, chassis number BC52C, was commissioned in 1954 by the Welsh racing driver R D Weatherall and was originally painted in his racing colour, Royal Purple.

It still bears the registration number RDW 536.

A subsequent owner, a doctor from Yorkshire, had the car re-sprayed in white, the colour it retains to this day.

It was sold for £739,212 to a British buyer and when restored Barons says the Bentley - which has not been driven for 15 years - could be worth over £1,000,000.

Barons' director Tony Cavell said: "This was an absolutely fantastic result. A ‘lost' car always attracts collectors' attention, and when it's such a rare, iconic and valuable machine, that interest can lead to a frenetic bidding battle."

Other results achieved at the sale included a 1934 Rolls-Royce 20/25, which drove past top estimate to sell for just under £41,000 and a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III, which sold for £23,500.