VSCC Silverstone - Saturday 13th April 2019

This car is presently owned by Richard Bradford.

Jun 28, 2016: Sold

Found on Stanley Mann Racing website on Jun 28, 2016

"1924 Bentley 3 Litre Speed Model
This genuine 3 Litre Red Label Speed model Bentley has returned to us here at the Fruit Farm after an absence of thirty years.

Looking now pretty much now as she did then but with the benefit of some splendidly executed mechanical work 20 years ago which has stood her in extremely good stead. Subsequently she has been looked after fastidiously and regularly by her custodian for the last 13 years.

With a continuous ownership history revealing some wonderful details such as a minor mishap by Bentley Motors in 1928 and a body change in the 1930s, the history continues through the forties and fifties until being purchased for the sum of £148.00 complete by an impecunious but enthusiastic student in the early 1960s who later became a professor of some eminence. Typically of the period our man was ably assisted by fellow Bentley enthusiasts who were then and continued to be stalwarts of the Bentley Driver’s Club. She carries the engine numbered 1048 and has done so for most of her life. The comprehensive history file contains numerous photographs of this vintage Bentley in competition and lots of correspondence between owners and is worthy of a good read.

In summary a well-cared for and well documented Speed model and taking into account her history and condition is very acceptably priced."

Powderham Castle, July 2009

1925 Bentley 3 Litre in The Best of British: The History of Jaguar, Documentary, 2005

1924 Bentley 3 Litre. Reg. No.: BB 9430. Chassis No.: 744. Engine No.: 1048, 4 cylinders, 3000 c.c. Coachwork: Tourer by Vanden Plas.

The first Bentley engine was heard in the garage of a mews off Baker Street in 1919, and it was not long before the first cars were under construction in Oxgate Lane, Cricklewood. The first production model was the 3 litre and some 1,624 chassis left the works before production ceased in 1929. W.O. Bentley was quick to realise the benefits of keen involvement in motor sport, both for development of more refined machinery and on a commercial basis to obtain maximum publicity. The Bentley team effort in the 1922 T.T. and the Duff / Clement win at Le Mans in 1924 built the foundation of a reputation which has become a legend.

This 1924 example was first fitted with a 2-seater body by Storey, but received an original 1924 Vanden Plas 4-seater body in 1938. It is in very good original condition throughout, and is of course finished in British Racing Green with a black interior.

This car was used in the film 'They Came From Beyond Space', 1967.

This photograph is from an advertisement by David Scott Moncheff in "Thoroughbred & Classic Cars" magazine, October 1980.

Text in advt reads: 1925 W.O. Bentley 3 Litre Short Chassis Red Label Speed model with fabric replica coachwork. Restored to a high standard and ready for concours. £22,500