Photographs were taken at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, July 2019

A Bentley that cuts a dash — but where's the sat-nav?
Article by Marcus Dunk

Forget the sat-nav and all those high-tech, brightly lit instruments. If you're looking for a car with true dashboard derring-do, then this specially modified 1924 Bentley 3/8 litre sports roadster is the vehicle for you.

With more knobs, dials and buttons per square inch than your average aircraft, this classic car requires a driver with a sure hand, fast reflexes, and an ability to monitor a terrifying array of instruments all at the same time — and that's just to get the car started. But as the dashboard proves, this is no ordinary vintage car. With a top speed of 170 miles per hour, this customised Bentley could give many modern cars a run for their money.

Bought in 1928, by an Australian marine engineer names John 'Jumbo' Goddard, for the princely sum of £350 (about £15,000 today), the car was altered by Goddard in 1954 when he replaced the original three-litre engine with a Bentley eight-litre motor he had bought second-hand after the war. The car was also given a new sporty body and hydraulic brakes — a necessity considering the astonishing speed the vehicle was now capable of.

Its specifications are unique for a car of its type: 550bhp, eight-litre inline six-cylinder engine with dual SU carburettors and twin Garrett turbochargers, heavy-duty Bentley live axels and four wheel hydraulic brakes.

It was one of the 98 vintage, rare and valuable cars auctioned by RM Auctions this week at a special London sale, including a 1955 Ford Thunderbird formerly owned by John Travolta, and the 1963 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Sydre driven by Cameron Diaz in the Charlie's Angels movies.

The unique Bentley attracted bids of £475,000, but failed to sell.

Any new owner should take heed, however. With such a complicated process of ignition, it takes close to five minutes to start the car, and at high speeds the front has a terrifying tendency to take off. So fast and furious is this motor that Jumbo Goddard's wife once warned him: "If you drive that thing again, I'm going to divorce you."

1924 Bentley 3/8L Sports Roadster
Est. 550bhp, eight-litre inline six-cylinder engine with dual SU carburetters and twin Garrett turbochargers, four-speed Bentley manual transmission, heavy duty Bentley 8-Litre live axles, four-wheel hydraulic brakes. Wheelbase: 117" (2,972mm).

Bentley Motors has long recruited eccentric enthusiasts to the brand, far more so than virtually any other automaker. This is hardly a shortcoming, but rather a compliment to the enthusiastic following Bentley has enjoyed since the early "Bentley Boys" era of the heady 1920s.

The late John "Jumbo" Goddard perhaps epitomizes the ingenuity uniquely possessed by Bentley enthusiasts better than anyone else, with the notable exception of W.O. Bentley himself. Goddard admired the factory's ability to produce high-performance machines with the kind of British soul and passion that few automakers have possessed since.

A devotee of the storied marque as early as the 1920s, the Australian was immediately attracted to the Bentley 3-Litre. For its time, the 3-Litre was a respected high performance machine that featured an 80 horsepower four-cylinder, 16 valve, fixed-head motor with a single overhead camshaft and a single carburetter. Jumbo Goddard found all of this performance highly intriguing and, in 1928 as a young apprentice marine engineer living in London, he purchased a used 1924 3-Litre for the princely sum of 350 pounds.

His newly acquired Bentley 3-Litre featured an open sports tourer body mounted on a lengthy 130 inch wheelbase and, of course, Bentley's three-litre four-cylinder powerplant under the bonnet. When Goddard bought the Bentley, chassis number 458, it still had a year of factory warranty coverage. Goddard was attracted to the girth and power of these early Bentleys, produced long before the carmaker was acquired by Rolls-Royce. A 3-Litre was of course also the entry point to the marque that Ettore Bugatti once quipped built "the fastest lorries in the world."

It did not take long for the Australian performance enthusiast to search for more power from his massive automobile. First, he brought the car to the Bentley factory to be fitted with a pair of SU carburetters and a new inlet manifold. Although he saw a slight increase in performance, his appetite was whetted for more. A Cozette vane-type supercharger with boost of 4.5 PSI was his next addition. The supercharger was not enough to make his 3-Litre a true "Blower Bentley", of course, but it kept him satisfied for the time being.

Goddard stored his Bentley during the War and, shortly after bringing it out of storage in 1946, he made a discovery in a salvage yard that would forever change not only the fate of his car, but would bring his standing from zealous enthusiast to Bentley performance legend. While piecing through a yard riddled with wartime castoffs, he discovered a military ambulance with a delightful surprise under its hood: a Bentley 8-Litre motor. After parting with 100 and investing a little bit of work, he was the proud owner of the very rare and massive inline six-cylinder engine.

Just 100 Bentley 8-Litres were produced before the automaker was acquired by Rolls-Royce in the difficult Depression market of 1931. Just how one of the rare and rather inefficient eight-litre straight-six motors came to power an ambulance is somewhat of a mystery, although there are several reports of other 8-Litres used in this curious manner.

Goddard held on to this motor for eight years before deciding to surprise the Bentley community by shoehorning it into his 1924 3-Litre. This was no easy task, of course, so Goddard sought the expertise of L.G. McKenzie, the well-known Rolls-Royce and Bentley specialist who had made a name for himself by installing 6½-litre motors in 4-Litre chassis prior to the war. Goddard's machine is believed to be one of two heavily modified 8-Litre projects McKenzie took on.

The 8-Litre Bentley was a remarkable vehicle conceived in an era of automotive excess. Curtailed by a slowing global market that eventually resulted in the sale of Bentley to Rolls-Royce, the 8-Litre was to have taken on the world's best: the Bugatti Royale and the Rolls-Royce Phantom II. With its thundering straight-six under the bonnet, the 8-Litre was capable of speeds in excess of 160 kilometres per hour, even with heavy bodywork. Although its top speed was certainly very impressive (besting a Phantom II at speed was easy work for an 8-Litre), its all-around torque and near-silent operation made it immensely driveable from just its top gears. British motoring publication Autocar commented, in 1930, that the 8-Litre could do its work on the one [top] gear.

To handle the power, the 8-Litre featured a substantially strengthened frame that was shortened to 117 inches. Goddard's 3-Litre frame was therefore boxed by being fused together with another 3-Litre frame. The new motor was overhauled and installed in the heavy duty chassis with a pair of 8-Litre axles and telescopic dampers. Panelcraft created a new, unique and extremely sporty body for the car and Goddard had the foresight to include hydraulic brakes, a rather important addition in such a powerful car.

It was with this new performance machine that Goddard would go on to drive the Flying Kilometer at Antwerp, Belgium in 1962. With an overall mean speed of 219.5 kilometres per hour and a best one-way sprint of 222 kilometres per hour, the massive Bentley was certainly a formidable performer. As would be expected, Goddard, ever the eccentric Bentley collector and automotive enthusiast, was unsatisfied with above-average speeds. In fact, such a daring attempt at Ghent proved to be the start of a much larger and even more ambitious project.

Goddard managed to befriend Wilton Parker, then the vice president of the Garrett Corporation, makers of the vaunted Garrett Exhaust Turbo-Charger for diesel engines. A relatively new application in gasoline-powered vehicles in the 1960s, Goddard's Bentley represented something of an engineering challenge for Garrett and Don McKenzie, L.G. McKenzie's son, who had taken over the project.

Construction of the twin-turbocharged Goddard Bentley spanned three continents; the car remained in London, Goddard in Australia and most of the technical development was handled by Garrett in Los Angeles. Upon completion, the twin exhaust turbochargers and the tremendous work done to make them effective in the gargantuan engine produced a tremendous 550 horsepower at 4,000 rpm. The turbo boost remains at a pre-set 12 pounds, and the Bentley produces an astonishing 200 horsepower to the wheels at just 2,000 rpm, barely above the 1,500 rpm idle speed.

Upon viewing Goddard's final product shortly before his passing in 1971, W.O. Bentley is reported to have said, "You know, this is just the course of development that would have taken place if only we had stayed in business." To say that Jumbo Goddard was of the same state of mind as the Bentley Boys is, clearly, an understatement.

Not surprisingly, Goddard returned to Ghent in the hopes of breaking his old speeds and arrived at the Flying Kilometer once more in 1972. He equipped the car with Dunlop 6.5 x 18 inch racing tyres in front and Firestone 7.5 x 20 inch tyres in back, which managed to give the car a uniquely low stance, even if the choice in tires was intended more for stability at speed than for appearance. Retaining the D-type four-speed manual transmission and Borg and Beck clutch from the 8-Litre ambulance, the massaged 550 horsepower motor gave the gearbox quite a workout, so it took a bit of effort to get the right oil for the job. Likewise, the huge engine ran considerably hotter than it did during its war service, so a pair of scoops were built into the left side of the bonnet and a pair of Kenlowe fans were fitted as well. The Bentley was painted racing green and to a most casual observer, it would have looked merely like a standard Bentley of the era. Yet up close, the custom elements were immediately obvious to anyone familiar with the marque.

The twin-turbocharged Bentley, which looked little like it did in 1924 when it was a mere 40 horsepower Bentley 3-Litre, smashed through the existing record and recorded an astounding 254.6 kilometres per hour. In fact, this record remained unbroken for many years to come. The fact that this record was accomplished by what started life as a 1924 3-Litre is all the more impressive.

Goddard continued to enjoy the car as he grew older, and remained an especially active member of the international Bentley community, particularly in Australia. He passed away in 1983 and the car remained with his widow until the late 1990s. It was then recorded with the BDC until 2005, owned in the UK. One year later it was sold to Germany by Stanley Mann.

John 'Jumbo' Goddard died in 1983 and the car remained with his widow until the late 1990s. It was then recorded with the BDC until 2005, owned in the UK. In 2006, after a stint at the Donington Park museum, it was sold to Germany by Stanley Mann.

With approximately 550 horsepower, the ex-Jumbo Goddard 1924 Bentley 3/8-Litre on offer is an exceedingly unique vehicle that truly represents the spirit invested in Bentley vehicles by the company's respected founder, W.O. Bentley. It remains in much the same condition as when Goddard completed his project in the mid-1970s, featuring the 8-Litre ambulance motor, the custom-boxed frame, the Panelcraft two-seat body and the black leather interior.

Given that the vehicle was part of Goddard's extensive collection, it should come as no surprise that it was meticulously maintained and enthusiastically enjoyed whenever possible. The Bentley has been enjoyed at Brooklands recently and remains well-suited for road and track use alike.

The body shows some light wear, as is to be expected given the vehicle's use, but the racing green paint presents very well and the body panels are straight and purposeful. With a wheelbase stretching well over nine feet in length, the Bentley has been a welcome and crowd-drawing participant at numerous show events.

A dashboard replete with numerous instruments is highlighted by a pair of massive dials for the speedometer and the tachometer. In many cars, the 240 kilometre per hour speedometer, which shows numbered increments of 30 miles or 50 kilometres per hour, would be quite optimistic. Thanks to Goddard's imagination and ability, the eight-litre motor is capable of such triple-digit speeds on a closed course. As presented, the car also retains its massive dual exhaust turbochargers designed for specifically for this application, and remaining fully functional.

The brainchild of one of the most quintessentially eccentric Bentley enthusiasts to date, this 1924 Bentley 3/8-Litre is unlike anything else in the world. To imply that it represents the rare opportunity to acquire one of the most unique, well-engineered automobiles of its era is far from an overstatement. Rather, this automobile represents an international effort to continue the spirit of Bentley's illustrious founder in a manner that would certainly have been met with approval and admiration from all of the original Bentley Boys.

1924 Bentley 3/8L Sports Roadster
This remarkable Bentley was acquired as a 3-Litre in 1928 by noted Bentley aficionado John "Jumbo" Goddard. It remained in his ownership for over sixty years and was continually modified until 1972 when, fitted with an 8-litre 500-horsepower Garrett-turbocharged engine, it recorded a tremendous 158 mph over the flying kilometer at Ghent — at that time the highest speed ever registered by a Bentley.

"Built and owned for over 50 years by one of the best liked Bentley Boys; Jumbo Goddard, gentleman eccentric with engineering excellence running through his veins.

John Goddard bought this car when she was but 4 years old in 1928 and was still enjoying her in 1986. He decided that a 3 litre wasn't quick enough and over the next 58 years progressively improved her performance. With his enthusiasm and mechanical knowledge we have here a Vintage Bentley capable of fantastic speed and performance.

It is very difficult to explain earth shattering performance but let the fingers do the talking as I try to type this. Around 550 bhp with enough torque to make you feel your head's coming off under acceleration. Top speed on a measured mile of 160 mph and she was still accelerating.

Remember that although there are some vintage race events she would not be accepted, there are a huge amount were she would be accepted and because of the world interest in this car you would be amazed who would give entry room to this Vintage Bentley."

"John Goddard's Bentley at The Donington Collection, Donington Park, Derby 1978"

"These photographs were taken at Donnington Museum in England in August 1977."

This "bolide" originally started life as a 1924 9 ft. 9 1/2 in. wheelbase 3-litre, registered HT 9029, and purchased by her present owner in 1928, with one year of the company's five-year guarantee then yet to run.

First experimenting with a Cozette blower, her speed was increased to 95 mph. Then in 1929 a 6 1/2-litre engine was acquired and fitted, with some rearrangement of the chassis frame, but the extra weight (now up to 2 tons) offset any advantage of the 6 cylinder engine's greater power, with no increase in maximum speed.

After the war Mr. Goddard obtained an 8-litre engine, and this was handed over to the then High Priest of Bentleys, the late L. C. McKenzie, and in this rebuilt guise she achieved 138 mph at Antwerp in 1962.

However John Goddard was still not satisfied, and twin Exhaust Turbo-Chargers, manufactured by the Sumett Corporation Inc. of California, were added to form its present means of induction.

These latest modifications were carried out by Donald McKenzie (son of L. C.) and his partner Douglas Guppy, who have now boosted the power given to 500 hp at 4,000 rpm with the turbos rotating at 70,000 revs.

In this form, this the as yet fastest known Bentley in the world, recorded 158.20 mph for the Flying Kilo at Ghent in 1972 and in so doing exceeded 160 mph. Fair progress in the same ownership for 45 years.