Auto Classica, 2010

Mille Miglia 2007

Argentina Autoclassica 2004

1929 Bentley 4½ Supercharged UU44
Registration Number: UU 44; Chassis Number: HB 3416; Engine Number: RT 7000; 4 cylinders; 4398 c.c.
Coachwork: Brooklands Two-seater

One of the most interesting aspects of Vintage Bentley mystique, even apart from the cars themselves, was the range and variety of the men and women who have been associated with them. This tradition has lasted for some seven decades, and one of the most remarkable cars in today's auction unites two of the greatest of their names.

UU44 is, in its present form, the brainchild of "Rusty" Russ-Turner. Rusty was, in addition to being President of, and a great spokesman for, the Bentley Drivers Club, one of the best-known and most successful of modern-day Vintage sports car racers. In the early sixties he had the good luck to acquire the remains of one of the most celebrated supercharged Bentleys ever made.

It was Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin's Brooklands outer circuit single-seater Blower 4½, which first saw the light of day in 1929 as one of the team cars sponsored by the Hon. Dorothy Paget. Originally supplied with a Vanden Plas four-seater body, the car was fitted in the winter of 1930 with a single-seater racing body of quite remarkable grace and purpose. It was in this form, with the first production blower engine, that the car was campaigned successfully until the outbreak of World War II, and subsequently in the forties and fifties.

Russ-Turner fitted the body to an original 1929 4½ Litre chassis, and with typical thoroughness set about building a supercharged engine from spares. The unit he developed was a correct 4½ Litre unit tuned to a remarkable degree and fitted with Birkin Supercharger number 6, (Rusty characteristically gave the engine his own "R.T." chassis number) and it was in this form that he campaigned the car with great success for over twenty years. When Rusty died the car passed to another celebrated Bentley fancier, Victor Gauntlett, who continued competing in various events including a trip to LeMans in 1983 when it was timed thundering down the Mulsanne Straight at 122 m.p.h. More recently, in May 1988, the car lapped Millbrook proving ground at an average speed of 119 m.p.h., showing that it remains highly competitive, and probably the fastest Blower Bentley in the world. Truly an important piece of Bentley history.

Rusty Russ-Turner, Prescott Hill Climb, May 30, 1982

Photograph was taken for program for Silverstone Vintage Race Meeting.

ADVERTISEMENT TEXT
"1929 4½-litre Bentley, Weymann fabric saloon body. Chassis and engine rebuilt by McKenzie. Original and in thoroughly good order."

"This is a photo of 4.5 litre chassis #HB3416, Reg. UU 44 (above), taken a few months before the original Vanden Plas body was removed by Russ-Turner and replaced with the 2-seater body ex-HB3402... I think this is interesting as it is possibly the only photo of UU 44 to show the original setup in detail. Note that the this advert conflicts with the claim in Coys 1988 sale catalogue (reproduced on this page above) that Russ-Turner had campaigned the car for over 20 years before his death!" - Mike North

UU 44 negotiated the 1961 Firle Hill Climb with the owner. J.N. Barlow. According to Michael Hay, Rusty Russ-Turner replaced the Vanden Plas saloon body on UU 44, Chassis No. HB 3416 with the 2 seater off the No. 1 Birkin Blower UU 5871 when the original single-seat body was refitted to that chassis, and made up a 'bitsa' engine with blower for the rebuilt UU 44. Enter at this point R.L. Fraser Esq., who having acquired the saloon bodied 4½ Litre owned by his father in the early '30s, used this saloon body to replace the Cadogan tourer that had been fitted to that chassis in 1938. That explains why UW 2748 Chassis No. KL 3582 now looks very much like UU 44 did.

This photograph is from the time the car was owned by J.N. Barlow. The car is seen here participating in the 1961 Firle Hill Climb.