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May
22, 2014: Sold for $1,150,000
RM Auctions: To
be auctioned on Thursday, January
16, 2014 - Arizona
Thursday, January
16, 2014: High Bid of $1,150,000
1929 Bentley 4½-Litre
Tourer by Vanden Pla
Chassis no. NX3467
Engine no. NX3470
Registration no. UU 6075
$1,800,000 - $2,200,000
100 bhp, 4,398 cc single overhead-camshaft,
four-cylinder engine with twin SU
HVG5 carburetors, four-speed manual
transmission with a single-plate clutch,
semi-elliptic front and rear suspension,
and four-wheel mechanical drum brakes.
Wheelbase: 120.5 in.
- Perhaps the most original 4½-Litre
in existence
- Original engine, gearbox, bodywork,
and Connolly leather interior
- Formerly owned by Arthur Eldredge
and Ed Sutherland
- Known history documented by Bentley
historian Clare Hay
- One of the very best available
The car’s chassis was completed
on March 16, 1929, and then it was
sent to Vanden Plas to receive its
first and only coachbuilt body, a
standard sports four-seater numbered
1571. It was ordered by Moir &
Straker, a new dealership founded
by Bertie Kensington Moir, a well-known
racing driver and former Service Department
manager for Bentley, and Reggis Straker.
The body was covered in black Triplex
fabric, number 53453, with upholstery
in Connolly brown Levant grain leather.
Extras included a Homa dash lamp,
a Smiths windscreen wiper, and an
eight-day clock. The bodied Bentley
was returned to the factory at Cricklewood
for a final test, and it was completed
on May 9, 1929. It was then sold to
its original owner, H. Reid Hardie
of Glasgow, who registered it in London
as UU 6075.
The Bentley was acquired in July 1935
by H. Marston Riley of Birmingham.
In 1948, it traveled to the United
States with a new owner, C.P. Moore,
and has remained stateside with just
a handful of loving caretakers. It
was purchased in 1954 by T.S. Barb,
who, in 1962, sold it to Arthur Eldredge,
of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who
was a noted architect and car enthusiast.
Mr. Eldredge kept and drove his beloved
Bentley until his passing 33 years
later, after which it was acquired
by Ed Sutherland of Melvin Village,
New Hampshire. Its current owner,
who acquired the car a decade ago
from Mr. Sutherland, is a noted Rolls-Royce
and Bentley enthusiast who has exhibited
cars for many years at the Pebble
Beach Concours d’Elegance.
A report prepared by renowned Bentley
specialist Clare Hay, whose thorough
written evaluation, which is on file,
notes the addition of a Jaeger tachometer.
An additional tail lamp has also been
fitted. The chassis frame and engine
are both original, as is the desirable
close-ratio C gearbox, which is amongst
the most desirable of the several
types of gearboxes offered on these
cars. It should also be noted that
many of the smaller numbered components
can be easily observed as original,
including the steering box, which
is also numbered NX3467, and even
the twin SU carburetors, which are
numbered to match the intake manifold!
Patina is an overused word, but it
is entirely appropriate for NX3467.
Hay’s report notes that the paint
on the chassis and fenders, as well
as the interior upholstery, is entirely
original. The body fabric is known
to have been replaced once, and it
was believed that this was done in
1932, when more extensive work was
carried out; this is a supposition
that is strongly supported by the
age of the material and the quality
of the workmanship. The paint is beautifully
weathered, but it still holds a shine,
and the leather within is as broken-in
and comfortable as a favorite baseball
glove.
This wonderful Bentley has been properly
maintained by enthusiasts literally
since "day one" of its life,
and it wears the loving signs of a
life well-lived. Amazingly, it has
participated in nearly every single
North American Vintage Bentley Meet
since the club’s inception in
1982. As presented, it looks as if
it is waiting to be boarded and taken
for a long jaunt across the continent
to Le Mans…or to Indianapolis.
This proven, reliable tour car is
ready for many more miles, and it
has been reported by the owner to
be 100% "on the button"
and ready to be enjoyed.
An honest car like NX3467 will be
most enthusiastically accepted by
such venerable clubs as the Bentley
Owners’ Club, the Rolls-Royce
Owners’ Club, the Classic Car
Club of America, and globally in the
world’s finest concours events.
Rarely found is a W.O. Bentley that
is so original, that is in such remarkable
condition cosmetically and mechanically,
and that is so thoroughly documented.
In the words of an RM specialist,
"it has no drama and no stories."
NX3467 is arguably one of the finest
unrestored examples of the fabric-bodied
Vanden Plas Tourers to exist today.
It is a genuine example that stands
tall in a sea of pretenders, and it
is a wonderful, pure, and irreplaceable
original for the Bentley Boy who insists
upon the best.
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