At Hampton Court’s Concours d’Elegance Motor Show in London, September 2017

1928 3-Litre Vintage Bentley chassis no. BL1603 at BDC Silverstone 2016

The following information was received from Simon Bellamy:

"Chassis no: BL1603
Engine no: BL1606
Registration no: YE 8467

Do you own this car: Yes
Year of purchase: 2009

Information you wish to submit:
Supplied by motor dealer Bertram Alvares of Berkeley St. & Strattons St. Mayfair London W1 to C.C.Brill in March 1927.

1932 - J. Withers & Co. Brighton Sussex
1948 - M.L.Hutchings Newbury Berkshire
1955 - W.J.G.K.Viney Tadworth Surrey
1959 - Archibald Johnson Garforth Leeds
1971 - B.Harris III (USA)
1987 - Frank Bonati (USA)
1997 - Dennis Nash Wind Gap PA (USA)
2009 - Liz & Simon Bellamy Woodside Park Windsor Forest Berkshire

Bentley Motors records state "29.08.1939 Following parts supplied to messrs Burridges, Chippenham (Accident) 1 reconditioned chassis frame and front tie bar."

The reconditioned chassis frame supplied was RL3432, from a 1929 4 1/2. This chassis was owned by Oswald Moseley and was in an accident in May 1931 following which it required a new frame and axle. (M.Hay Bentley: The Vintage Years, 1997).

The Park-Bernet Galleries auction catalogue of 27.05.1968 shows the car with two side mounted spares, which are now mounted to the rear."

- Simon Bellamy, Mar 6, 2016

You state: "The reconditioned chassis frame supplied was RL3432, from a 1929 4 1/2". Would this mean that the car is now chassis RL3432, since chassis BL1603 no longer exists? Is it that the new frame on the so called chassis RL3432 is a reproduction frame...?

For your information, the BDC records of 2003 and 2006 associated with Reg. No GU 2511 (for which the original chassis is RL3432) list RL3432 as the chassis.

- VintageBentleys.org, Mar 10, 2016

"I think the course of events must have been as follows.

In May 1931 RL3432 was in an accident and had a new frame and front axle. This information comes from Michael Hay in his book Bentley: The Vintage Years and he would have found this in the Bentley Motors records held by the Bentley Drivers Club archive. The new frame would have been supplied by Bentley motors and so is an original, period replacement, which is now part of the cars history, but will carry a different chassis number. (IT IS NOT A REPRODUCTION) Presumably the damaged frame was taken back and repaired by Bentley Motors.

In August 1939 BL1603 had an accident and according to the Bentley Motors records (of which we have a copy) a reconditioned chassis frame and front tie bar was supplied by them to messrs Burridges of Chippenham. The chassis number on our car is RL3432 so must have been the one repaired by Bentley Motors following the accident in 1931.

It is not known what happened to chassis BL1603, but if the damage was not too severe it may well have been repaired and recycled in the same way as RL3432. As far as I am concerned our car is still BL1603 and has simply been repaired after an accident.

I hope this makes thing clear."

- Simon Bellamy, Mar 10, 2016

8th International Vintage Bentley Tour of South Africa, October 2015

1927 Bentley 3 litre Harrington

Windsor Castle Concours of Elegance, August 2012

Please observe below, close-up photographs of the Registration plates for this car. The front plate displays 'YE 8647' and the rear plate displays 'YE 8467'. The numbers have been accidentally transposed. The correct Reg. No. for this car is 'YE 8467'

1927 Bentley 3-Litre Tourer; Coachwork By Harrington; Chassis No. BL 1603; Engine No. BL 1606

CCCA Senior Award Winner; Multiple Concours Class Winner; Full CCCA Classic; The Only Known Surviving Harrington-Bodied Vintage Bentley; Authentic Chassis-Up Restoration On Correct Original Car

"This lovely Harrington-bodied Bentley was delivered in March 1927 and is the only one known to survive from the five originally built. It is a matching-numbers example in totally restored condition and has been the recipient of multiple national club and concours awards.

Harrington Coachworks of Hove enjoyed one of the longest tenures in the creation of fine British coachbuilding, beginning in 1897 at the dawn of the automobile age until its final run of Sunbeam Harrington Le Mans coupes in 1966. Over the years, Harrington bodies graced the likes of Minerva, Bugatti, Lancia and other prestigious marques.

This handsome motorcar was treated to a number of period upgrades, including a vacuum servo unit in 1932 followed by the addition of Lucas P100 headlamps and twin SU “sloper” carburetors in 1934. It was given a full body-off professional restoration by a previous owner in 1988 and had a complete engine, clutch and brake rebuild in 2000 by the present consignor. Highly regarded restorer Steve Babinsky performed the latter work at his shop in New Jersey. In preparation for use in long-distance touring events, a few practical modifications such as turn signals, electric fuel pump and coil ignition were added to BL 1603. A full ownership history of the car is known and available to the new owner along with scrapbooks, photos, documents, ribbons, magazine articles and vintage Bentley books.

Besides show and concours events, the car has successfully completed Bentley Drivers Club tours to the Le Mans 24 Hours race, a BDC European Tour covering seven nations, the North American Vintage Bentley Meet, Classic Car Club tours and Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club tours. This is a highly attractive tour and show-ready example of the famous Three-Litre Bentley that is ready to give the new owner many more years of the unique sort of driving experience only a vintage W.O. Bentley can provide."

$250,000 - $275,000 Without Reserve
Pebble Beach Auctions, Aug 15-16, 2009

Photographs show Engine No. BL1606, which is the original engine for this car.

"The iconic 'first' Bentley was built in a workshop near Baker Street, London, in 1920 and was powered by a 65 horsepower four-cylinder 16-valve engine. The car is the first to carry Bentley's hallmark radiator casing and flying 'B' insignia. The car was designed by the company founder Walter Owen Bentley, otherwise known as 'WO'.

This classic Bentley convertible, fitted with a Harrington body was delivered to Mr. C.C. Brill in March 1927 and is thought to be the only surviving Harrington-bodied Bentley 3-liter in existence today. The car was acquired by its current owners, Dennis and Ann-Marie Nash, in 1997, and they have since driven more than 12,000 miles in Europe and the U.S.A. It is thought to have been driven more than 155,000 miles."

Year: 1927
Make: Bentley
Model: 3-Litre Tourer
Engine: Location: Front
Drive Type: Rear Wheel
Production Years for Series: 1921 - 1929
Body Designer: Harrington
Weight: 3950 lbs | 1791.7 kg

1927 Bentley 3-Litre Tourer by Harrington owned by Dennis and Ann Marie Nash.

Photograph was taken at a Boys' Club of New York charity event in New York City in 2000.

1927 Bentley Four Passenger Tourer — 3 Litre

W.O. Bentley built his first car in 1919 having only enough money to make two experimental models. He did not deliver a car to a customer until 1921, the first models were three litre cars. These automobiles were not unique in design but were noteworthy for their strength and reliability. The three litre was a four cylinder water cooled design using a single overhead camshaft with twin carburetors and twin magneto ignition. This particular Bentley is a six wheel (two sidemounted spares) fairly standard open Tourer with top and side curtains. It is a right hand drive with one driving lamp mounted on the left front dumb iron. The car is in good condition with a four-speed transmission and good body and interior.