1928 Bentley 4 1/2 Litre

---

The Sports Car!

The Bentley 4½ Litre is a British sports car by Bentley Motors. Walter Owen (W.O.) Bentley replaced the Bentley 3 Litre with a more powerful car by increasing its engine displacement to 4.4 litres (270 cubic inches). A racing variant was known as the Blower Bentley.

Bentley buyers used their cars for personal transport and arranged for their new chassis to be fitted with various body styles, mostly saloons or tourers. However, the publicity brought by their competition programme was invaluable for marketing Bentley's cars. 

At the time, noted car manufacturers such as Bugatti and Lorraine-Dietrich

focused on designing cars to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a popular automotive endurance course established only a few years earlier. A victory in this competition quickly elevated any car maker's reputation.

A total of 720 4½ Litre cars were produced between 1927 and 1931, including 55 cars with a supercharged engine popularly known as the Blower Bentley. A 4½ Litre Bentley won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1928. Though the supercharged 4½ Litre Bentley's competitive performance was not outstanding, it set several speed records, most famously the Bentley Blower No. 1 Monoposto in 1932 at Brookland's with a recorded speed of 222.03 km/h (138 mph).

The 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race is a 24-hour race around the Circuit de la Sarthe. The inaugural race was held 26–27 May 1923, and attracted many drivers, mostly French. There were two foreign competitors in the first race, Frank Clement and Canadian John Duff, the latter winning the 1924 competition in his personal car, a Bentley 3 Litre.

"Made with precision and the finest material," and with recent success, the luxurious Bentley cars attracted attention. After two years without success, Bentley convened a group of wealthy British men, "united by their love of insouciance, elegant tailoring, and a need for speed," to renew Bentley's success. Both drivers and mechanics, these men, later nicknamed the "Bentley Boys", drove Bentley automobiles to victory in several races between 1927 and 1931, including four consecutive wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and forged the brand's reputation. 

It was within this context that, in 1927, Bentley developed the Bentley 4½ Litre. Two cylinders were removed from the 6½ Litre model, reducing the displacement to 4.4 litres. At the time, the 3 Litre and the 6½ Litre were already available, but the 3 Litre was an outdated, under-powered model and the 6½ Litre's image was tarnished by poor tyre performance. 

Although the Bentley 4½ Litre was heavy, weighing 1,625 kg (3,583 lb), and spacious, with a length of 4,380 mm (172 in) and a wheelbase of 3,302 mm (130.0 in), it remained well-balanced and steered nimbly. The manual transmission, however, required skill, as its four gears were unsynchronised. 

Syndicate Car

Not many Bentleys 4 ½ Litre are offered for sale in Australia and we have the opportunity to acquire a very desirable car. 

Just 662 were manufactured by the original Bentley company and it is thought that around 450 of these have survived. 

Everyone is now a highly sought-after classic as the legend of the Bentley Boys and their exploits only gets stronger. 

Sold new in England and originally fitted with a Gurney Nutting Weymann-style fabric saloon, by WWII it had been converted into an ambulance, according to notable books. It was evidently neglected in the post-War years, and, as a project, it was acquired in the early 1980s by Australia’s then pre-eminent Bentley restorer and imported here.

A meticulous restoration ensued, and a new owner found, who remarkably kept the car until his recent passing. 

Painted in a stunning British Racing Green with matching green leather upholstery, the Bentley 4 ½ Litre generates attraction wherever it goes.

These cars are in demand over the world, especially one in this condition.

I believe it can only go up in value, and for many, the 4½ Litre is to automobiles what the Spitfire is to aircraft. 

Before the car is purchased the car will be independently inspected by a recognized Bentley model expert.