Click to enlarge.
Bentley Motors welcomed last Friday 60 examples of the “Derby era” to Crewe to celebrate the 90th birthday of the Bentley 3½ Litre, commonly called the “Derby Bentley.” An owners club dedicated to the Derby Bentley drove a convoy of cars to Bentley’s so-called Dream Factory in Crewe. Bentley said today that more than 100 guests toured the campus, saw Bentley’s newly refurbished Heritage Collection and visited the Mulliner workshops. (AutoInformed: Bentley Mulliner to Build 12 New 1929-30 Le Mans Winners; World’s First Electric Bentleys to be Built by Lunaz)
Bentley’s own Derby Bentley,* a 1934 3½ Litre with coachwork by Thrupp & Maberley, was on display for the guests in the newly opened Lineage area, where the eight pre-war cars of the Heritage Collection are on display. On Saturday evening, one of the jewels of Bentley’s fleet – the one-of-one 1939 MkV Corniche, recently re-registered and returned to the road for the first time in 84 years – was the guest of honor at a black tie dinner to formally mark 90 years of Derby Bentleys.
The Derby Bentleys that came to Cheshire had assorted coachwork styles, representing a significant proportion of the more than 40 independent coach-builders that provided custom bodywork for the model in the 1930s. These included chassis B1 SAE (one of two original launch cars) produced in September 1933) and chassis 3-B-50 (the only survivor of four experimental six-cylinder saloons from 1939.
The Derby era saw Bentley producing up to 500 cars per year, with the 3½ Litre (~120 horsepower) followed by the 4¼ Litre and together representing the first Bentleys produced under Rolls Royce ownership. This period of Bentley history also produced some one-offs – the streamlined ‘Embiricos’ coupe of 1938 and the recently restored 1939 MkV Corniche. These two cars together helped shape the design of the sculpted Bentleys of the 1950s. They also foreshadowed the original and current Continental GTs.
The Derbys were more refined and nimbler than their Cricklewood predecessors yet cost up to £400 less, and so reached a wider clientele than any previous Bentley. The 3½ Litre was endorsed by celebrities, including racing drivers Sir Malcolm Campbell and Archie Frazer-Nash.
Bentley said that the 3½ Litre Bentley needed some developmental changes during production, including an additional chassis cross-member in front, and harmonic-stabilizer bumper to improve ride and handling. In 1936 a larger engine was offered as an alternative to the regular 3½ Litre. For an extra £50 owners could opt for quarter of an inch (6.35 mm) wider cylinder bores and a few cosmetic additions. This model became the 4 ¼ Litre and by 1939 production numbers had passed those of the earlier car.
*Bentley’s Derby is chassis number B53AE (registration number AXB3), a four-door sports saloon delivered by dealer Jack Barclay to its first owner, Alex Mitchell of Tulliagan Castle in Scotland, early in 1934. He’s known to have kept the car until the war, However, records have been lost for the next owners, but at some time it made it across the Atlantic. It was discovered in a barn in East Otis, Massachusetts in 1968. Charles H. Wolfe of Lancaster, Philadelphia was recorded as the next owner in 1987 and he gave the car to Bentley Motors in 2004.
Milestones – 90th Birthday of Derby Bentleys
Click to enlarge.
Bentley Motors welcomed last Friday 60 examples of the “Derby era” to Crewe to celebrate the 90th birthday of the Bentley 3½ Litre, commonly called the “Derby Bentley.” An owners club dedicated to the Derby Bentley drove a convoy of cars to Bentley’s so-called Dream Factory in Crewe. Bentley said today that more than 100 guests toured the campus, saw Bentley’s newly refurbished Heritage Collection and visited the Mulliner workshops. (AutoInformed: Bentley Mulliner to Build 12 New 1929-30 Le Mans Winners; World’s First Electric Bentleys to be Built by Lunaz)
Bentley’s own Derby Bentley,* a 1934 3½ Litre with coachwork by Thrupp & Maberley, was on display for the guests in the newly opened Lineage area, where the eight pre-war cars of the Heritage Collection are on display. On Saturday evening, one of the jewels of Bentley’s fleet – the one-of-one 1939 MkV Corniche, recently re-registered and returned to the road for the first time in 84 years – was the guest of honor at a black tie dinner to formally mark 90 years of Derby Bentleys.
The Derby Bentleys that came to Cheshire had assorted coachwork styles, representing a significant proportion of the more than 40 independent coach-builders that provided custom bodywork for the model in the 1930s. These included chassis B1 SAE (one of two original launch cars) produced in September 1933) and chassis 3-B-50 (the only survivor of four experimental six-cylinder saloons from 1939.
The Derby era saw Bentley producing up to 500 cars per year, with the 3½ Litre (~120 horsepower) followed by the 4¼ Litre and together representing the first Bentleys produced under Rolls Royce ownership. This period of Bentley history also produced some one-offs – the streamlined ‘Embiricos’ coupe of 1938 and the recently restored 1939 MkV Corniche. These two cars together helped shape the design of the sculpted Bentleys of the 1950s. They also foreshadowed the original and current Continental GTs.
The Derbys were more refined and nimbler than their Cricklewood predecessors yet cost up to £400 less, and so reached a wider clientele than any previous Bentley. The 3½ Litre was endorsed by celebrities, including racing drivers Sir Malcolm Campbell and Archie Frazer-Nash.
Bentley said that the 3½ Litre Bentley needed some developmental changes during production, including an additional chassis cross-member in front, and harmonic-stabilizer bumper to improve ride and handling. In 1936 a larger engine was offered as an alternative to the regular 3½ Litre. For an extra £50 owners could opt for quarter of an inch (6.35 mm) wider cylinder bores and a few cosmetic additions. This model became the 4 ¼ Litre and by 1939 production numbers had passed those of the earlier car.
*Bentley’s Derby is chassis number B53AE (registration number AXB3), a four-door sports saloon delivered by dealer Jack Barclay to its first owner, Alex Mitchell of Tulliagan Castle in Scotland, early in 1934. He’s known to have kept the car until the war, However, records have been lost for the next owners, but at some time it made it across the Atlantic. It was discovered in a barn in East Otis, Massachusetts in 1968. Charles H. Wolfe of Lancaster, Philadelphia was recorded as the next owner in 1987 and he gave the car to Bentley Motors in 2004.