The Bentley 8 Litre was the last of the great Bentley motor cars created by W.O. Bentley. Powered by a 7,983 cc SOHC inline six cylinder engine with four valves per cylinder and dual ignition this was a masterpiece of 1930’s automotive engineering.
Fast Facts
- The Bentley 8 Litre was the last great Bentley and featured technical sophistication without over complication.
- At a time when the fashion in luxury cars was for more cylinders the Bentley 8 Litre stayed with a smooth six cylinder engine with SOHC and dual ignition.
- The Bentley 8 Litre made its debut at the London Olympia Motor Show of October 1930 – which was the year the Great Depression bit hard and drove many businesses into receivership.
- Bentley Motors was one of those companies driven out of business and the company was purchased by Rolls-Royce.
- A beautiful example of a 1932 Bentley 8 Litre is for sale on Bring a Trailer at time of publication.
The 8 Litre Bentley was one of the most sensibly technically sophisticated automobiles of the 1930’s. When I say sensibly technically sophisticated I’m not confusing technical sophistication with complexity, because W.O. Bentley avoided the complexity of more cylinders, and instead stayed with six cylinders and a single overhead camshaft, but four valves per cylinder driven by his patented “three-throw drive” system of triple coupling rods.
An inline six cylinder is one of the smoothest engines one could hope for, and in avoiding the fashion of the time for more cylinders – eight, twelve, and even sixteen – W.O. Bentley engineered simplicity and thus reliability without sacrificing smooth and abundant power and torque.
The 7,983 cc (487.2 cu. in.) engine was equipped with dual spark plug ignition, with one set activated by an ignition coil and distributor and the second set by magneto, this being done in the interests of reliability: there were of course no mobile phones in the 1930’s and so a forced stop was not at all a welcome event.
W.O. Bentley designed this engine with cylinder block and head in one cast iron unit. Underneath this was an Elektron magnesium alloy crankcase, and alloy pistons.
Bentley had established their reputation for performance and reliability by campaigning successfully at the 24 Hours Le Mans motor race, and by word of mouth recommendations from satisfied owners.
This 8 Litre engine sent its power and torque to the rear wheels by a single plate dry clutch and new design four speed manual gearbox. In the interests of ensuring a vibration free driving experience the engine and the gearbox each featured three rubber mountings onto the chassis – Bentley were direct competitors to Rolls-Royce and were determined to out do them in every way, including smoothness and quietness.
The 8 Litre was conventional in terms of the vehicle’s overall design and construction. Its foundation was a ladder chassis designed to lower the car’s center of gravity. The ladder chassis was used in part because buyers would tend to purchase a rolling chassis from Bentley and have the car fitted with bespoke coachwork by one of the recommended coachbuilders, such as H.J. Mulliner.
The affluent clientele who were in the market for a prestige automobile were used to buying bespoke, custom made things – one’s suit came from the Saville Row tailors, one’s sporting gun was a bespoke custom made item from one of the great gunmakers such as Purdey or Holland & Holland. The things these people purchased tended to be personalized works of art: and Bentley motor cars were in truth personalized works of automotive art.
The suspension system for the Bentley 8 Litre was 1930’s conventional with semi-elliptic leaf springs, dampers (shock absorbers) for the rear being hydraulic and friction type at the front. Steering was by worm and sector and provision was made for castor adjustment.
Brakes were drums all around with the advantage of Dewandre vacuum-servo-assist. Front brakes were Bentley-Perrott 15.7 in. with 15.7 in. drums at the rear.
The Bentley 8 Litre made its debut at the London Olympia Motor Show of October 1930, which unfortunately was the beginning of the Great Depression that followed on from the 1929 Wall Street Crash. This mean’t that the market for luxury cars shrank suddenly and dramatically, and companies all over the world faced collapse.
The development of the Bentley 8 Litre had cost Bentley dearly and it was one of the contributing factors in the company entering into financial difficulties as they were hard pressed to sell these expensive luxury cars.
Bentley Motors went into receivership and the company was snapped up by its rival, Rolls-Royce, who proceeded to end production of the 8 Litre in late 1931 and ceased to provide spare parts support for it. Rolls-Royce kept the Bentley marque going however, but the “Bentley” cars made after the take-over were badge engineered Rolls-Royce.
A 1932 Bentley 8 Litre For Sale
Only 100 Bentley 8 Litre automobiles were made and one of the last 25 made is for sale on Bring a Trailer at time of publication.
This car was fitted with four door coachwork by H.J. Mulliner and was built on the 156 inch chassis. It was delivered to its first owner in June 1932 by London dealer Jack Barclay. That first owner being a resident of the town of Bromley, Kent, just outside London. The car is Chassis YX5110.
The car was purchased by another Bromley resident in 1940 at the beginning of the Second World War and was put into storage during the war years and the austerity years that followed it.
In the 1960’s Chassis YX5110 was stripped down with a view to fully restoring it but this planned restoration was not completed and the car was sold on as a project car in 1970 to Formula 1 team owner and car collector Peter Agg.
Peter Agg’s company was Lambretta Concessionaires and, having the expert staff available to do the work on the car he commissioned the work to be undertaken. It took four years and the car made its public appearances beginning in 1974 in the “Thoroughbred Classic Cars” publication followed by being featured in the 1976 book “Upper Crust” by John Bolster.
The car made regular appearances at Bentley Driver’s Club meetings in Britain and was purchased by a club member in 1979. He kept the car for twenty-eight years during which time it was displayed at the 2004 Techno Classica Essen in a large transparent case.
In 2010 the car was purchased by a German owner who had it re-painted in its current green and black with red pinstripes: a color scheme that suits it beautifully.
The current owner is located in Greenville, Rhode Island and the car has a clean Montana title.
You will find the sale page on Bring a Trailer with more information and pictures if you click here.
Picture Credits: All pictures courtesy Bring a Trailer.
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
