1939 Bentley 4 1/4-Litre - $249,000 - Orange Village, OH - Shortly after the armistice in 1919, WO Bentley, together with a group including Frank Burgess (formerly of Humber) and Harry Varley (formerly of Vauxhall), set about designing a high quality sporting tourer, for production under the name Bentley.
The first Bentley Motors Ltd was founded in 1919, and between then and 1931, WO created the motor cars which became a legend. In 1928 Woolf Barnato became a fully-fledged part of the group of rich amateur drivers known as the Bentley Boys. Bentley racing proved highly successful in the late 1920's including victories at Brookland and in 1929 the team's best ever results were at LeMans, with Bentleys placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, & 4th. In 1931 Bentley was acquired by Rolls-Royce and thereafter the company focused mainly on passenger car production.
From the Rolls-Royce factory in Derby, the second model to bear the Bentley label was the Bentley 4¼ Litre. The 4¼ Litre used exactly the same chassis, gear box and back axle ratios that were used in the 3½ Litre that preceded it. The MR and MX chassis series introduced in 1939 were the final development of this model. Features such as overdrive top gear as standard and improved white metal bearings made the car ideal, then and now, for unstressed long distance continental touring. A total of 1,241 Derby 4¼ Litre Bentley's were built between March 1936 and May 1939.
The original body on this car was a Park Ward Saloon. The car was rebodied during the 1970’s and now has a Dick Brockman Open Touring body.