Bentley 3½ liter

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3 ½-liter fixed head coupé ( Bertelli 1935)
4 ¼-liter 4-door sports saloon 1936

The Bentley 3½ liter was a car model made by the manufacturer Bentley . It was the first new Bentley model since the company was acquired by competitor Rolls-Royce . The vehicles arose from the chassis and body superstructures offered by Bentley between 1933 and 1937 by various body construction companies ; Arnold of Manchester, for example, manufactured several bodies with aerodynamically designed rear sections, and Gurney Nutting manufactured numerous semi-open Sedanca versions. From 1936, based on the same chassis, the sister model 4 ¼ liter was offered, which completely replaced the 3 ½ liter model after 1937 and was built until 1939. The vehicles were advertised by Bentley as "the silent sports car", later they were also referred to as Derby Bentleys because of the production location at that time . The Bentley Mark V model was introduced as its successor in 1939 .

The 3½ liter was the first Bentley model that was no longer powered by a variation of the 3 liter engine with overhead camshaft ( OHC ). Instead, the engine of the Rolls-Royce 20/25 hp ( OHV valve control with side camshaft ) was used, which has been significantly revised for use in the Bentley and increased in performance. The engine was installed in an extensively tested chassis for a Rolls-Royce model with a compressor-charged 2 ¾-liter engine that was not in series production.

From 1936 the 4 ¼ liter variant was offered, in which the revised engine of the Rolls-Royce 25/30 hp was built into the 3 ½ liter chassis for an extra charge of £ 50 . Its sales quickly outstripped the sales figures of the basic model, so that it was discontinued a year later. Up to then, 1177 chassis of the Bentley 3½ liter had been produced, the 4¼ liter had been produced 1234 times until production was discontinued in 1939. Here, too, most of the chassis were clad by the established British bodywork manufacturers. The Belgian manufacturer Vesters & Neirinck , which supplied at least eleven car bodies, was one of the most important on the continent .

literature

Web links

Commons : Bentley 3½ Liter  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Bentley 4¼ Liter  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files