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1937 Bentley 4 1/4 Sports-Tourer Chassis no. B128LSEngine no.…
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Sydney
Date:
6-Dec-2009
Lot No.
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Description:
1937 Bentley 4 1/4 Sports-Tourer Chassis no. B128LSEngine no. N7BA'Every control, every facet of the performance, attains a lightness, a positiveness, a softness, or a quietness ... which shows unmistakably that unusual care and though have gone to the evolving of every single item', 'The Autocar' road testing a 41/4 Litre Bentley, London, November 12th 1937.Rolls-Royce took over Bentley Motors in 1931 and production was transferred there from the North London suburb of Cricklewood. In 1933 came a new generation of Bentleys, in the form of the Rolls-Royce 20/25 based 3 1/2-litre 'Silent Sports Car'. This was followed, in 1936 by the 25/30 related 41/4 -litre model, of which this car is an example/ the six cylinder overhead valve, twin Su carburettered engine provided a top speed in excess of 90 mph, while flexibility and refinement was in the customary Rolls-Royce tradition. The gearbox, with its right hand gear change and synchromesh on third and top gears, was one of the best in the business. Brakes were rod operated and aided by the usual Rolls-Royce gearbox driven mechanical servo. Production of the 41/4 totalled 1,234 examples.This car was delivered in January 1938 to a Mr L.J. Turner, fitted with a saloon body by Thrupp & Maberley. The next known owner was flight Lieutenant J.K. Richardson, Raaf and by July 1945 it is thought that Mr Richardson was still the owner, as written in the original handbook is a note that on the 27th of that month it had travelled 24,300 Miles. Nothing more is known of the car until 7th of July 1969 when it was sold by Mr Max Forbes with the odometer reading of 57,000 Miles and with the Victorian registration number Kob-137 and for many years it resided in the James Flood Museum still with its original body.It was purchased from there by John Chiswell, the well known furniture manufacturer and a new body in classical 1930s style was commissioned from Bob Molyneaux, one of the last specialist coachbuilders operating in Australia. When completed in 1991 John Chiswell decided to sell the car, and it was acquired by the present owner, a respected and knowledgeable enthusiast of the marque.He writes:'I have owned B128LS for 17 years. During those years we have travelled to all States except W.A and Northern Territory and attended most of the National Rallies including Queensland, N.S.W. South Australia and Victoria.The car has completed successfully in show, speed and regularity. Perhaps the most important of these was Bol D'or event of 2001 where we covered 57 in the hour, of the Wakefield Park short course. The Bol D'or is an historic competition for voiturettes, being small sports cars up to 1300 cc but opened up to all capacities in 2001, where we won the over 1300 cc class. It includes a secret stop for 'repairs' which the competitor is not given until he has entered his time which throws out his carefully calculated regularity
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Unclassified