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Index |
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Farmer reaps vintage crop |
By Michael Ware |
Published
in "Classic & Sports Car" magazine,
July 2007 issue |
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The author was surprised to find a
vintage 3 litre Bentley in the barn of a remote farm
in USA. It's been there 30 years, now covered in a deep
layer of dust and a covering of pigeon droppings. It
is thought to be a 1925 model and to have had a Weymann-type
saloon body. The present owner intends to fit a reproduction
of the Vanden Plas open tourer body. Continued...
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Click
on the page below to read complete article |
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Click
Here |
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First published
in "Classic & Sports Car", magazine, July
2007 issue www.classicandsportscar.com |
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Posted here on July
11, 2007 |
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Farmer
reaps vintage crop |
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The term 'barn
find' is regularly used to describe the discoveries
that are revealed in the pages of Lost & found,
but it is not often these days that you come across
a genuine example.
I recently had a real surprise when a good friend took
me to a remote farm in die USA and introduced me to
the hard-working farmer. We went over to an old barn
that was built on a mound with a large ditch around
it, rather like a dry moat. The wooden bridge to the
barn door had long gone, effectively isolating its contents.
When the door was opened there appeared the familiar
radiator of a vintage 3 Litre Bentley, nestling behind
a couple of packing cases and an upturned table, all
laced with a deep layer of dust and a covering of pigeon
droppings.
Once inside, it became clear that the car was not carrying
an original body but it is not known when it was rebodied,
or by whom. The farmer purchased the 3 Litre from the
widow of the previous owner in Scotland during the '50s.
Little paperwork came with the car, though it is thought
that the body might have originally been by HM Bentley,
brother of the great WO. The brothers were in partnership
for several years before HM resigned to concentrate
on his car sales business and later moved into coachbuilding.
The 3 Litre is a long-chassis version that has been
shortened. There is a one-piece bonnet from the radiator
to the windscreen and a four-seater tourer body with
the spare wheel mounted at the rear. The dashboard and
instruments are not original and the front axle comes
from a different model of Bentley. Underneath this body,
which doesn't look up to HM Bentley standard, is an
original car with the right engine, with twin Sloper
carbs, plus correct radiator and front wings. It is
thought to be a 1925 model and to have originally had
a Weymann-type saloon body. It is the farmer's intention
to fit a reproduction of the Vanden Plas open tourer
body. I wonder if he will get round to it - it has been
in the barn for 30 years already!
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Sep 30, 2020 - Info and photograph received from Simon Hunt for Chassis No. RL3439 |
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Sep 30, 2020 - Info and photographs received from Dick Clay for Chassis No. 147 |
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Sep 29, 2020 - Info and photographs received from Ernst Jan Krudop for his Chassis No. AX1651 |
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Sep 28, 2020 - Info and photographs received from Lars Hedborg
for his Chassis No. KL3590 |
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Sep 25, 2020 - Info and photograph added for Registration No. XV 3207 |
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Sep 24, 2020 - Info and photograph added for Registration No. YM 7165 |
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[More] |
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CLUB TALK
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