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1923 Bentley 3 Litre |
Chassis No. 296
Engine No. 298
Registration No. (Not available) / HB 747 |
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2013 |
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July
15, 2013:
Sold for £208,700 inc. premium
From the Estate
of the late Michael Sydney ('Mike')
Smith
1923 Bentley 3 litre TT Replica Two-seater
Registration no. HB 747 :: Chassis
no. 296 :: Engine no. 298
Footnotes
Bentley entered three Team Cars in
the rain-sodden 1922 Isle of Man TT
Race, one entrusted to ace engineer
Clement while 'W.O' himself drove
the second car and the third was entrusted
to Hawkes. The Coatalen Sunbeams were
the team to beat while Vauxhall provided
the only other competition in the
3-litre class. Richard Hough in his
history 'Tourist Trophy' recorded
that 'the only machines bearing any
relationship to catalogued models
were the Bentleys' and against this
backdrop it is remarkable that the
Bentleys took 2nd, 4th and 5th places,
winning the Team Award, with Clement
taking 2nd place at a speed of 52.21
mph despite the disadvantage of only
two wheel brakes. His amusing report
in The Motor magazine related that
'Two of the "Bugs' gave me no
trouble, but a third I followed for
miles and the blessed mechanic wouldn't
look round. Mile after mile I tried
to get by, and I felt round for a
heavy spanner to throw at them, but
couldn't find anything likely to hurt
enough. And there I was on half throttle
with only Chassagne in front of me.'
The 1922 TT race result could perhaps
have been so different.
Bolstered by this undoubted success,
Bentley launched and marketed the
TT Replica on the 9ft 9½ in
chassis, with slightly higher cylinder
compression than the standard cars.
Perhaps the earliest 'production'
TT Replica (no.153) was delivered
to Gordon Crosby no less in January
1923 while other notable owners included
Viscount Curzon, Lord Westmorland
and Lord Glenconner. The TT Replica
was to evolve into the legendary Speed
Model which was to establish the Bentley
name at the forefront of British motor
racing successes, with notable 3 Litre
victories at Le Mans (Duff/Clement
in 1924 and Davis/Benjafield in 1927)
while winning much acclaim at the
Brooklands circuit in England.
Our good friend and much missed former
Bonhams motoring specialist, the late
Mike Smith, had been brought up with
a spanner in his hand in a household
where the only place for the right
foot was flat on the floorboards and
where the garage invariably housed
a Bentley in some guise or other.
He campaigned AC Cobras, (he would
say in the days before posh people
called them Coebras!), with much success
at Silverstone and elsewhere and flung
Jaguars quickly up Harewood Hill and
at Castle Howard hillclimbs. When
he set is mind on acquiring a 'W.O.'
Bentley some 25 or so years ago he
was not going to settle for the ordinary
and Chassis no. 296 which he found
in Cumbria in 1991 was exactly what
he was looking for. He famously described
it as "just like a giant Airfix
but without assembly instructions
and with several pieces missing."
But here was a matching numbers car,
chassis and engine starting life together,
and he saw its potential.
Chassis no. 296 had been delivered
new to Australia in June 1923 to A.
B. Howett at The Commercial Travellers
Club at Flinders Street in Melbourne,
Victoria. It is thought that the car
originally carried Weymann-style drophead
coupe coachwork and later fixed head
coupe coachwork by Martin & King
of Melbourne, which had been removed
from Chassis no. 1135. In this guise
296 had been photographed in Australian
Motor Sports magazine in 1947 participating
in the Peninsula Car Trial, at that
time in the ownership of Alex Bryce.
His brother Bill Bryce is thought
to have later campaigned the car before
it was dismantled, in which condition
it remained for many years before
coming to the UK in the late 1980s.
Mike Smith acquired the car in 1991
and embarked on a comprehensive rebuild
which is exceptionally well documented.
Cutting no corners, Mike turned to
marque specialists Briardale Engineers,
Donald Day, the Bentley Drivers' Club
Spares Scheme and others to assist
in those parts of the restoration
where he felt their skills would contribute
to a car that would be quick and safe.
Front wheel brakes were top priority
for a car which was going to be driven
quickly and a Phoenix crankshaft was
a no brainer ? the restoration files
reveal other sensible modifications
including a fitted overdrive, to ensure
that 296 would be as bullet-proof
as possible and yet remain as original
as possible. An aluminium flywheel
made to replicate the original but
one-third of the weight, contributed
to the performance that would perplex
many a 4½ litre owner and bring
that familiar broad smile across Mike's
face at the wheel as he overtook.
The two-seater body acquired with
the car had been built by Roy Ashton
in the 1980s in the spirit of the
factory TT cars and Mike retained
that coachwork. Perhaps with a slight
rebel streak Mike chose not to livery
the car in the traditional British
Racing Green, instead selecting a
fine claret livery and hence in BDC
circles, and elsewhere where it was
well known, the car became known as
'Victoria Plum" or by close friends
as 'Vicky P'!
In this guise Mike, with ever-present
wife Carol at his side, campaigned
'Vicky P' extensively from 1992 to
2012 in BDC and VSCC events, rallies,
sprints and hillclimbs and it served
him well during the demanding times
of his Chairmanship of the Bentley
Drivers' Club Northern Region. 'Vicky
P' was always immaculately turned
out and maintained to Mike's own exacting
standards ? and so it is offered here
today.
Chassis no 296 comes with a good history
file, old tax discs, expired MOT certificates
and copious invoices for restoration
and maintenance work carried out in
the hands of its Bentley connoisseur
owner. The car is currently road licenced
with a Swansea V5C document and comes
with a copy of Bentley records briefly
recording its early years. We feel
a careful service would be advisable
following the 296's short period of
limited use, before exploiting Vicky
P's full driving potential. |
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Source:
Bonhams
Posted: Jul 16, 2013 |
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2006 |
In
England in 2006 / Owned by a BDC member |
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Source:
Unknown
Posted: Jun 03, 2011 |
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Source:
Stadioscope
Posted: Jan 13, 2007 |
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"This is chassis 296 when owned by Alex Bryce. That is him in the picture.
The body graced 1135 and was built by Martin and King." |
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Source:
Chester McKaige
Posted: Oct 14, 2015 |
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EARLIEST
RECORD OF HISTORICAL FACTS & INFORMATION |
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Chassis No. |
296 |
Engine No. |
298 |
Registration
No. |
(Australia) |
Date of Delivery: |
Jun 1923 |
Type of Body: |
No info |
Coachbuilder: |
No info |
Type of Car: |
TT |
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First Owner: |
A.B. Howett |
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More Info:
Michael Hay, in his book Bentley:
The Vintage Years, 1997, states:
"Martin & King Weymann coupe fitted
mid 1930s, reg HB 747. Body scrapped
mid 1950s. Now 2 seater, in UK." |
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Posted: Mar 01, 2007 |
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Submit
more information on this car |
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BACK |
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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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