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1929 Bentley 4½ Litre |
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Original 1929 Numbers
Chassis No. FB3304
Engine No. FB3304
Registration No. EC 8504
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This car - updated
Chassis No. FB3304
Engine No. FB3304
Registration No. EC 8504
(Updated with information from owner Graham Brierley. - May 2018) |
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April 2016 |
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"I have just noticed that you
have down the bodywork as H J Mulliner where it should be the other one, a
Mulliner of Northampton." |
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Source: Graham Brierley (Owner)
Updated: Apr 13, 2016
Posted: Apr 11, 2016 |
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2013 |
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This car was purchased by Graham Brierley in 2013. |
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Source:
Graham Brierley (Owner)
Posted: May 24, 2018 |
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November
2007 |
Offered
for sale by Stanley Mann Racing |
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Click
on thumbnail for larger view |
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1929 Bentley 4½
Litre Mulliner Tourer
Reg. No. EC 8504. Chassis No. FB3304.
Engine No. FB3304. Coachwork: Arthur
Mulliner four-seater Touring Body.
Colour: Dark green, black fabric,
green leather upholstery and carpets.
Engine; four-cylinder in line 4398
c.c. bore and stroke 100mm x 140mm,
C.R. 5.3:1, 110 b.h.p. at 3,500 r.p.m.
Four tulip-shaped valves per cylinder,
single overhead camshaft, five-bearing
crankshaft. Twin sparking plugs per
cylinder with twin M.L. magnetos.
Two S.U. carburettors. Gearbox; four
gears and reverse D type box right-hand
gate change. Chassis; 10ft. 10in.
channel section pressed steel. Suspension;
semi-elliptic leaf springs with Bentley
and Draper shock absorbers. Wheels;
centre-lock Rudge Whitworth wire spoke
5.25 x 21 tyres. Dimensions; overall
chassis length 14ft. 3 1/2in. Wheelbase
10ft. 10in., track 4ft 8in. Right-hand
drive.
By 1926 the 3 litre Bentley was losing
its competitive edge and although
the 6½ litre was selling well,
the Bentley enthusiast was looking
for an improved big four-cylinder
car. W.O. Bentley set about developing
such a model using where possible
existing 3 litre and 6½ litre components.
The first series of 4½ litres wee
launched in late 1927 following the
success of the prototype car at Le
Mans, when it broke the lap record
prior to the White House Corner disaster.
These early cars used the 10ft. 10in.
3-litre chassis and the engine was
a larger version of the 3-litre using
6½-litre con. rods. The second
series incorporated a new 4½-litre
style radiator with lamp and trunion
brackets which had a wider and bluffer
profile than the previous hock bottle-shaped
3-litre. Eloquent road tests by the
motor press of the day established
the new 4½-litre as a very special
Bentley and with its outright victory
in the 1928 Le Mans 24 Hours race
and subsequent Brooklands competition
successes soon established itself
as the worthy successor to the 3-litre.
To many Bentley enthusiasts the big
4-cylinder 4½-litre with its familiar
burbling exhaust, long-legged gait
and whine of the straight-cut gears
symbolises the very bast of W.O. Bentley
creations. A standard Vanden Plas
tourer was capable of a genuine 90
m.p.h. but if you ordered the 'Le
Mans' camshafts and alternative axle
ratios well over 100 m.p.h. was possible.
During the four years of production
of the 4½ received many details
changes, the most significant being
a change from a cone clutch to plate
type, fitting of a servo to the front
brakes and vertical SU carburetters
in place of the early 'Slopers'. Like
all Bentleys the 4½-litre was intended
to be luxury saloon car as much as
a sporting touring car.
This superb example of a 1928 4½-litre
on offer today was purchased with
that concept very much in mind. Chassis
no. FB3304 was ordered by a Mr. F.C.
Scott in late 1928 with three different
styles, a Saloon, a Torpedo and a
four-seater Tourer with central cross
car and unusual small boot which is
the body currently fitted. This body
was built by Arthur Mulliner of Northampton,
and one of only seven built by that
coachbuilder on a 4½-litre Bentley.
The present owner purchased the car
in the late 1970s, the previous owner
having had it for 18 years. The car
has since had a painstaking restoration
and now is in perfect condition. The
rebuild which has taken many years
has been to restore the car back to
its original specification. The provenance
of this car is that all reference
numbers match even to the serial number
stamped inside the bonnet. All instruments
and ancillaries are original, the
exception being the fitting of a removable
electric fan, a battery condition
meter and copper wire conduits used
throughout. To list all the items
that have received restoration would
require many pages but the major items
are as follows: chassis was rebuilt
by Rubery Owen, annealed and re-riveted.
Engine was rebuilt by Hoffman and
Mountford, renewing all moving parts
such as valves, springs, seats, camshaft,
piston rings etc. The gearbox was
rebuilt with new gears, shafts and
bearings, fuel tank, shock absorbers,
brakes, exhaust system, springs etc.
all restored by Tony Townsend. All
electrics rebuilt by D.H. Day, all
instrumentation restored by Marks
of Tunbridge Wells. The bodywork has
been completely rebuilt and finished
in dark green with black fabric. The
interior has been retrimmed throughout
and seats re-upholstered in green.
An excellent hood and tonneau and
all brightwork re-nickled. The car
looks and performs as though it is
new. This magnificent 4½-litre
Bentley on offer must be one of the
best W.O. Bentleys in the world and
represents a rare opportunity to acquire
a gilt edged investment plus own one
of the world's most charismatic cars. |
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Source:
Christie's Auction of Historic Motor
Cars and Automobilia at Silverstone
Circuit, Northamptonshire, England,
catalog, Jul. 28, 1990
Posted: Dec 27, 2006 |
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1970s |
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"I was wondering if it was possible for you to pass my contact details on
to Graham Brierley, the current owner of EC 8504, please. My father was a previous
owner back in the 1970s, and I briefly was a co-owner after his death along with my
siblings. However as we were all children at the time it was not practical for us
to keep the car (which we all called Henry) and he was sold.
I would love an opportunity to catch up with Henry once again, especially as he has
been restored to the same bodywork as my father had."
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Source: Andy Capjon (Son of former owner)
Posted: May 29, 2018 |
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EARLIEST
RECORD OF HISTORICAL FACTS & INFORMATION |
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Chassis No. |
FB3304 |
Engine No. |
FB3304 |
Registration
No. |
EC 8504 |
Date of Delivery: |
Jan 1929 |
Type of Body: |
TORPEDO |
Coachbuilder: |
H J Mulliner(? Coachbuilder is mentioned as 'HJ Mulliner' in Stanley Sedgwick's All The Pre-War Bentleys as New, 1976 and Michael Hay's Bentley: The Vintage Years, 1997) |
Type of Car: |
No
info |
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First Owner: |
SCOTT F C |
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More Info:
Michael Hay, in his book Bentley:
The Vintage Years, 1997, states:
"Vanden Plas 4 seater." |
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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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