1931 Bentley 8-Litre Open Tourer
220 bhp, 7,983 cc single overhead-camshaft inline six-cylinder engine with four valves per cylinder, dual SU carburettors, four-speed sliding pinion manual gearbox, live front and rear axles with semi-elliptic leaf springs and friction dampers, and four-wheel drum brakes. Wheelbase: 156"

- The final Bentley designed by the marque’s founder
- One of 100 8-Litre Bentleys and 10 open tourers built
- Original coachwork by Harrison

After the First World War, in a small office on Conduit Street, W.O. Bentley began designing a new engine. He recruited F.T. Burgess from Humber and Harry Varley from Vauxhall. By September 1919, the design was complete and all the parts manufactured. Nobby Clarke, chief mechanic of one of the R.N.A.S. squadrons that had used Bentley rotary engines, was hired to assemble the first car engine. The 2,996 cc long-stroke four-cylinder engine developed maximum power at just 3,500 rpm. It was successfully run for the first time at New Street Mews at the beginning of October, and a mock-up chassis was readied for the Olympia Motor Show in London.

The car made an immediate impression, with its tall, imposing radiator and winged Bentley badge that had been designed by famed motoring artist F. Gordon Crosby. The Autocar reported, “the Bentley chassis stands alone in its class as a car designed to give that peculiar and almost perfect combination of tractability and great speed usually to be found on machines built for racing, and racing only.”

YR5076
The last car designed by W.O. Bentley, only 100 8-Litre Bentleys were built, and of those, about 78 remain in existence today. Only sixteen 8-Litres were originally built with open bodywork, comprising six Drophead coupés and 10 open tourers; only 12 of these open cars survive today with their original coachwork. The car presented here, chassis YR5076, is one of these extremely rare cars. Remarkably, YR5076 retains its original open tourer coachwork by British coachbuilder R. Harrison and Son, who were established in 1883. This incredibly handsome car has velvet green paintwork with a green leather interior and remains in beautiful condition today.

YR5076 was delivered to Mr. W.B. Henderson of Somerset, England on 3 January, 1931, and it was subsequently owned by G.R. Wilson and Lt. Col. A.J.A. Beck, before being shipped to the United States in 1953 by Leo Pavelle from New York. The car then became the property of Bill Klein, who then possessed the world’s largest collection of Bentleys. The car remained in America under the ownership of Jimmy Black, Johnnie Bassett, Ed Jurist, Wayne Brooks and then David Van Schaick, who displayed the car at Pebble Beach in 1989. YR5076 then returned to the U.K. in 1995, having been acquired by Richard Procter, with the odometer showing just 43,000 miles, which were believed to be correct. The Bentley was restored during this time, including a refinish and re-trim. Next, it was sold to William Connor II in Hong Kong. In 2006, YR5076 joined the O’Quinn Collection in the United States.

Always maintained to a very high standard and retaining its original open touring coachwork by Harrison, YR5076 represents an exceptional opportunity to own one of these elegant and exceedingly rare, high-speed touring cars. Bentley 8-Litres are rare in themselves and even more so with original open coachwork. This is certainly one of the most desirable “W.O.”s available and an ideal entry for the exciting events of the Bentley Drivers Club.

Addendum
Please note that should this vehicle remain in the UK, HMRC has verbally confirmed that this vehicle is eligible for the reduced Import Tax Rate of just of 5% collected on the full purchase price of the vehicle.

The car was sold at a price of £756,000 on October 27, 2010 as reported on the RM Auctions website.

Only one hundred 8-Litre Bentleys were built. The car presented here, chassis number YR5076, has its original open tourer coachwork by R. Harrison and Son, who were established in 1883. This incredibly handsome car has velvet green paintwork with a green leather interior and is in beautiful condition.

The 8-Litre was the last car designed by W.O. Bentley and of the hundred examples built, seventy-eight are still in existence today. Only sixteen 8-Litres were built with open bodywork, six drophead coupes and ten open tourers; only twelve of these open cars survive today with their original coachwork. YR5076 is one of these extremely rare cars.

This car was delivered to Mr. W.B. Henderson, of Somerset, England on January 3, 1931 and was subsequently owned by G.R. Wilson and Lt. Col. AJ.A. Beck before being shipped to the United States in 1953 by Leo Pavelle from New York. The earthen became the property of Bill Klein, who then had the largest collection of Bentleys in the world. The car remained in America in the ownership of Jimmy Black from Tennessee, Johnnie Bassett, Ed Jurist, Wayne Brooks and then David Van Schaick, who showed the car at Pebble Beach in 1989. YR5076 returned to the U.K. in 1995 having been sold to Richard Procter, the odometer showing just 43,000 miles, which was believed to be correct. The Bentley was restored during this time and was repainted and retrimmed. It was then sold to William Connor II in Hong Kong.

This car, chassis number, YR5076 has always been maintained to a very high standard and represents an exceptional opportunity to own one of these elegant, rare, high-speed touring cars. It is ready to be enjoyed at important events around the world.

The Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance, August 2008

The Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance at Rochester, Michigan, August 2008.

1931 Bentley 8 Litre Open Tourer by Harrison

1931 BENTLEY 8-LITRE Tourer. COACHWORK BY R. Harrison & SON, FOUR SEAT Tourer
Reg. No. Originally GP 754 (UK). Chassis No. YR 5076. Engine No. YR 5076

Engine; six cylinder in-line, 7,983 c.c. Bore and stroke 110mm. x 140mm. Compression ratio 5.5:1, 225 b.h.p. at 3,200 r.p.m. Single overhead camshaft with four valves per cylinder. Ignition ;oil and magneto with two sparking plugs per cylinder. Twin S.U. HO8 carburettors. Transmission; four-speed F type gearbox with right hand gate gear change. Single dry plate clutch. Brakes; four wheel drum servo-assisted. Chassis; Deep channel-section with tubular cross members. Suspension; semi-elliptic front and rear with rear springs outrigged. Bentley-Draper Duplex Shock Absorbers. Wheels; Rudge Whitworth centre-lock wire spoke with 21in. x 700 tyres. Dimensions; wheelbase 13ft. Track 4ft. 8in. Overall length 17ft. 9in.

Within the history of the Motor Industry there are a few select names that during their own lifetime lave become legendary, none more so than the name Bentley which, still to this day, arouses immense passion and symbolises the very best of British Craftmanship. During the short span of twelve years between 1919-1931, W. O. Bentley earned a world reputation for producing the ultimate high performance sporting motor car, that proved its reliability and speed by winning the e Mans 24-hour Endurance race five times.

The simple philosophy of Bentley was to provide luxurious high performance transport that was effortless and silent, and no better example of that was the introduction in 1930 of the magnificent Eight Litre model. Despite the shadow of a world economic recession, W. O. Bentley had been planning a replacement of the existing 6.5-litre Big Six and the Eight Litre was basically an enlarged /ersion of the 'Speed Six' model. The vast new engine with a bore of 110mm. (4.33 inches) and the same 140mm. (5.51 inches) stroke of the 6.5 litre offered two alternative Compression Ratio's of 5:1 or 5.5:1 which gave power outputs of 200 or 225 b.h.p. A new lower, deep channel, chassis frame with five tubular cross members carried the engine and new F type elektron gearbox, and additional stability was provided by mounting the rear springs outside the main chassis members. The Eight litre was primarily designed to take heavy luxurious saloon car coachwork and when tested by one of the Motoring Journals, was the first closed saloon car to lap Brooklands race circuit at over 100 m.p.h., fully laden.

"David VanSchaick's YR5076 is an impressive Harrison tourer." — From the article 'Pebble Beach 1987'