Information on all Vintage Bentley cars ever produced  
HISTORY BY CHASSIS REFERENCE MATERIALS RESTORATION INFO UNIDENTIFIED BENTLEYS
Home Articles Bentley Clinic Galleries Newsletter Subscribe to Newsletter Advertisements Links  Submit Info Contact
 
 
1923 Bentley 3 Litre
Chassis No. 164
Engine No. 315
Registration No. MF 1632
 
 

From 'Photo Discoveries' February 2009 (Page 43)
"Wayne Merlon from the parliamentary office of New South Wales sent in photographs of cars owned by the father (a Mr Lupp) of a friend's brother-in-law during WWII. The two Three Litre Bentleys (below) bearing the same registration number MF 1632 would appear to be different cars, rather than a change of body. While we await a definitive answer from the Bentley Drivers' Club, does anyone else have a comment? And, if MF 1632 is still around, what body does it have now?"

 
 
Click on thumbnail for larger view

Is this the real #164?

Or is this the real #164?
 
 

BDC responds March 2009 issue):

"We have to admit to being a little mystified over the identity of the touring Three Litre in Photo Discoveries (February). The photograph is one we have never previously seen and we cannot identify the car. We can only assume it was a temporary transfer of the number plate.

The Cricklewood chassis records show that MF 1632 was the registration number given to chassis 164 delivered in August, 1923, to one H S Hewitt of the Automotive Engineering Company. It was also used for experimental work by Bentlevs. Hewitt was an engineer who had a good deal of input into the design of vintage Bcntleys, as well as the manufacture of various parts including BHB pistons. Chassis 164 was the third long chassis (10ft l0in) car and was fitted with a Freestone and Webb fabric saloon body, a contemporary photograph of which shows it to be almost certainly identical to the upper photograph on page 43.

The Freestone and Webb car was kept by Hewitt until at least 1931. The Cricklewood service record for chassis 164 stops in 1938, although there were two further owners pre-WWII. Chassis 164 appears to have retained its Freestone and Webb body until 1946. when it was acquired, still registered MF 1632. by one Maurice Brierley. who described it as 'very rough'. He removed said body, cut the chassis to 9ft 6in and installed a 4.5-litre engine. The weight of the car, with a new two-seater competition body, was reduced to 22cwt in 1948, when, after a brief competition career, Brierley wrapped it round a tree at a VSCC Prescott meeting, writing the car off. The frame is thought to have been scrapped, although this has never been confirmed. Other bits may have been built into other Bentleys."

- Alan Bodfish Administrator, BDC Archive

 
     
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
     
 
Click on thumbnail for larger view

1948
 
     
 

"Michael Bowler was at the 1948 Prescott meeting and sent in the attached photograph of the Bentley after Brierley's crash, just beyond what used to be known as Allard's Gap. Given the damage to the cockpit area, Brierley was lucky to have been thrown out before the car hit the tree. He lived to tell the tale." - Ed, The Automobile

 
     
     
  Source: A vintage Bentley enthusiast
Posted: May 06, 2009
 
     
Tim Houlding responds
 

HEWITT'S BENTLEY
"I was fascinated to see the two photographs of the 1923 Three Litre Bentley, registration MF 1632, published in Photo Discoveries in the February issue, and then Alan Bodfish's interesting letter published in March.

The two former pictures are of the same car. The lower precedes the upper one chronologically. This lower photograph is indeed of chassis 164 bearing its original touring coachwork, but some time after manufacture as it is fitted with front-wheel brakes. As Alan Bodfish points out, Mr Hewitt, the original owner, was a very close associate of W O Bentley: the H of Bentley's BHB pistons is the very same Hewitt.

Such a close working relationship would have resulted in Hewitt's Bentley being kept up to date with works modifications. In effect, MF 1632 would have been something of an experimental car. The braked front axle would have been fitted as soon as available and there is evidence from our own archive, as well as from the works service record, that the car was filled with an experimental one-piece sump, probably early in 1926, and that the rocker-gear was up-rated to the separate rocker-box design, perhaps in 1927. We do not know why and when the coachwork was changed to the Freestone and Webb saloon. Family needs, perhaps? The coachbuildcr of the first touring body is unknown, but I would suggest Harrison.

There is no complete story of the experimental vintage Bentleys. John Fasal, that most eminent of Royce historians, has mooted to me twice the idea of the writing a history of the Royce and Bentley experimental cars. George Klepp and I owned Exp 5 for some years, a car built as a spares car for the 1928, 1929 and 1930 Le Mans. I still have the mortal remains of Exp 6, about which we have only scant information, but which was an experimental 4 1/2 Litre, build up by the works on a re-conditioned, crash-damaged frame and probably used for testing the new self-wrapping brake design, as well as engine innovations.

The point here is that Bentley kept his experimental work very close to his chest. The experimental cars were subject to great secrecy and only driven by an inner circle of engineers totally loyal to W O.

I am sure the Brierley brothers had no idea whatever that MF 1632 had contained, in its day, several closely-guarded secrets. To them, it would have been a cheap old flivver to be made into a racing special. Funny old days." - Tim Houlding.

 
     
     
  Source: 'Photo Discoveries' April 2009
Posted: May 21, 2009
 
     
1940s
Click on thumbnail for larger view

Reg. No. MF 1632
is second from left

Cruising back down the hill course
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
     
  Source: Old Classic Car, UK - Made available by Robin Gurdon
Posted: May 07, 2015
 
     
EARLIEST RECORD OF HISTORICAL FACTS & INFORMATION
 
Chassis No. 164
Engine No. 315
Registration No. MF 1632
Date of Delivery: Aug 1923
Type of Body: Saloon
Coachbuilder: No info
Type of Car: L
   
First Owner: HEWITT H S
 
     
  More Info: Driven by Hewitt.

Michael Hay, in his book Bentley: The Vintage Years, 1997, states: "Freestone and Webb fabric saloon. Cut to 9'6" WB1946. 2 seater C box 4½ engine HF 3193 ex HF 3189 22 cwt all up (1948 with new 2 seater). Crashed at Prescott. Eng HF 3193 in RE 1397 - ?chassis scrapped."
 
     
  Posted: Mar 01, 2007  
     
 
 
 
Submit more information on this car
 
 
 
BACK
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sep 30, 2020 - Info and photograph received from Simon Hunt for Chassis No. RL3439
Sep 30, 2020 - Info and photographs received from Dick Clay for Chassis No. 147
Sep 29, 2020 - Info and photographs received from Ernst Jan Krudop for his Chassis No. AX1651
Sep 28, 2020 - Info and photographs received from Lars Hedborg for his Chassis No. KL3590
Sep 25, 2020 - Info and photograph added for Registration No. XV 3207
Sep 24, 2020 - Info and photograph added for Registration No. YM 7165
[More]

October 2019 issue
Subscribe :: Archives
CLUB TALK
Upcoming Vintage Bentley Events
FOR SALE/WANTED
C A R S
For Sale    Wanted
P A R T S
For Sale    Wanted
L I T E R A T U R E
For Sale    Wanted
 
 
 
 
 
 

About | Privacy Policy | Copyright & Disclaimer | Sitemap | Contact

Founder: Robert McLellan ~ Editor: Mona Nath

 
 
VintageBentleys.org :: info@vintagebentleys.org

Copyright © 2006-2020