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1928 Bentley 3 Litre    
Original 1927 Numbers
Chassis No. HT1631
Engine No. HT1634
Registration No. OX 1607

  This car - updated
Chassis No.
Engine No.
Registration No. KOY 300

(Current owner / former owners, please come forward with further updates. - July 2020)
 
July 2020
Click on thumbnail for larger view
 
 

Found on NDR Ltd. website on July 28, 2020

1927 Bentley 3/4½ Litre Speed Model
Bodied by Corsica For Forrest Lycett

"I wish to record my grateful thanks in particular to Mr. Forrest Lycett for his great generosity in inviting the committee to hold all their meetings, with but very few exceptions, at his own private address since the inauguration of the club.

The above written by Bentley Drivers Club founder Keston Pelmore in 1938.

Forrest Lycett, his great friend the fabled Bentley engineer Lewis Mac McKenzie and fellow enthusiasts held the first Bentley Drivers Club Committee meeting at Lycetts home on May 1st 1936.

This was not a gathering of elderly chaps in tweeds discussing gearboxes and going about their motoring with polishing cloths. They were diehard enthusiasts who wanted to get into their Bentleys, have fun and keep the marque alive.

Forrest Lycett, a city gentleman, thought nothing of covering 1000 miles in a weekend in his 8 Litre Bentley, which was maintained with consummate skill by Mac whos competition successes are too numerous to list here.

One of nine vintage Bentleys owned by Lycett, this 3 Litre Speed model was sent to his favoured coachbuilder Corsica, a small but very talented establishment, in Corsica Street Kings Cross for the fitment of the two seater sport body which it retains to this day.

This vintage Bentley carries the characteristic Lycett coachwork fitted by them in 1936.

Such was the friendship between Lycett and Mac that post war this vintage Bentley was given to Macs son Don to carry on the tradition. Don McKenzie was to write of this event - In 1950 that great sportsman and Bentley enthusiast Mr. Forrest Lycett presented me with his magnificent Three Litre Speed Model Bentley. As I had never seen that car before I expected it to have the usual Vanden Plas fabric body. I was very pleased to find it fitted with a very pretty slab tanked Corsica body.

Don McKenzie raced this car with mixed results, alternating at various times between 3 and 4.5 Litre engine blocks, his adventures in the car are well recorded. In 1962 a new owner was found in vintage racer Jonty Williamson. Jonty enjoyed considerable success winning the BDC trophy on four occasions, as well as the VSCC Pomeroy trophy and the Seaman memorial vintage trophy whilst the Brighton Speed trials were a regular event.

In the 1970s the Bentley passed through the infamous Bunty Scott Moncrieff to German enthusiast Dieter Rohle who commissioned Elmdown Automobiles to undertake necessary mechanical rectification and subsequently to German racer Jurgen Pyritz who had the car maintained by young Bentley devotee Neil Davies.

In the hands of the current owner for fourteen years this very special vintage Bentley has been well maintained and is little changed in appearance since owned by Forrest Lycett in 1936.

Come not to this Bentley as the expectant viewer of a concours entrant or a piece of motoring history to be preserved. It is the enthusiasts vintage Bentley, in splendid condition, here to be driven, understood, appreciated and enjoyed as understood by a group of such enthusiasts on May 1st 1936."

This car is for sale as of July 28, 2020

 
     
     
  Source: NDR Ltd.
Posted: Jul 28, 2020
 
     
August 2015
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  Source: Flickr, posted by user 'merv stapleton'
Posted: Dec 09, 2015
 
     
September 1, 2012
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  Source: Flickr, posted by user 'Hugues'
Posted: Mar 05, 2015
 
     
2008
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Photograph was taken during the BDC South East Region visit to the 2008 Le Mans Classic.

 
     
     
  Source: Chris Card
Posted: Feb 23, 2009
 
     
2007
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Prescott 2007

 
     
     
  Source: Flickr, posted by user '66Alpine'
Posted: May 09, 2011
 
     
2007
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This is a paddock scene at the Vintage Sports Car Club Brooklands Sprint Meeting in 2007.

Number 122 is 3L Chassis HT1631 (DMK2) Reg KOY 300.

 
     
     
  Source: Chris Card
Posted: Jan 31, 2008
 
     
2007
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Photograph was taken at Curborough Speed Trials in 2007.

 
     
     
  Source: Unknown
Posted: Feb 08, 2008
 
     
2006
In England in 2006 / Owned by a BDC member
2006
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Photographs were taken at Surrey Oaks, Newdigate, in England in July 2006

 
     
     
  Source: Robert McLellan
Posted: Nov 25, 2006
 
     
2006
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Photograph was taken at a Vintage Sports Car Club of America meet in June 2006.

 
     
     
  Source: Flickr
Posted: Nov 20, 2007
 
     
2005-2006
 

Car was owned by Peter Wilson from 2005 to 2006 and sold to Neil Davies Restorations in June 2006.

 
     
     
  Source: Peter Wilson
Posted: Dec 10, 2007
 
     
1935-2005
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This is an interesting car that is featured in Ray Roberts' book Bentley Specials & Special Bentleys.

The original chassis number was HT1631 and it was renumbered with an attached plate by Don McKenzie as chassis DMK2, which is how it is currently listed in the Bentley Drivers Club Membership book.

(Still the original chassis but much modified by Don Mackenzie who personalised it with his own "initials" DMK2. The original chassis number is, I believe, still on the front cross member, but covered by a plate with DMK2 on it.)

It has been featured in the following issues of the "Bentley Drivers Club Review": June 1956, June 1958, October 1964, July 1968, May 1976, August 1990 and May 1994.

Brief synopsis of the car's history
3-Litre Speed Model bought by Forrest Lycett in 1934 and fitted car with a Corsica body with slab tank.

The car was laid up during WW2 and given to Don McKenzie in 1950. McKenzie rebuilt the car, making many modifications, including shortening the chassis to 9', outrigging the rear springs, and using it for competition, including an abortive attempt on 100 miles in the hour at Monza in April 1954 and also at Montlhery. The car had by this time been reregistered as KOY 300.

Other modifications included fitting hydraulic front brakes, moving the gearbox back in the frame and changes to the bodywork.

A 4.5L engine with triple carbs (now back to twin carbs) was fitted in about 1955.

The car was also owned and raced successfully by Jonty Williamson from about 1962 to 1972.

 
     
     
  Source: Chris Card
Posted: Jan 25, 2008
 
     
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This photograph is from an advertisement by David Scott-Moncrieff & Son Ltd in "Thoroughbred & Classic Cars" magazine, August 1977.

Text in ad says: Ex-Don McKenzie 3-litre Bentley, one of the half dozen most famous Bentleys in the world. We don't have to quote performance figures, lap times in the many races in which it has competed speak for themselves. £12,750

 
     
     
  Source: "Thoroughbred & Classic Cars" magazine, August 1977
Posted: Jul 22, 2008
 
     
1962-1972
 

Car was owned by Jonty Williamson from 1962 to 1972.

 
     
     
  Source: Chris Card
Posted: Jan 25, 2008
 
     
1963
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  Source: Brighton and Hove Motor Club
Posted: Oct 28, 2010
 
     
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"1928 Bentley 3 Litre, Chassis no. HT1631/DMK 2"

 
     
     
  Source: Flickr, posted by user 'McKenzie Guppy'
Posted: Apr 17, 2015
 
     
1934
 

Car was purchased by Forrest Lycett in 1934 and fitted car with a Corsica body with slab tank.

 
     
     
  Source: Chris Card
Posted: Jan 25, 2008
 
     
EARLIEST RECORD OF HISTORICAL FACTS & INFORMATION
 
Chassis No. HT1631
Engine No. HT1634
Registration No. OX 1607
Date of Delivery: Sep 1927
Type of Body: 4-seater
Coachbuilder: Vanden Plas
Type of Car: SP
   
First Owner: (PEACOCK K S)
 
     
  More Info: According to original Vanden Plas Coachbuilder records, this car was originally fitted with Body No. 1404 with a Sporting 4-seater Weymann fabric black; 8/1927.

Michael Hay, in his book Bentley: The Vintage Years, 1997, states: "Vanden Plas body no. 1404. Extensively rebuilt. D box 7058, Corsica 2 seater on 9' wheelbase, 3 carbs, 4½ Litre engine. Eng HT 1634 later refitted. Hydraulic brakes, reg KOY 300. Now in Germany."
 
     
     
  Updated: Jul 05, 2007
Posted: Mar 01, 2007
 
     
 
 
 
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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
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