CAR OF THE MONTH
January 2005

1934 BENTLEY 3 1/2 LITRE
PARK WARD SPORTS SALOON
Chassis Number B165BL

OWNER
NICK NORTHEAST

 

Bentley Motors Ltd., the famous company founded by W.O. Bentley in 1919, went into Receivership in June 1931. Rolls-Royce then outbid D. Napier & Son Ltd. to acquire the company for 125,256 pounds as they felt Napier to be a rival for their business. The Bentley company then re-started life as Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd. Rolls-Royce at the time wanted to develop a new smaller owner/driver car known in-house as the Peregrine Project.

After investigating various engine possibilities, including the use of superchargers, Royce decided that these options would not meet his standards for the required reliability for the project. It was then decided to use and modify the existing engine from the Rolls-Royce 20/25. Twin SU carburetors with a cross flow head and higher compression increased power from about 80 bhp to 114 bhp with an RAC rating of 25.3 hp.

Known as the "Silent Sports Car" the resulting car debuted as the Bentley 3 1/2 litre in late 1933.They were made alongside the Rolls-Royce Phantoms and 20/25s in their Derby factory hence the name "Derby Bentley". In 1936 an increase in engine capacity resulted in the Bentley 4 1/4 litre model. The building of the Crewe factory in 1938 and the outbreak of war in 1939 meant the end of Derby Bentley production as the factory was turned over to aircraft engine manufacturing.

All Derby Bentleys were sold as a rolling chassis only, the body to be built by the coachbuilder of customer’s choice. However as Park Ward was owned by Rolls-Royce, these were the most commonly built models.

This particular car, B165BL, was delivered on September 22 1934 to a Mr. E.W. Smith, Bletchingley, Surrey. In January 1940 H.R.Owen of London, a well known Rolls-Royce dealer, are on record as owner of the car. In the 50s and 60s it spent time in Devon and Cornwall and was imported to Canada in 1970. Once here it was mechanically restored and painted its current Old English White from the original Aquamarine and Black. It changed hands again in 1980 moving to Duncan BC. At this time the seats were restored in red leather from the original color fawn. The headlining is still original. I heard about this car in September 2003 and once I drove it, I just had to have it, even though it meant selling my 1983 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, a car that had won first place, Touring Category at the Rolls-Royce National Meet in Calgary, 2001.

The Bentley was sold to me on the understanding that the engine was tired and due for rebuild. I decided to see how far it would go before tackling that problem and drove it over 1000 miles in 2004, exhibiting it at Van Dusen Gardens, Beacon Hill Picnic, Minter Gardens, The English Car Affair at the Air Museum and finally a trip to a Rolls-Royce Club meet in Manning Park before a piston gudgeon pin protested very loudly signaling the engine rebuild could wait no longer.

The car is currently engine-less at Bristol Motors, Victoria, pending an expensive parts shopping list. Of couse this is also a good time to tackle some paintwork and re-chroming of the magnificent Lucas P100S headlights while they are removed. Unfortunately the original tools had been pilfered over the years and so I am gradually re-acquiring them along with original flying "B" mascots of which I have two - one forward leaning, one backwards. I tend to drive around town with the reproduction one in place for obvious reasons. The tool prices appear to reflect a very strong collectible market of their own. My latest find in England is an original jack complete with wooden handle, firewall mounting bracket and wheel wrench.

 

Interesting Statistics

Chassis
Wheelbase 10ft. 6in.
Track 4ft. 8in.
Length 14ft. 6in.
Weight 2520lbs.
Turning Circle 42ft right, 40ft. 8in left
Wheels Wire with Discs 18 x 5.50; Servo Assisted Mechanical Brakes
Engine
Type 6 Cylinders in line , Overhead Valves, pushrods.
Capacity 3669cc.
Bore 3 1/4 in.
Stroke 4 1/2 in.
Production Numbers
1933 - 1936 1177
Park ward bodies 529 (428 Saloons)
Performance
Max Speed 91.8mph
0-60mph 20.4 seconds
1934 Prices
Chassis 1100 Pounds
Park Ward saloon 1460 Pounds

 Engine Left Side  

  Engine Right Side      
                     

p.s. If you have any further historical information about this particular car, or anything that Nick may be able to use, please contact the Webmaster at oecc@oecc.ca