Bentley 3 Litre

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Bentley 3 Litre
I4
Dimensions
Wheelbase108 in (2,743 mm)
117.5 in (2,984 mm)
130 in (3,302 mm)
Chronology
Successor4½ Litre

The Bentley 3 Litre was a car

S. C. H. "Sammy" Davis and Dudley Benjafield. Its weight, size, and speed prompted Ettore Bugatti to call it "the fastest lorry
in the world", which was regarded as a compliment. Built in 3 main variants, Blue label, Red Label Speed models all carrying a 5-year warranty, and the coveted and rare Green Label 100 mph cars, which only carried a 12-month warranty reflecting the high state of tune.

Coachwork

Rare original saloon, a Weymann by Gurney Nutting 1926
Few limousine or saloon bodies have not been replaced by new racing or tourer bodies

The 3 Litre was delivered as a running chassis to the coachbuilder of the buyer's choice. Bentley referred many customers to their near neighbour

coachwork there was plenty of variation.[2] Customers included Prince George, Duke of Kent, Gertrude Lawrence, and Beatrice Lillie
.

Engineering

Red label Speed high compression twin SU Engine PH1468 delivered March 1926 in a tourer with licence plate KM 2321

The 3.0 L (2,996 cc or 183 cu in)

undersquare, optimized for low-end torque
, with a bore of 80 mm (3.1 in) and a stroke of 149 mm (5.9 in).

Un-tuned power output was around 70 hp (52 kW), allowing the 3 Litre to reach 80 mph (129 km/h). The Speed Model could reach 90 mph (145 km/h); the Super Sports could exceed 100 mph (161 km/h).

A four-speed

gearbox
was fitted.

The chassis from a Humber was designed by Frederick Tasker Burgess (1879-1929) previously chief designer at Humber who had worked with W.O. during the war producing the aero engines BR1 and BR2.

Bentley did not deliver complete vehicles, but—as was customary—provided only a rolling chassis.

Only the rear wheels had brakes until 1924, when four-wheel brakes were introduced.[9]

Variants

Red label Speed 4-seater tourer 1927

There were three main variants of the 3-litre and they became known by the colours commonly used on the radiator badge. There was a definite rule controlling badge colours but astonishingly it has since been established that given "special circumstances" the factory would indeed supply a "wrong" colour.

Blue label

This was the standard model with 117.5 in (2,984 mm) wheelbase from 1921 to 1929 or long 130.0 in (3,302 mm) wheelbase from 1923 to 1929.[9]

Red label

This used a 5.3:1 high compression engine in the 117.5 in (2,984 mm) wheelbase chassis and was made from 1924 to 1929.[9]

Green label

Made between 1924 and 1929 this was the high performance model with 6.3:1 compression ratio and short 108 in (2,743 mm) wheelbase chassis. 100 mph (160 km/h) performance was guaranteed.[9]

Production

Red label Speed open 2-seater by H J Mulliner 1926

The 3 Litre chassis was shown at the 1919

4½ Litre
car.

  • Experimental: 3
  • 3 Litre: 1088
  • Speed Model: 513
  • Super Sports: 18
Car later rebuilt and supercharged

In the winter of 1926/7 the factory's service department created the first supercharged Bentley when chassis number 220 FR5189 had a

Roots type blower fitted to its 3-litre engine. This pre-dated the Birkin supercharged Bentleys by two years. Like the later 4½ litre supercharged cars its blower was crankshaft-driven and mounted in front of the radiator between the dumb irons. Unlike them its carburettor
was mounted on the left side of the engine block. A rather circuitous intake tract carries the fuel-air mixture forward from there to the blower. On 4½ litre cars the carburettor is mounted on the blower, as commonly done on other supercharged British cars with front-mounted blowers.

First supercharged Bentley, FR5189
FR5189's Engine
FR5189 at Lime Rock Park

Survivors

Blue label #19 delivered December 1921

The oldest surviving production Bentley is 3 Litre chassis number 3. The first Bentley sold, it was delivered to its original owner in 1921. Bodied by UK coachbuilder R. Harrison & Son, chassis number 3 has engine number 4 and UK registration AX 3827. In 2011 it sold at auction for $962,500 including buyer's premium.[10][11][12]

An original, unrestored 1927 3 Litre Speed Model (Red Label), chassis #1209 DE, is a part of the permanent collection at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, PA, USA. The car retains all of its original components and is the only Bentley to compete in pre-war road racing competition in the USA.[13]

A 1924 3 Litre has been on display at the Shepparton Motor Museum in

Shepparton, Victoria
, Australia, since July 2019.

References

  1. ISBN 1-870979-53-2
    .
  2. ^ "History By Chassis – List of all W. O. Bentleys with original chassis nos. 3 Litre (Page 1)". VintageBentleys.Org. Houston, TX USA: VintageBentleys.org. Archived from the original on 14 April 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  3. ISSN 0009-8310
    .
  4. ^ Adolphus, David Traver (2011). "DMG M 93654". Hemming Motor News Magazine. February 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  5. ^ "1914 Mercedes 115HP Grand Prix - Supercars.net". Supercars.net. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  6. ^ Snellmann, Leif (2000). "Not just one of the Boys". 8W. February 2000 issue. AUTOSPORT MEDIA UK.
  7. ^ "Mercedes-Benz Motorsport-Story: Teil 2 : Die Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft und der Rennsport - Classic". Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  8. ISBN 0671251953
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 1-57958-293-1
    .
  10. ^ Gooding & Company Consigns the World’s Oldest Bentley and A Superior Motorcycle Owned by Steve McQueen and Von Dutch
  11. ^ 1921 Bentley 3 Litre
  12. ^ The story behind the 1921 Bentley 3-Litre, the world's oldest production Bentley
  13. ^ Simeone, Frederick. "1927 Bentley 3 Litre Speed Model". Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum. Retrieved 10 March 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bentley 3-Litre.
Preceded by
Fastest street-legal production car

160 km/h 		Succeeded by
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