Bentley - Bentley 3 litre
The 3 litre Bentley was designed by W.O.Bentley after the first war in 1919. The 4 cylinder engine had a single overhead cam driven by spur gears with rockers actuating the 4 valves per cylinder. Much work went into the engine, while Burgess initially used a chassis from one of the Humber TT cars to test the prototype and refine everything. An initial batch of 6 cars was put down and the very first car sold was to Noel Van Raalte. The 3 litre was built from 1921 to 1927 during which time there were numerous changes, such as a longer 10 foot 10 inch chassis, ( and a handful of Super Sports 9 foot chassis) , later 4 wheel brakes and different front axle, single Smiths carburettor to twin SU's and a myriad other upgrades as the years went on. If you put an unmolested 1921 car next to a standard 1927 car the difference is huge!
Bentley 3 litre tyres : Most cars until the later 1920's ran on beaded edge tyres, and the 3 litre Bentley was shod with the 820x120 size. There was a taller option offered but I am unaware of any car having it, other than the cars that were sent to the "Colonies", and these cars invariably had the taller 880x120 size to give the Bentleys some extra ground clearance. These cars had delightful light steering, and when well base wheels and tyres were fitted 525x21, the steering started to get awkward, so Bentley shortened the steering box drop arm to help the leverage, but this was never really successful. We also make a 525/600x21 tyre which many people use. All these tyres and tubes are available from Blockley. If your car had beaded edge originally you can go back to this because the Blockley is such a good product, and lasts like you cannot believe, and inexpensive because we sell direct.
For those who are on well base wheels we also supply 4 1/2 Bentley steering gear conversion kits, which is what WO Bentley did when they built the 4 1/2 litre . .
