Bentley - Bentley 4 1/2 litre
After the 6 cylinder car was built, there was still demand for the 4 cylinder model, so the 3 litre Bentley got an upgrade. A new cylinder block was made allowing the bore to increase from 80 to 100mm. At the same time the crankshaft big end journals were increased in size which with the white metal bearings, bronze thick shells and so on the crankshaft had the stroke reduced by 9 mm to clear everything. making the car 4.4 litre (4398cc) but it was always called the 4 1/2 litre. All Bentley 4 1/2 litres came as standard on the long 10ft 10 inch chassis, so with the standard length bonnets the bodies look overly long! But a handful of cars were made on the 9 foot 9 1/2 inch chassis. The radiators were originally 3 litre ones that were lengthened downwards, but the first 4 1/2 litre to have what we now know of as the Bentley 4 1/2 litre radiator was the sixth chassis. The Bentley 4 1/2 litre was built from 1927 until the closure in 1931. Driving a car in original specification today makes one realise just how good these cars were in the day, keeping up with modern traffic and motorways.
The tyre size to fit on a 4 1/2 litre is the 600x21 size which we make at Blockley. Nothing is as good or as authentic as the tyre we have produced. See full details of this tyre at the link below.
