Bentley 4¼ Litre
The Bentley 4¼ Litre, which was born from the Bentley 3½ Litre, was launched in 1933, few days after the demise of Henry Royce. Bentley 4¼ Litre marked a transition for the company since this was the first car to be manufactured after Rolls Royce acquired Bentley in 1931. Bentley handed over the drivable rolling chassis and gearbox together with the engine for the Bentley 4¼ Litre model. The car was sold as stock to many distributers, who preferred the unaltered version so they could drive sales in their regions. In this era, the company was based in Derby, England, thereby inspiring the branding of the Bentley 4¼ Litre produced during the same era ‘derby Bentley’.
History of Bentley 4¼ Litre
From the onset, the Bentley 4¼ Litre was meant to emerge as a competitive simple family car as opposed to a sporting model, which was the theme present in the version manufactured before 1931. The Bentley 4¼ Litre was a hardy and a classy car built to last. Most of the cars that were manufactured between 1933 and 1940 were still in perfect condition more than 60 years later. The same chassis design was used for the Bentley 4¼ Litre produced until 1940. Based on an experiment that was created by Rolls Royce, the initial design was meant to have a 2½ Litre supercharged engine, but the company ended up making the 3½ Litre engine, which would later be upgraded in 1933 to give the Bentley 4¼ Litre engine.
The cars came with a 4-speed manual gearbox and were supported by leaf springs for all the four wheels. The braking system was servo-assisted, which was a common choice among most Rolls Royce models. Nickel steel was the most preferred material for making the Bentley 4¼ Litre leaf springs, and they used the double-dropped layout technology, which helped to add vertical space to maintain a low profile for the car. From March, 1936, the Bentley 4¼ Litre version was rolled out fully to replace the 3½ litre version made earlier. The aim of launching the Bentley 4¼ Litre version was to work on the image of the brand and to boost sales. The company also proposed the introduction of sporting models so they could make an impact in the market with the Bentley 4¼ Litre. Beginning 1938, then car was redesigned to include the more reliable overdrive gearbox and Marles steering. Only 1234 Bentley 4¼ Litre cars were made in the entire era.
Bentley 4¼ Litre - Racing
The Bentley 4¼ Litre was not initially designed for racing unlike the pre-Rolls-Royce version. However, some cars were used during international competitions, where drivers like E.R. Hall drove the car during the RAC Tourist Trophy. The Bentley 4¼ Litre was also part of the 1950 Le Mans competition.