1925 Bentley 3 Litre Speed Model – MH4796

• A beautifully presented 3 Litre with matching numbers
• Continuous history, meticulously researched by a long-time owner
• Comprehensive history file includes photographs going back to the 1940s
• Recently treated to a body-off restoration by Bentley specialist RC Moss

The 3 Litre was the first model to be offered by Bentley and formed the backbone of its range through the glory days of the 1920s, and this fabulous 1925 Speed Model must be one of the most original examples in existence.

The factory service records note that chassis number 1009 was fitted with engine number 1007 and a Vanden Plas four-seater tourer body that was built to order number 1125 – both of which it retains to this day. Its gearbox and both axles are also original to this car.

The Bentley was registered MH 4796 and supplied new in 1925 to a Mr C Warwick of Hadley Wood, on the northern outskirts of London. Warwick’s cousin was the well-known racing driver Brian Lewis, later to become the second Baron Essendon. In 1927, the Bentley was acquired by CA Cuthbert of Guildford, and three years later it was sold to GR Sutton of Eachwick Hall, near Newcastle upon Tyne. That was the beginning of a long period during which the Bentley was based in the north of England.

In 1945, Harry Sutcliffe bought it from his good friend John Collinge, a garage owner from Rochdale. Sutcliffe later recalled that his ownership might simply have been a way for the pair to access his petrol ration, which, unlike Collinge, he was entitled to because he was on convalescent leave from the military. Sutcliffe also stated that the body had, by that time, already been repainted black from its original grey.

The Bentley was soon sold back to Collinge, and was then acquired in 1947 by RAF Squadron Leader Baron. Subsequent owners included a Mr Hadley - who owned Hadley Motors in St Annes on Sea and carried out a rebuild on the Bentley – then a Manchester solicitor by the name of JF Edmonson.

In 1953, the car passed to Ken Murray, who owned it for only a few months because he had a young family and decided that he needed something more practical, so the Bentley was sold to Bill Crosland later that year. Crosland kept it until 1960, when it was bought by Paul Patchett. Patchett ran a ‘bed and breakfast’ in Grasmere, and in 1965 one of his guests was Hector Simons, who took an immediate shine to the Bentley. He duly bought it and took it home to Chippenham in Wiltshire, and it stayed in the Simons family for almost 20 years.