Coys Auction - Fine Motor Cars
Blenheim Palace,
Woodstock,
Oxfordshire OX20 1PX

Saturday 5th July 2008 at 14.30

The first product of the 1931 Rolls-Royce take-over of Bentley, the 3ð Litre was introduced in 1933 and was in essence a sporting version of the Rolls-Royce 20/25. As such, it used the shorter chassis of the stillborn ''smaller'' Rolls-Royce, code-named Peregrine, allied to a more powerful version of the 20/25''s six cylinder engine with new crossflow cylinder head and camshaft, twin SU carburettors, twin fuel pumps and single coil ignition. Mated to a four-speed transmission with synchromesh and a hypoid bevel rear axle, the latter a first on a Rolls-Royce produced car, the 105bhp 3,699cc engine endowed the 3ð Litre with 90mph plus performance. Notably, this first of the Derby Bentleys was also the first to be marketed as ''The Silent Sports Car'', such was its considerable refinement.

The 3ð Litre soon gained a repu