Description
H&H Classic Auction @ The Imperial War Museum, Duxford/ Cambridgeshire
9th October, 2024 13:00
1937 Bentley 3½ Litre Vanden Plas Drophead Coupe
Exquisitely original and just under 16, 000 miles from new
Estimate
£180, 000 - £240, 000
Registration No: DLO 936
Chassis No: B-135-FC
MOT: Exempt
- Entered from The Merlin Collection
- Warranted 15, 800 mies from new
- The most original and best conserved Derby Bentley we have ever encountered
- Extensive history file dating back to the factory guarantee (still protected by the cardboard tube it was posted in)
- Never allowed to deteriorate to the point of requiring a repair to its ash frame and retains all but one of its original underbody leather gaiters!
- Surely a strong contender for the Preservation Class of any major Concours d'Elegance
- Off the road from 1980 to 2013 and since treated to an incredibly sympathetic and detailed amount of recommissioning
According to its accompanying Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts' Club copy build records, chassis B135FC was despatched to Vanden Plas Ltd of London on 6th May 1936. Initially ordered for stock, the Bentley was fitted with body number 3476 (one of just four executed to this design). Incorporating such extras as a louvred scuttle, peaked wings and ribbed running boards, the Drophead Coupe was supplied new to Robert S. Hayward Esq. of The Hawthorns, Galashiels. A director of the nearby R & A Sanderson Woollen Mill, he was allowed £50 in part exchange for his old W. O. Bentley 3 Litre but had to pay an additional £1, 490 to secure its successor. Acquired in part to help celebrate one of his brother-in-law Sir J. Donald Pollock's many awards, the four-seater was first road registered as 'DLO 936' on March 1st 1937. Elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh that same year, Sir Donald was among the University of Edinburgh's greatest ever benefactors and served as its Rector from 1939-1945.
Used sparingly for special occasions and mothballed during World War Two due to petrol rationing, the 3½ Litre had covered a modest 11, 000 miles by the time that Mr Hayward entrusted its sale to the Edinburgh Motor Engineering Co (located near the University's Old Quadrangle) in 1954. Displayed with its bonnet open and a door ajar, the Bentley caught the attention of Boston, Massachusetts-born academic W. Randolph Angell Esq. Recalling the encounter in his memoirs the latter described it thus: "How does one cope with blind passion? I was a ruined man. A visit to the showroom for a closer look was devastating. The car was immaculate, perfect, with tonneau covers and spares etc which had never been used. The asking price was beyond my means and in any case I had no driving licence or any sensible place to keep the car even if I were able to acquire it". Further showroom visits ensued as did the prospect of losing `DLO 936' to a South African collector. Suitably panicked, Mr Angell found the requisite funds and became its proud owner during May 1954.
Accompanying documentation includes correspondence between Messrs Hayward and Angell, handwritten receipts from Mr Webster of Edinburgh Motors for the purchase price (£1, 350, 7th May 1954) and tax / insurance (£32, 18th May 1954) plus another for seven driving lessons (£5 8s 1d, 8th June 1954). To have depreciated by just £140 over seventeen years indicates that Mr Angell's appreciation for 'a motor car the like of which is grace personified compared to the pressed-steel, bloated tin-can automobiles as produced by my country today' was not hyperbole.
Treasuring the Bentley, its new owner acquired a Riley Kestrel 15/ 6 for everyday usage and later a Jaguar E-Type V12 Roadster to drive on high days and holidays. Stored at Edinburgh Motors until December 1973 when the oil crisis forced its closure, the 3½ Litre accompanied the Angell family to first Glasgow and then Kirkliston. Accompanying MOT certificates issued in May 1970 and April 1980 list recorded mileages for the Vanden Plas Drophead Coupe of 15, 030 and 15, 195 miles respectively. One of its few public outings being to the 'Bentley Shell 500 Golden Jubilee 1919-1969' celebrations at Oulton Park (a sticker for which remains affixed to the windscreen).
Ever wary that a road traffic accident would compromise its remarkable originality, Mr Angell ensured that 'DLO 936' spent less and less time on the public highway. Parked up in his Kirkliston garage for thirty odd years, it benefited from surroundings that were not only watertight but also conducive to preservation in terms of moisture and light levels. Reluctantly offered for sale by Mr Angell's heirs in 2013, the Bentley joined The Merlin Collection that same October via our IWM Duxford auction for £213, 750.
Blown away by the Vanden Plas Drophead Coupe's exceptional originality, the vendor set about recommissioning it to an exhaustive, obsessional degree. For instance, he spent a week soaking the original fanbelt until it could be reused and was genuinely upset that the period spark plugs could not be made to perform satisfactorily! Losing count after investing 1, 500 hours of labour in the project, his efforts meant that all but one of the factory-fitted leather gaiters have been successfully reconditioned. Very few professional restorers, regardless of their calibre, would have matched the seller's attention to detail or patience. He re-used almost all the original nuts and bolts with most of the modern interlopers being found in the stainless-steel exhaust system (complete with correct cut-out mechanism).
Keen to do the best job possible, the seller enlisted the help of renowned Derby Bentley expert and the W. O. Bentley Memorial Foundation's Chairman of Trustees, Ken Lea who carried out a first-hand inspection and advised on works. Mr Lea was reportedly amazed to discover that the ash frame was so sound even down to the fillets used between the running boards and their brackets and the sawn-off ends of the scuttle hoops. A careful strip down of the original engine (number E9BC) revealed bore wear in keeping with the recorded mileage and more surprisingly that all six pistons were stamped with the engine number and individual serial numbers.
After much deliberation the decision was taken to rewire the four-seater for safety reasons. Needless to say, the replacement wiring loom is faithful to factory blueprints with an authentic cloth-bound look. The vendor also chose to install a higher final drive ratio inside the original rear axle casing and, replace the hood and upgrade the fuel system. The initial final drive ratio and petrol pump come with the car as do letters between Mr Angell and Vanden Plas concerning the soft-top's deterioration (the former coachbuilder advising that as a subsidiary of Austin it was no longer in a position to renew the hood). Indeed, the very few modifications made to improve drivability in today's traffic - including discrete indicators - are all easily reversible without affecting the car's fundamental essence.
Where one of Vanden Plas's standard Drophead Coupe bodies for the Derby Bentley chassis would feature plain wings, limited bonnet louvers and plain rubber covers for the running boards as standard, the one fitted to 'DLO 936' sports more sculpted wings, louvers that extend through to the scuttle and individual rubber strips for its running boards. Interestingly, chassis B135FC was delivered some eleven months later than chassis B133FC (a Thrupp & Maberly Saloon supplied new to Lord Harris MC) so the former may well have been built to special order.
There really is no substitute for inspecting 'DLO 936' at first hand. Only then can one appreciate its freakish originality and state of preservation. A matchless testament to the craftsmanship of Bentley and Vanden Plas, the car is also a great credit to each of its three custodians: Robert S. Hayward (1937-1954), W. Randolph Angell (1954-2013) and The Merlin Collection (2013-present).
A worthy competitor in the conservation class of any major Concours d'Elegance, this incredible ‘matching numbers' 1937 Bentley 3½ Litre Vanden Plas Drophead Coupe is accompanied by its original Bentley Motors Guarantee complete with covering letter and carboard tube (dated 11th March 1937), a continuation buff logbook, old MOTs, assorted storage bills, Bentley 3½ Litre Instruction Book (with B135FC on the inside front cover), copy RREC chassis cards, false starts to Mr Angell's handwritten memoirs (as they relate to the Bentley), sundry Bentley Drivers Club correspondence / publications, circa £20, 000 worth of bills from Ristes, Will Fiennes and MWS International etc plus assorted other paperwork.
Sliding behind the wheel, it is entirely appropriate that one's view forward is given a sepia tinge by the windscreen (the cellophane sandwiched between its glass layers having yellowed with age) because driving 'DLO 936' is liking stepping back in time. 'Unique' is an overused word but chassis B135FC is that and so much more. For anyone hoping to amass the definitive Bentley collection, it surely deserves a place.
