The Bentley 3 Litre is one of the greatest historic race cars of all time, but you might not think that based on a first glance. It was a Le Mans champion in the early days of the contest winning in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930 beating the famously fast Bugattis of the era.
Bentley first built the car in 1919, debuted it at the Olympia Motor Exhibition, and made it available to coach builders a few years later. The cars were produced in Red Label, Blue Label, and Green Label formats with the Green Label models being the rarest and most highly specialized for racing.
DM Historics has taken Bentley 3 Litre chassis 589 (of approximately 1,600) and expertly overhauled. There’s only 12,700 miles on the odometer of the model and it has a long Bentley Drivers Club history. The car served duty as the pilot car for the BDC Jubilee Run in 1969 as well as featuring heavily in the “Bentley Golden Jubilee Book 1919 -1969”.
History tells that the first owner of this Bentley was W H B Moorehead a magistrate from Newry, who had it finish in a four-seater combination.
The historic racing engineers in charge of the project starting in on the overhaul in 2018. The extensive renovation restored the car to a near factory standard, taking it back to very near the condition it was when it rolled off the line in 1924. Work was done cooperation with pre-war Vintage specialists Kingsbury.
The car has also been uplifted a smidge. It now has a two-wire Dynamo, electronic voltage regulator, 12-volt LED lighting, 6.5-liter rear axle, and replacement pistons. Repairers have kept the car’s original three-cylinder engine with super carburettors and a period-correct four-speed gearbox. To meet modern standards, the car received rebuilt magnetos, and new and period-correct exhaust and fuel systems.
Chassis 589 has been restored to wear the most iconic Bentley racing livery. That includes a black exterior with refurbished wheels, lights, and a bespoke tonneau cover.
Its interior is equally as refined with red leather racing-style seats with contrasting black carpets and red piping. The original 18-inch four-spoke steering wheel is in place as are all the original dials and gauges, in full working order.
After a long history of ownership and restoration, the model is for sale again. The price? £285,000.
