1938 Bentley 4.25-Liter Derby Drophead Coupe

Shortly after the armistice in 1919, WO Bentley, together with a group including Frank Burgess (formerly of Humber) and Harry Varley (formerly of Vauxhall), set about designing a high quality sporting tourer, for production under the name Bentley.

The first Bentley Motors Ltd was founded in 1919, and between then and 1931, WO created the motors cars which became a legend. It wasn't until 1928 that Woolf Barnato became a fully-fledged part of the group of rich amateur drivers known as the Bentley Boys. Bentley racing proved highly successful in the late 1920's including victories at Brookland and in 1929 the Team's best ever result were at LeMans, with Bentleys placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, & 4th. In 1931 Bentley was acquired by Rolls-Royce and thereafter the company focused mainly on passenger car production.

This concealed Drophead Coupe was built by H.J. Mulliner and is one of only five built in 1938. The reputation for speed and fine handling accorded the 3-liter was even more enhanced with the 4 Litre and, as before, leading coachbuilders provided a variety of saloon, drophead coupe and touring bodywork; around a third of all customers, however, opted for Park Ward's saloon, this style being the closest Rolls-Royce came to series production pre-war.

From the Rolls-Royce factory in Derby the second model to bear the Bentley label was the Bentley 4¼ Litre. Within a short period, sales of the 3½ Litre declined and in fact the Bentley 4¼-Litre had become its substitute. The MR and MX chassis series introduced in 1939 were the final development of this model. Features such as overdrive top gear as standard and improved white metal bearings made the car idea, then and now, for unstressed long distance Continental touring.

A total of 1,241 (other sources say 1,235) Derby 4¼ Litre Bentley's were built between 1936 and 1939.