1922 Bentley 3 Liter

The 3-Litre Bentley chassis was the first product to emerge from the Mews garage off Baker Street, London in 1919 and would rapidly build a reputation both on and off the race track. It was in business for a brief period prior to dominating at Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930. This Herculean accomplishment would not have been possible without Woolf Barnato, Jack Dunfee, Tim Birkin and Sammy Davis, consistently piloting the British Racing Green sports cars to victory.

The 3-Litre was first shown on Stand 126 at the 1919 Olympia Motor Exhibition. Just a few weeks earlier, the prototype engine had fired up for the first time. A few years later, in 1922 at the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, the Bentleys would finish second, fourth and fifth, earning them the Team Prize and leading to the introduction of the TT Replica (later to become known as the Speed Model). Resting on the 117.5-inch wheelbase chassis, they were identified by the Red Label on the radiator. Performance was enhanced with the help of twin SU carburetors, a higher compression ratio, a different camshaft, and the close-ratio A-type gearbox (the C-type gearbox became standard in 1927). The standard 70 horsepower rose to 80 hp in Speed Model specification, giving them a top speed of 90 mph. Other typical performance upgrades included the Andre Hartford shock absorbers and an 11-gallon fuel tank.

Before Bentley won the Team Prize at the Isle of Man TT in 1922, one of the first factory efforts had been at the Indianapolis 500. English sportsman W.D. Hawkes contested the Indy 500 with little more than a road-going sports car with only the mudguards and headlights removed. He completed the 500 miles more than one and a half hours after the winner, in a time of six hours and 40 minutes, averaging 74.95 mph. Making only one brief pit stop, he finished the race in 13th place.

Drivers John Duff and Frank Clement won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924 in a 3 Litre Bentley, and Super Sports version won in 1927, with drivers S. C. H. 'Sammy' Davis and Dudley Benjafield.

Bentley 3 Litre Specification
The 3.0-liter straight-4-cylinder engine was the work of ex-Royal Flying Corps engineer Clive Gallop. It was one of the first engines to employ four valves per cylinder, dry-sump lubrication, and an overhead camshaft. Its four-valve SOHC Hemi design had a bevel-geared shaft drive for the camshaft, two spark plugs per cylinder, and a bore of 80 mm and a stroke of 149 mm.

The 2,996cc single overhead camshaft four-cylinder engine was paired with a four-speed manual transmission with right-hand change, and four-wheel mechanical drum brakes provided the stopping power. Rear-wheel brakes only were employed up to 1924, when four-wheel Perrot-type brakes were introduced. The conventional pressed-steel ladder frame chassis was suspended by semi-elliptical leaf springs with live axles.

The standard Bentley 3 Litre, known as the Blue Label, rested on a 117.5-inch wheelbase (from 1921 to 1929) or the long wheelbase platform (1923 to 1929) measuring 130 inches. The Red Label utilized the 117.5-inch wheelbase and a 5.3:1 high-compression engine. It was available from 1924 to 1929. The Green Label, built from 1924 to 1929, used a short chassis (108 inches), had a high compression (6.3:1) engine, and was guaranteed to achieve 100 mph.

The 117.5-inch wheelbase was the original chassis size, then adopted dimensions of 130 inches in 1923, while the shorter frame was reserved for the TT Replica and subsequent SPeed models.

Bentley 3 Litre Coachwork

Among the list of coachbuilders who created bodies for the Bentley 3 Litre were Vanden Plas, Park Ward & Co., H.J. Mulliner, Gurney Nutting, Carlton Carriage Company, Freestone & Webb, Chalmer and Hoyer Ltd., Jarvis, J. Gairn & Company of Edinburgh, Scotland, R. Harrison & Son of London, Bridges Garage of Cirencester in Gloucestershire, L.T. Taylor of Wolverhampton, and Surbiton Coach and Motor Works (known as Surbico) or Surrey, South of London.

Bentley 3 Litre Production Figures
W.O. Bentley was often quoted as saying, 'Competition is the cheapest way of selling cars,' a theory proven by the company's many accolades.

Deliveries began in June 1921, as did competition preparation. Bentley produced 1,088 examples of the 3 Litre Bentley, along with 513 Speed Models and 18 Super Sports. Including three experimental designs, a total of 1,622 examples of the 3 Litre were built from 1921 to 1929.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2019