Bentley 3 Litre Light 15.9 Vanden Plas Open Tourer

Chassis 1145 was ordered new by H. M. Bentley as a showroom and factory demonstrator, and was conceived as the prototype for a cheaper, lighter "Light 15.9 Tourer", a so-called Blue Label Bentley. The idea was to widen the marque's appeal and help pay for the 6½-Litre and Speed Six. The specification reflects that brief: a single Smiths carburettor, reduced equipment and, unusually, no rev counter on the dashboard. The open tourer coachwork is by Vanden Plas, body number 1182, completed on 30 June 1925.

Its ownership history is unusually concentrated. The first owner, Lincolnshire farmer Robert Epton Caudwell, kept it for 33 years. After a short spell with a Boston dealer from 1958, Robert Scott Noble of Renfrewshire owned it from 1960 to 1998, when it sold at Brooks. The current vendor's father bought it there, and the car has been with that family since.\n\nFactory records show it returned to Cricklewood in May 1927 after an accident, when Bentley fitted a replacement chassis and kept the original chassis identity. Hofmann & Burton carried out a mechanical rebuild and repaint in blue and black for Noble. After 1998 it was returned to its original grey with black wings, with the original wings repaired rather than replaced. The side screens are still stored under the front seat, and the original floorboards cover natural-fibre soundproofing.