The Bentley 8 Litre was a large inline 6-cylinder
super-luxury car made in various configurations by
Bentley Motors Limited
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...
at Cricklewood, London. Announced 15 September 1930, it was also the last completely new model by Bentley before the company's financial collapse and forced sale to
Rolls-Royce Limited.
A
Bentley 4 Litre featuring a 4-Litre Inline-6 engine in a shortened chassis was announced on 15 May 1931.
Introduced a year into the
Great Depression. the 8-litre and its smaller 4-litre sibling were unable to turn the company's finances around. Less than nine months after the 8-litre's introduction, Bentley Motors was placed into
receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...
.
Design and specifications
Engine
The
straight-six engine used a
one-piece iron block and non-detachable cylinder head with a
crankcase made from
Elektron, a
magnesium alloy
Magnesium alloys are mixtures of magnesium (the lightest structural metal) with other metals (called an alloy), often aluminium, zinc, manganese, silicon, copper, rare earths and zirconium. Magnesium alloys have a hexagonal lattice structure, w ...
. It featured an
overhead camshaft
An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...
driven by a Bentley patented "three-throw drive" system of triple connecting rods
with, like all earlier Bentleys,
four valves per cylinder and twin-spark ignition (coil and magneto), which were state-of-the-art at the time. The engine had a
bore of and a stroke of ,
giving a capacity of .
Pistons were of an aluminium alloy.
Both engine and gearbox were mounted each at three points on rubber to isolate the chassis and body from vibration.
Transmission
An entirely new design of four-speed
gearbox
Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...
provided four speeds (constant mesh third) and reverse
with a single-plate dry
clutch which sent power through a
hypoid bevel final drive
A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...
to the rear axle and its 21"
Rudge-Whitworth
Rudge Whitworth Cycles was a British bicycle, bicycle saddle, motorcycle and sports car wheel manufacturer that resulted from the merger of two bicycle manufacturers in 1894, Whitworth Cycle Co. of Birmingham, founded by Charles Henry Pug ...
wire
Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm
A wire is a flexible strand of metal.
Wire is c ...
centre-lock wheels.
Chassis
The 8 Litre was built on Bentley's largest
rolling chassis
A rolling chassis is the chassis without bodywork of a motor vehicle ( car, truck, bus, or other vehicle), assembled with suspension and wheels.
Heavy vehicles
Separate chassis remain in use for almost all heavy vehicles ranging from pickup ...
, a
ladder frame with large tubular steel
cross-members downswept from the front and rear axles towards the centre to lower the centre of gravity.
Neither engine nor gearbox contributed to the bracing of the chassis.
Suspension by
long semi-elliptic leaf springs was controlled by double acting
dampers, friction on the front and hydraulic on the rear axle, and all four wheels were fitted with Dewandre
vacuum-servo-assisted drum brakes, the forward brakes being of Bentley-Perrott design.
Steering was by
worm and sector
Recirculating ball, also known as recirculating ball and nut or worm and sector, is a steering mechanism commonly found in older automobiles, off-road vehicles, and some trucks. Most newer cars use the more economical rack and pinion steering ins ...
and
castor action could be adjusted to suit individual taste.
There was centralised chassis lubrication
including the gaitered springs but not for the front axle or the clutch withdrawal system.
The 8-Litre chassis was available with either a
wheelbase
In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...
or a longer wheelbase.
Three were built with a wheelbase.
The manufacturer claimed a maximum speed of approximately . A speed in excess of was guaranteed by the manufacturer.
Reception
![Bentley 8 Litre limousine by Mulliner 1930 side](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Bentley_8_Litre_limousine_by_Mulliner_1930_side.jpg)
Announced on 15 September 1930
and launched at the London Olympia Motor Show in October 1930,
the 8 Litre Bentley was noted for its tractability and smoothness; it could be driven from walking pace to highway speeds in top gear without effort.
As a result of the worldwide
Great Depression, the 8 Litre did not sell well enough to improve Bentley's financial situation. The chassis was priced at £1,850,
roughly equivalent to £293,000 in 2010.
Only 100 of these cars were made, of which 35 were on the shorter wheelbase and 65 were on the longer wheelbase. Fewer than 25 were fitted with open bodies. It is suggested that the cost of the development of the car was a prime reason for Bentley Motors going bankrupt.
1930→1932 Bentley 8 Litre
- Super cats.com(02/03/2020)
Bentley made one more attempt at financial recovery by installing modified Ricardo
Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname.
People Given name
*Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portugu ...
4-litre engines in a shortened 8-Litre chassis and selling the result as the Bentley 4 Litre. Announced on 15 May 1931, only 50 were made before Bentley Motors Ltd. was placed into receivership.
When Rolls-Royce bought Bentley Motors from the receiver in November 1931, it discontinued production of the 8-Litre and disposed of all spare parts for it.
Legacy
78 Bentley 8 Litre cars were known to survive as at mid-2011. Many of these have had their original limousine or saloon bodies replaced by new replica tourer bodies. As a result, Bentley 8 Litres with original bodies are much sought after by collectors.
The only Bentley 8 Litre with an American body, which was also the first Bentley with an all-metal body, was built by the W.M. Murphy Company of Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
...
for a customer in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...
.
McKenzie's Garages, a specialist in Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars, modified four 8 Litres in the 1930s: YM5050, with shortened chassis, lowered radiator and bulkhead, and triple SU carburettors, YR5083, with a higher-ratio rear axle and triple SU carburettors, YX5117, with a lowered and shortened chassis and triple SU carburettors, and YX5121, with a shortened and lowered chassis and a tuned engine.
Notes
References
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{{Bentley Cricklewood timeline 1921 to 1931
8
1930s cars
Cars introduced in 1930