Following the take-over of Bentley Motors Ltd. by Rolls-Royce Ltd., the first design from the Derby works to wear the Bentley name was a chassis geared to the sporting market with a 3,669cc engine and first deliveries were made in the last quarter of 1933. In spring 1936, deliveries of the 4,257cc version commenced and in late 1938, came the first of 201 of the so called ’overdrive’ cars with the gear ratios changed to 2.38:1 for 1st gear, 1.49:1 for 2nd, direct in 3rd and 0.85:1 for 4th. The production register found within CC4, reveals that most buyers opted for a sports saloon body and that Park Ward’s design proved the most popular with 822 produced.
A total of 2518 X 3.5, 4.25 litre and Mk.V chassis were produced 1933-1939 and 1777 of these are known to survive – a little over 73% of production! Unfortunately interrupted by the war, the Bentley Mk.V incorporated independent front suspension and was to be made available in standard & Corniche versions. No fewer than 10 test chassis were used for the development programme – one more than the number actually delivered to customers! One notable current owner is composer Andrew Lloyd Webber who purchased the car almost 30 years ago. Below: Recently sold by Will Morrison of MotorHistorica, this Park Ward sports saloon on chassis B170HK enjoyed a protracted rebuild in recent years. The car featured no fewer than four times in the Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd. quarterly publication ‘Bentley Motors—On the Road’ and these may be seen in the book with the same title by this author.
CC4 the completely revised 2nd edition was published May 2012. Price is £39.95 plus p&p
CC4-2, Updated 270219, new/amended reg’n/chassis cross-index
| Reg’n | Chassis | Remarks |
| 500FSM | B93AE | Reg’n affixed to car when offered by Hyman USA Feb ‘19 |
| 645XUV | B39EJ | Returned to GBR ex AUS with owner Timothy Elsworth |
| 814GPE | B182KT | Advised by current owner Paul Treen |
| 963YUS | B193AE | Re-reg’d by dealer Frank Dale & Stepsons 2013 |
| ASL625 | B137JY | Reg’d on return GBR ex HOL |
| AUL1 | B96CR | Also worn by B23AE & B5GA |
| AYE84 | B165AE | Correction, mistyped as AYE83 |
| BUV1 | B155AE | Initially AV6363, then BUV1 before BPL1; 2ndbody by then owner Barry Purcell |
| DL2040 | B83BN | Reg’d on return GBR ex HOL |
| DRR342 | B146KT | Reg’n affixed when handled by The Real Car Company 2017 |
| DYY58B | B30AW | Reg’d briefly as such between GJ88 and AXS30 |
| FLF794 | B155AE | Reg’d as such Dec ’38 between BPL1 and 118EPB |
| GY5876 | B191BL | Now with a Bob Petersen “blower” tourer body; the purchased reg’n GY5876 was deemed more appropriate for a vintage Bentley look-alike |
| KMP1 | B179AE | Reg’d on return GBR ex FRA ’39 and subsequently LMG668 |
| MG4338 | B84FB | Subsequently mod by James Young with parallel opening doors and later still as a faux cabriolet with dummy landau irons; discovered derelict at the Cornell brother’s home in Kent and subsequently with Bugatti specialist Ivan Dutton |
| NSJ625 | B164MR | Re-reg’d on return to mainland ex GBJ when with The Real Car Company 2013 |
| NYF543 | B65BL | Correction of transposed numerals |
| Q141JKR | B60EF | Allocated temporary GBR reg’n early 1980s when with dealer David Baldock, Goudhurst Kent |
| RSJ798 | B9BN | Known to have been re-reg’d after DLF345 |
| USK449 | B117KU | Re-reg’d when with The Real Car Company June 2013 |
| WXG571 | B76CR | Reg’d on return GBR ex CAN |
| XXH949 | B164DG | Reg’d on return GBR ex IRE; discovered derelict at the Cornell brother’s home in Kent and subsequently with Bugatti specialist Ivan Dutton |
| YS2385 | B124DG | Advised by owner Damian Tominey now fitted with homebuilt Hooper style drophead coupé body |
| YSL427 | B3JY | Reversed in error and shown incorrectly as 427YSL in CC4-2 |
…and the revised so-called problem pages!
| See | Model | Reg’n | Note |
| 01 | ? | 72RPG | 1936 car; Hobbs Auct. 19th June ’71; reg’n not current Dec ‘11 |
| 02 | 4¼ | 219HYP | 1938 Park Ward saloon; noted in Frank Dale and Stepsons advertisement that appeared in Motorsport magazine |
| 03 | 4¼ | 3652YO | USA.70/R. S. Robe of New York City, USA (noted 1970 BDC members list); possibly a USA registration |
| 04 | 3½ | ‘AKL28’ | Picture OTR9/9 captioned ‘On a Radnorshire farm’; Park Ward saloon; probably artist’s licence |
| 05 | 3½ | AUF77 | Front view only shown The Autocar24th August 1934; AUF issued by Brighton County Borough Council, Sussex February to October 1934 and is therefore thought to be the unidentified car that was reported with the original owner in West Sussex during the 1990s!; reg’n not current Dec ‘11 |
| 06 | 3½ | AXO348 | Picture B180/7; Thrupp & Maberly saloon |
| 07 | ? | ‘BKC932’ | Picture OTR8/19 captioned ‘Outside a 400-year old inn at Hambledon’; H. J. Mulliner saloon; probably artist’s licence |
| 08 | ? | BLE629 | Reported worn by a Derby Bentley; no further information |
| 09 | 4¼ | BTY103 | Issued Northumberland April to July 1946; pillarless saloon believed by Park Ward; nothing further known about this sighting; reg’n not current Dec ‘11 |
| 10 | 3½ | BYN561? | Unknown builder tourer noted in GBR 1990 |
| 11 | 3½ | BYV77 | Neither coachbuilder nor its style is recorded but listed in GBR 1992 with owner Norris |
| 12 | 3½ | BYV657 | Park Ward saloon; in the late Roy Watson’s unknown Derby Bentley listing; perhaps actually refers to BYV637 which appears for chassis B178EF (also a Park Ward saloon) |
| 13 | ? | ‘CGY716’ | Picture OTR9/13 captioned ‘In a Devonshire lane’; Park Ward saloon; probably artist’s licence |
| 14 | ? | ‘CLN314’ | Picture OTR8/7 captioned ‘A fine photograph taken at Hambledon, near Henley’; H. J. Mulliner saloon; probably artist’s licence |
| 15 | ? | ‘CLW671’ | Picture OTR5/13 captioned ‘Near Chicksands Priory, Bedfordshire’; appears to be a Thrupp & Maberly saloon; probably artist’s licence |
| 16 | 3½ | CUW2 | Gurney Nutting coupé; photograph in Tom Clarke collection; this C. H. Grindley car (not his B37JY which was a razor-edged 4d4l saloon from new ordered by but not delivered to Grindley) is thought to be B15EJ which is the only ‘sweep panel’ that has a long time gap between its Car Mart Trials car use and its onward sale to Miss Jane Pauling in May 1937 |
| 17 | ? | ‘CWE149’ | Picture OTR7/30, two views captioned ‘Entrance to the Cathedral Close at Norwich’ and ‘The West Door of Norwich Cathedral’; also shown OTR8/24 but devoid of registration plate!; Mann Egerton saloon with quarterlights on rear doors; probably artist’s licence |
| 18 | ? | CXM5 | Rear view only of a two-tone car which appears in monochrome photograph as black/cream appears on “BlueBoy 8111” website |
| 19 | 4¼ | CYH786 | GBR.66/C. P. Brooks of Knockholt, Kent (noted 1966 BDC members list); perhaps refers to CYH787 chassis B121GP owned by Rush in GBR 1985 |
| 20 | 4¼ | DLA547 | 1936 Park Ward saloon; dealer Scott-Moncrieff advertisement MotorSportSeptember ‘79/p1423 “Stored 20 years – price UK£5950.00”; reg’n not current Dec ‘11 |
| 21 | 3½ | DUC776 | Noted in GBR 1969; no further information |
| 22 | 3½ | EEB388 | James Young drophead coupé; advertised Classic & Sports Carmagazines Sep/Nov/Dec ’93; reg’n not current Dec ‘11 |
| 23 | 3½ | EGO733 | GBR.70/D. A. W. Alldrit of Redland, Bristol (noted 1970 BDC members list); BDC records show this as a 1938 3½ litre with the chassis number “B437G”!; possibly refers to B88JD owned by somebody named Alldritt (note spelling) in 1951 |
| 24 | 4¼ | EJJ548 | Thrupp & Maberly design B1122 delivered September ’37; almost certainly chassis B59KU reg’d October ‘37 |
| 25 | 4¼ | ELF248? | GBR.98/Blondell; Tom Clarke met this owner of a 1937 Thrupp & Maberly saloon at Manchester Car Show at the G-MEX Centre November ’98; possibly a memory lapse and actually refers to ELF351/B16LS |
| 26 | 4¼ | ESK703 | 1936 drophead coupé; reg’d Nov ’90; handled by dealer Porters in Kensington; appeared British TV programme “Class Act” ‘94; not current Dec ‘11 |
| 27 | 4¼ | ESV497? | 1937 Park Ward drophead coupé; possibly registered GSV497; advertisement Classic Cars June 1986 |
| 28 | 4¼ | EYX375 | GBR.92/Baron; this is thought to be an error for EYX395/B2MR |
| 29 | 4¼ | FMK780 | GBR.66/G. W. Rothwell of Preston, Lancashire (noted 1966 BDC members list); reg’n not current Dec ‘11 |
| 30 | 4¼ | GSV497? | 1937 Park Ward drophead coupé; possibly registered ESV497; advertisement Classic Cars June 1986; neither reg’n current Dec ‘11 |
| 31 | 3½ | HSM1 | GBR.66/H. S. P. Monro of Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire (noted 1966 BDC members list); reg’n not current Dec ‘11 |
| 32 | 3½ | HX3926 | GBR.81/Summerfield (noted 1976 BDC members list); this is the famous Bentley Avon Special No.3 fitted with a 4¼ litre engine but the original 3½ litre chassis number is unknown |
| 33 | 4¼ | JR7440 | GBR.50/Henry Moor of Durham University; (noted 1950 BDC members list) |
| 34 | 4¼ | JVR422 | GBR.50/Stanley E. Bates of Hurstpierpoint, East Sussex; (noted 1950 BDC members list) |
| 35 | 3½ | JVS342 | Park Ward saloon; noted by the author on the road 1994 |
| 36 | 4¼ | K8752 | Reported Apr ’10 as a 1936? Derby Bentley owned many years ago by one Entwhistle |
| 37 | 4¼ | KSF336 | 1939 Hooper saloon in ‘MR’ series; reg’n issued April to June 1953 by Edinburgh; offered by Clarendon Garage MotorSportMay ‘77 p635; five possible cars B122MR, B130MR, B134MR, B138MR & B196MR; reg’n not current Dec ‘11 |
| 38 | 3½ | LRO331 | Early style Park Ward saloon with modernised front wings; at Jack O’Lantern Garage, Hampshire 1960s; thought to be either B71BL or B97BN |
| 39 | 4¼ | MXU2 | GBR.78/J. R. Guppy of Gussage St. Michael, Dorset (noted 1976 BDC members list update published Aug ‘78); reg’n not current Dec ’11; DXU2 on B175JY may apply |
| 40 | 4¼ | OGJ123 | GBR.76/J. F. O. Laing of Canterbury, Kent (noted 1976 BDC members list); reg’n not current Dec ‘11 |
| 41 | 3½ | OM8654 | Running Derby Bentley chassis offered by Jack O’Lantern Garage 1950s; reg’n not current Dec ‘11 |
| 42 | 3½ | OUB396 | GBR.59/Flt-Lt. R. H. Robson of Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (noted 1959 BDC members list); reported as a 1935 Park Ward saloon; reg’n not current Dec ‘11 |
| 43 | ? | PMO491 | Unknown builder fixed head coupé; at Jack O’Lantern Garage, Romney, Hampshire 1950s |
| 44 | 3½ | RC3168 | GBR.74/John L. MacKinlay of Hawes, North Yorkshire (R-REC member); registration reported on MacKinlay’s Bentley S1 Continental chassis BC8DJ either earlier or later |
| 45 | 3½ | S-1020 | Brockman tourer on 1935 chassis; presumably refers to B176EF, the only chassis of that year later fitted with a Brockman body |
| 46 | 4¼ | UFF367 | Park Ward saloon finished in bright red with black painted wire wheels; offered to dealer Frank Dale & Stepsons after reg’n Jul ‘95 |
| 47 | 4¼ | VWY63 or YMX63? | 1937 Park Ward drophead coupé; 1958 Leeds (VWY) or 1953 Middlesex (YMX) registration; advertisement Motorsport June ‘64/507; neither reg’n current Dec ‘11 |
| 48 | 3½ | YAS419 | Illustrated BDR251/189, BS3/16; 2-seat special on Derby Bentley chassis reg’d Oct ’03 is known to be B–3FC |