1937 Bentley 4 ¼ Litre Thrupp Maberly Four-door Salon

1937 Bentley 4 ¼ Litre Thrupp Maberly Four-door Salon

Elegant, stately and dignified, MotoeXotica Classic Cars is very pleased to present this 1937 Bentley 4 ¼ litre four-door Salon. This example is one of only 1,234 Bentley 4¼ litre models built between 1936 and 1939.

The Bentley factory in Derby, England furnished the car’s chassis only; the onus was on the customer to select his own coachbuilder and body style. Highly regarded coachbuilder, Thrupp-Maberly of London, England, custom-built this car for its original owners, who had a beautiful St. Christopher’s medallion put into the instrument panel.

It has had one owner since 1976. He has lovingly taken care of it since he bought it and his family has enjoyed it in many ways. It has been used for picnics, proms, weddings, etc. The family had story after story of the Bentley being in car shows, in parades, at family events, strangers stopping them and just in general about how much the car has been loved and enjoyed by them. It has been part of the family. It was restored in 1997 and has been garage-kept for the past 22 years. The car has been reportedly maintained to the highest of levels by a professional Bentley mechanic.

Dressed in dark blue, the exterior paint and trim are in overall great condition, with minor blemishes visible upon close inspection, as expected with an older restoration. This Bentley features solid and straight bodywork, including its four, rear-hinged coach doors, and driver’s side, side-mounted spare tire. The left semaphore (turnsignal) sticks and there are no ewipers Its engine bay is quite tidy, the boot (trunk) is in satisfactory order while the chrome/nickel headlight pods, towering vertical grille and bumpers look great.

The chassis was manufactured from nickel steel and featured a “double-dropped” layout to gain vertical space for the axles and thus keep the profiles of the cars low. The strong chassis needed no diagonal cross-bracing and was very light in comparison to the chassis built by its contemporary competitors, weighing in at 2,510 pounds in drive-able form ready for delivery to the customer's chosen coachbuilder.

Under the bonnet (hood), is Bentley’s 4.3L straight six-cylinder engine, which replaced the earlier 3.7L six. Bentley added engine displacement to mitigate the increasingly heavy coachwork of the period and as Bentley endured stiff marketplace competition. Mated to the engine is a four-speed manual transmission with synchromesh available in third and fourth gears.

This English classic rolls on BFGoodrich Silvertown tires, size 5.50-18, that surround a set of gray wire wheels. The wheels look great while the tires are in satisfactory shape.

Inside, it is ordained with black walnut and beautiful tan Connolly leather interior. The front and rear split bench seats are in near-excellent order, as is the contrasting blue Wilton wool carpet. The headliner and three-spoke steering wheel are in great condition. The burled black walnut instrument panel has a full array of gauges while the inner door panels are in great shape. There are unexpected touches common from 1930 coachbuilders – bud vases, the black walnut inner door trim and more.

Beginning in March 1936, a4¼ litreversion of the car was offered as replacement for the 3½ litre, in order to offset the increasing weight of coachwork and maintain the car's sporting image in the face of stiff competition. The engine was bored to 3½inches for a total of 4.3L. From 1938 the MR and MX series cars featuredMarles steeringand an overdrive gearbox.

One thousand, two-hundred thirty-four 4¼ litre cars were built, withPark Wardremaining the most popular coachbuilder. Many cars were bodied in steel rather than the previous, more expensive, aluminum over ash frame construction.

Some famous first Bentley 4 ¼ litre drivers:

Woolf Barnato, racing driver & former Bentley chairmanPrince Bira, racing driver and Olympic sailorSir Malcolm Campbell, nine times World Land Speed Record holderBilly Cotton, bandleaderGeorge Eyston, three-time World Land Speed Record holderE. R. Hall, racing driver and Winter OlympianRaymond Mays, racing driverRobert Montgomery, actorSir Ernest Oppenheimer, diamond and gold mining entrepreneur, financier and philanthropistBernard Rubin, racing driver

Documentation includes original owner’s manual. Whether you’re a Bentley or Rolls-Royce connoisseur, a British or European car collector of simply someone who wants a once-in-a-lifetime vehicle to own and enjoy, you should stop by MotoeXotica Classic Cars today to pore over this pre-World War II British classic.

Competition to this Bentley in 1937 included Auburn’s 852 Series, Cadillac’s Series 60 Touring Sedan, Cord’s 812, Duesenberg’s Model J, Lincoln’s Zephyr, Packard’s Super 8 1500 Series, Pierce-Arrow’s 1701 Series and Studebaker’s President Series.

VIN: B190KT

This car is currently located at our facility in St. Louis, Missouri. Current mileage on the odometer shows 87,274 kilometers or 54,230 miles. It is sold as is, where is, on a clean and clear, mileage exempt title. GET OUT AND DRIVE!!!Note: Please see full terms and conditions listed below that pertain to the purchase of any said vehicle, thank you.