SCM Analysis
Detailing
| Vehicle: | 1929 Bentley 4½ Litre Tourer |
| Years Produced: | 1927–31 |
| Number Produced: | 662 |
| SCM Valuation: | $752,000 |
| Tune Up Cost: | $800–$1,500 |
| Chassis Number Location: | Atop front left corner of forward crossmember and in front left-hand chassis knuckle |
| Engine Number Location: | Atop left side rear engine mount/starter motor mount |
| Club Info: | Bentley Drivers Club |
| Website: | http://www.bdcl.org |
| Alternatives: | 1931–33 Invicta S Type, 1929–33 Alfa-Romeo 6C 1750, 1927–31 Bugatti Type 43 |
| Investment Grade: | A |
This car, Lot 135, sold for $604,500, including buyer’s commission, at Bonhams’ Greenwich, CT, auction on June 5, 2022.
In the interest of full disclosure, my family owned this car from early April of 2019 until we sold it at the end of August in 2020.
Putting aside Bonhams’ flattering (and unsolicited) hyperbole regarding the car’s recent provenance, I think the auction house accurately conveyed how this vintage Bentley showcases the true qualities of the marque. “W.O.” Bentleys are among the best pre-war driver’s cars, as they are eligible for many events, on which they excel. This provides Bentley owners greater value than the sorts of pre-war cars that are mostly confined to concours lawns.
A good buy
At just over $600,000 here, the car was better bought than sold. Having recently proven itself over thousands of miles on various events, this example is about as “ready to go” as a collector car gets. Plus it has a continuous and known history. Despite its replica Vanden Plas body, all other major and numbered components are original or “matching.”
For comparison, an otherwise-identical 4½ Litre with its original Vanden Plas coachwork is a $1m (or more) car. These rebodied Bentleys are fully accepted within the market. Of the various examples on the road, from entirely correct original cars to all-out re-creations, this car is more genuine than most. The challenge, often, is qualifying a car given this broad spectrum.
My father and I usually get a few calls when one comes to market, and it can be tough to convey how a specific car fits into the bigger picture. Why is one rebodied Bentley better or more genuine than another? Is a matching-numbers chassis more important than original coachwork? What do any of these non-original components do to the value?
Body vs. mechanicals
We strongly believe, for example, that an original body is more important on a Bentley than the original engine. Yet today there is an overweighted emphasis on “matching numbers.” One must be careful not to apply principles from one marque or era to another. That said, wouldn’t you rather have a Ferrari 250 GTO with its original body but a replacement engine? Shouldn’t there be a bit more leniency for the exchange of mechanical components? After all, the process of swapping an engine is far less significant than swapping a car’s body.
Regardless, any such discussion will highlight that there are just too many possible scenarios and that any ranking or valuation is purely subjective. For vintage Bentleys, body, engine or frame changes and the like are all too common. At the end of the day, it comes down to what a buyer wants and how that buyer has been advised. We cannot apply overly simplistic, uncompromising rules to collecting and valuation.
Imperfection
It’s easy for me to say our subject car was well bought, but harder to explain exactly why. Based purely on the car’s overall makeup of components, one would be hard-pressed to find a numbers-matching 4½ Litre for much less than the sale price.
One thought is that the car’s condition could have been a deterrent to some bidders. In the ever-changing landscape of our market, perfection and instant gratification seem increasingly more important. Vintage Bentleys therefore present as an anomaly. With so many “Le Mans replicas,” there is a false honesty in patina. Much like unrestored 289 Shelby Cobras or Porsche 356 Speedsters, imperfection can seemingly validate cars that are commonly replicated.
In the case of our Bentley, its older restoration had flaws, but was also a testament to the quality of the work done decades ago. Regardless, it was neither a desirably tatty old thing nor a perfectly restored example. More important, I believe it was the car’s appearance that primarily held it back.
In our experience, the vast majority of Bentley buyers are looking specifically for the “Le Mans” look: cycle wings, fold-flat windscreen, massive fuel tank and British Racing Green color. Today, most Vintage Bentleys look this way, while in-period far less than 1% ever did.
With this particular example, its current configuration is that of a Vanden Plas “long-wing tourer,” which was the most standard body style built by Vanden Plas and offered by Bentley in-period. While the bulk of the coachwork on these cars is the same, the fenders (long wings), of course, are really quite different in appearance to the Le Mans-type cycle fenders. My gut says that the new owner could, for a reasonable sum, change the fenders and add a Le Mans-type fuel tank and turn a profit. (In fact, that’s something we considered doing ourselves.)
Though this is one of the few Bentleys we’ve owned that didn’t have its original coachwork, we appreciated the honesty and integrity of the car. After thousands of trouble-free miles, we also enjoyed how well sorted it was. The new owner bought a great car and paid a fair price. ♦
(Introductory description courtesy of Bonhams.)
