OPPOSITE Prince Philip 1979, New York, USA


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n 1930 W O Bentley introduced the magnificent 8 litre car which was capable of carrying luxurious coachwork at 100mph and in complete silence. In a shrinking market following the depression, this car began to make serious inroads into a traditional Rolls-Royce market. Jack Barclay found that it was increasingly difficult to sell a Phantom II Continental alongside a Bentley 8 Litre.


Money was always tight at Bentley Motors and the


racing programme together with the cost of launching the 6½ litre necessitated the raising of further capital in 1925. Woolf Barnato, one of the ‘Bentley Boys’, injected considerable sums of money to keep car production going, but by 1931 the situation was becoming dire. The expense incurred in the launch of the 8 litre and 4 litre cars and a supercharged version of the 4½ litre required more capital if the Company was to stay afloat. The 4 litre was not a success, much to the relief of Rolls-Royce who feared competition with their 20/25 model, and the sales of the 8 litre were not sufficient to keep the Company afloat. Various approaches were made including one to Rolls- Royce suggesting a merger, but all to no avail and on 11 July 1931 a receiver was appointed. In desperation W O Bentley approached Napiers who, following negotiations, agreed to buy the Company and to recommence car production which they had given up in 1924. An announcement appeared in the Autocar of 14 August 1931 headed “Bentley Napier Fusion”. Rolls-Royce felt sufficiently threatened by this potential Napier take over – their old aero engine and quality automobile manufacturing rivals – that they decided to take action. When the official receiver appeared in court to


present the Napier offer to the presiding judge they made an anonymous bid for Bentley Motors through the Equitable Central Trust Ltd. This bid was successful and Rolls-Royce acquired Bentley Motors Ltd for about £125,000 on 13 November 1931. This included the services of W O Bentley himself. Once the legalities had been completed Rolls-Royce formed a new company ‘Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd.


A SMALLER EnGInE PROJECT


Early Development of the Derby Bentley: The engineering department at Derby had no warning of the imminent takeover of Bentley Motors and had nothing to offer the sales department to market as a Bentley. By the end of 1931 Sir Henry Royce and his team based at his home in West model, codenamed ‘Bensport’, and what they were initially contemplating bore little resemblance to the first Derby Bentley. Due to the economic depression, a smaller model of about 3 litres and different bore little resemblance to the first Derby Bentley. Due to the from current Rolls-Royce models was contemplated. Half of sales from the Cricklewood works had been the 3 litre and sales of larger cars had been declining. Royce was considering a supercharged engined car to reflect its sporting heritage.


The Company started trying out other sports cars including an Alvis Speed 20 and Roy Fedden’s blown straight 8 Alfa Romeo, but decided this was not the type of car they wanted to produce. A Smaller Engine Project: Due to the


prevailing economic situation, Royce had had a smaller four seater owner-driver saloon designed at Derby, code name ‘Peregrine’, with a mono-block cast iron engine of 2364cc capacity, a possible successor to the 3.6 litre 20/25 model. The car was ready for road testing in June 1932 and was favourably commented upon. However, when taken to France it developed very high oil temperatures when driven flat out. The Babbit metal big end bearings suffered and began to break up. An oil cooler could have been a solution but would have to have been massive to cope. The small engine could not produce acceptable performance on the winding British roads without a rear axle ratio which gave a continuous 5000rpm in France. The solution of an overdrive was not available. The project was dropped, but as the basis of the ‘Bensport’ the chassis had distinct possibilities which Royce recognised.


A COMPROMISE IS REAChEd


Consideration was given to supercharging the Peregrine engine, but issues such as


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