1925 Bentley 3/4 1/2 Litre 'Old Mother Gun' RecreationChassis… - Collectors' Motor Cars, Motorcycles, Motor Boats, Number Plates and Automobilia - Bonhams & Goodman (No longer trading)

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Description:

1925 Bentley 3/4 1/2 Litre 'Old Mother Gun' RecreationChassis no. 1123Engine no. 1115The first Bentley, the 3 Litre was conceived in 1919 by Captain Walter Owen Bentley, known throughout the car world simply by his initials - W.O. Prior to the Great War, W.O. and his brother Horace Millner Bentley had acquired a car dealership for the the Uk agency for the French Doriot, Flandrin & Parant (Dfp), with which W.O. raced successfully in tuned form. On his first run in the Aston-Clinton hill-climb, W.O. broke the class record with his wife Leonie in the passenger seat. The Dfp was 'quick, robust, sporting in character and of the highest quality', the very qualities that were to become the foundations of the cars he went on to produce. He later designed aero engines on rotary principles which were a major contributor to the allied war effort. During the war W.O. met F.T. Burgess, Chief Designer of Humber and together went on to design the 3 Litre. It was intended as a fast, touring car, free of vices. In this aim, they were prodigiously successful.The superb 'W O' offered here is a re-creation of one of the most celebrated of all Vintage Bentleys, 'Old Mother Gun', the first production 41/2-litre model. Chassis number 'ST3001', better known as 'Old Mother Gun', was involved in the famous White House crash during the 1927 Le Mans 24-Hour Race and would go on to win the French endurance classic the following year driven by Woolf Barnato and Frank Rubin.Originally a standard 3-Litre model, chassis number '1123' was fitted with engine number '1115' and delivered new with Gurney Nutting four-seat coachwork to its first owner, Commander R V Eyre, on 25th July 1925. The Bentley was registered in the United Kingdon as 'Yk 5740' (the original cast-iron numberplate comes with it) and is one of 171 cars built that year on the 10' 10' wheelbase 'long standard' chassis.This 'W O' was one of two purchased by the vendor in the Uk in June 2007, its owner at that time being Blackhouse Farms Limited, of Knowle Hill, Bristol, in whose barn it had sat for many years. In July 2007, '1123' arrived at Botany, Sydney in very poor condition, the body having fallen apart, and it was decided to restore the original car as a replica of the famous winner of the 1928 Le Mans 24-Hour Race: 'Old Mother Gun'.This painstaking 'last nut and bolt' rebuild was undertaken by the highly respected Vintage Motor Garage founded in 1973 by Max Houston and taken over by Jonathan Houston, Max's son. This included enlarging the original engine, number '1115', to 41/2 litres capacity and constructing a new body frame of Australian coachwood. The latter has been panelled in aluminium and covered in Automotive Exterior Vinyl painted in Napier Green, matching the original 'Omg', while the seats and interior are trimmed in Connolly hide. Other 'Omg' features include a brake adjustment lever on the floor, enabling the brakes to be adjusted while racing; an oil reservoir under the dashboard with the filler pipe routed through the bonnet; a taller radiator; and a fuel tank increased from 12 to 35 gallons capacity. Blockley Vintage tyres were chosen as these have a deep tread typical of endurance racing tyres of the late 1920s. The car has three types of windscreen: a full screen finished in wire mesh like those of 1920s competition cars; a second of toughened glass; and a third comprising two Aero screens. Only one of the latter is fitted to the car, in keeping with the specifications of 'Omg', while the large central driving light is a 13' Marchal of the type fitted by the 'Bentley Boys' to complement the standard lighting.This wonderful re-creation of one of the most famous of all racing 'W O' Bentleys is presented in freshly restored condition. Only 25 miles have been covered since the rebuild's completion and thus the car has yet to be fully run in a task that the fortunate new owner will surely relish as a prelude to unleashing its full, glorious potential.

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Category:

Unclassified