1932 Bentley 8-Liter Short Chassis

1932 Bentley 8-Liter is clothed in an aluminum body has spent most of its life in the United Kingdom. Its first owner, Major C. Cooper, acquired the car in April of 1932.

This two-door Fixed Head Coupe is one of the few 8-Liter Bentley's to be given a sporty persona. It is the second to last 8-Liter constructed, meaning it is one of the last Bentley's to be built before the company was acquired by Rolls-Royce.

The 8-Liter Bentley was introduced at the 1930 London Motor Show. It featured an 8-liter engine which was a development of Bentley's race-winning 6.5-liter unit. The main purpose of this model was to add competition in the luxury car segment and challenge the Rolls-Royce Phantom.

 

The power-plant was an engineering marvel, fitted with an Elektron crankcase and sump. The engine was a single iron block and cylinder head with four-valves per cylinder. It had an twin-spark ignition, a bore of 110 mm and a stroke of 140 mm. The straight-six engine carried chassis with wheelbases of 144 inches or 156 inches. The 156-inch wheelbase was the largest car produced in the UK up to that point in history. It could carry the large and luxurious bodies to speeds of 100 mph. To keep the weight of the vehicle to a minimum, many of the bodies and mechanical components were formed from aluminum. An overall weight of about 3700 pounds was typical for the chassis alone. A completed vehicle often tipped the scale at over 2.5 tons.

Production of the 8-Liter Bentley reached 100 units before production ceased. Rolls-Royce took the opportunity to rescue the struggling company and brought it under its financial protection. This move by Rolls-Royce, also ensured that the marque would never again offer competition to its luxury brand. The Bentley line was modified and acted as the entry-level cars in the luxury department.