1938 Bentley Other for sale $89,900

1938 Bentley Other $89,900
Car Ad from: Hemmings View Original Ad
Price: $89,900
Contact: View Original Ad from Hemmings
Location: Cleveland, OH
Details: Serial number B-75-LE, engine number A5BH. Thoroughly documented Derby Bentley with excellent ownership history and frame-off restoration in the 1990s. Fantastic high-speed tour car ready to enjoy!

This particular Bentley 4-door saloon was a catalog model with a body by Park Ward, long a Rolls-Royce partner in the finest tradition. Sweeping fenders, a hood that appears to be as long as a city block, and a handsome bustle-back trunk with rear-mounted spare make the car look as if its in motion, pushing forwards against the wind. This car received a comprehensive frame-off restoration that included a bare-metal respray in the 1990s, and the complementary two-tone beige and cream coachwork highlights the subtle elegance of the design. Among its many wonderful features are a sliding sunroof, massive Bentley headlights and a traditional chrome grille with Flying B hood ornament, and retractable trafficators in the B-pillars, pre-dating Buicks adoption of turn signals in the US in 1939. All four doors close with a reassuringly solid THUNK, the hood swings on well-oiled hinges, and the car feels robust as it goes down the road. All the chrome trim, and theres a surprising amount of it, was refinished to show standards and still looks fantastic today. Yes, the car has been extensively driven and toured, but thats the point of owning a Bentley and Ill wager that if you contact most owners of the Bentley Drivers Club, theyll say that a little bit of road wear is a badge of honor, not a demerit.

Front seat occupants are treated to a pair of supportive buckets that wrap around your shoulders, almost as if they were anticipating energetic driving in the cars future. Fragrant tan leather hides are used throughout and they have acquired a pleasant patina that only leather can provide, inviting without being tired. Theres natural burled walnut everywhere you look, from the window sills to the dashboard, which is filled with dials, switches, and knobs for the driver. The original instruments are all fully functional, including the tachometer (or rev-counter in the familiar parlance), and show bright markings and clear lenses after all these years. In back, youll be pleasantly surprised by the space available. Clever footwells offer the legroom of a much larger car, so its easy to get comfortable if youre under about six feet tall. The trunk is large and nicely shaped, and this particular car includes a pair of fitted suitcases for travelling, which still leave room for additional baggage. It also carries its original hub wrench, jack handle, and tool roll, although the tools are now stored in a very tidy panel built into the passengers front kick panel. Theres also a small canister full of replacement light bulbs.

Rolls-Royce engineers wasted no time adding horsepower to the Bentley, punching out the former 3.6 liter inline six to 4.25 liters, which also increased top speed from 90 to 96 MPH. Theres a massive intake silencer on top and the most wonderful array of tiny bell cranks and levers to manage the controls on the steering wheel. Twin ignition coils are of a modern type for reliability (the originals are notoriously prone to overheating and failure) and the voltage regulator is a cleverly hidden Delco unit (likewise), but those appear to be the lone modifications to the original spec. Both fuel pumps on the cowl operate correctly (its actually one fuel pump with two separate motors) and all of the wiring and plumbing in the car was replaced during the restoration. Richen the mixture as suggested on the steering wheel, add some throttle, and hit the starter button and the big six barks to life with ease and settles into a smooth 900 RPM idle. Once its warm, you can kick it down even more, where it will happily sit in the heat without getting fussy at all.

On the road the machinery is just brilliant, with smooth clutch take up and well-chosen gears in the 4-speed manual gearbox, so the car can pull through them