Description
1934 Bentley 3 1⁄2 Litre Sports Saloon by Hooper
Chassis B53BL is a 1934 Bentley 3½ Litre built during the first full production year of the model celebrated as the “Silent Sports Car” and known to enthusiasts as the Derby Bentley. Burgundy over white with a burgundy interior and RHD. It is a highly desirable matching-numbers example, retaining its original Z4BB engine and its original Hooper & Co. Sports Saloon coachwork, body number 8075 to design 5500. The 3½ Litre was the first Bentley developed under Rolls-Royce ownership and quickly established a reputation for combining refinement, reliability, and sporting performance.
What distinguishes B53BL from many surviving Derby Bentleys is the remarkable extent of its accompanying factory documentation. The original Hooper body survives intact, and the car remains a matching-numbers example with its original twin-SU-carburettor Z4BB engine. Recently emerged from long-term storage, the Bentley has been repainted at some point in its life, but the Hooper coachwork, interior, dashboard, and engine compartment appear fundamentally as built. As such, B53BL represents an unusually authentic and well-documented example of one of Bentley’s most important pre-war models. An excellent original car to restore and a very special find.
Chassis B53BL
Engine Z4BB
Body 8075
Price: $34, 500
