Description
Bentley Derby Special,
3. 5 litre,
Open sports,
Chassis B109EJ,
Engine D8BZ,
Year made: 1935,
Registration number: CJJ402. According to the buff card logbook which comes with it this superb car (chassis B109EJ) was first registered on 7th November 1935 at which time it was fitted with Park Ward saloon coachwork. Interestingly the customer listed in a copy of an original record in the file is “Olympia Motor Show 1935”.
An engineer’s condition report on the car dated July 1991 indicates that by then it was in an unkempt state as it refers to items needing repair which include rear door windows and roof trim, so I think it fair to assume it still had its original saloon body at that time.
It was acquired in 2001 by a Mr. of Aberdeenshire who had extensive mechanical work done on it including having the engine rebuild with new pistons and a new alloy cylinder head – a full list of work done comes with the car.
Inspired by the Blue Train, he also had a new aluminum body made (1450 kilo) and he clearly knew what he was doing as he chose Geoff Henderson of Consett to do the job. Having known other examples of Geoff’s work I think I can safely say that his design work and coachbuilding skills must be amongst the best in the country.
The outcome must be one of the most elegant sporting Derby Bentleys you can buy – apart from having lovely light proportions there are no signs whatsoever of anything being skimped or done to save time. Aside from parts of the bonnet I don’t think there is a flat panel or an absolutely straight line anywhere on the car so it has none of that slab sided heavy handedness you can so often see on less well designed special bodied cars. There are lots of pictures on file of Geoff’s work being done which help you appreciate the quality of the job.
In 2011 the car was sent to top flight Rolls-Royce and Bentley specialist Fiennes restauration to have it totally checked over and any faults rectified. There are some fairly eye watering bills on file with lots of details of the work done but the objective was to have the car prepared properly for long distance rallying and that have been archived. The final drive has been changed to a higher ratio crown wheel and pinion.
It run faultlessly on the Rallye des Alpes, 1000 Miles, a few Flying Scotsman’s (class wins) and even the Cape Horn in 2013 with 3rd place overall and it’s a well-recognized fast and handling car within the pre-war rally scene.
I goes without saying that it drives every bit as well as it looks with strong performance, good steering and brakes and an excellent ride so you really can travel long distances in it. We had some great holidays trips to Southern France as well. It has been fitted with a Brantz Retrotrip 3 Classique Rallymeter and has an overdrive and it’s already for another discerning person to own and enjoy.
This top-quality sporting 2+2 Bentley is also very sensible prices and offers very good value for money when compared with some other examples I have seen!
