A veteran of designing RAF aeroengines during World War I, W.O. Bentley next created a sporting motor car unequaled in its era. The 3-Litre resulted in production of 1,624 cars in three wheelbase configurations and three performance levels, including the aptly named Speed Model with its distinctive red radiator badge, or ‘Red Label’. Quality control was peerless; Bentley preferred customers to send their chassis to one of a hundred coachbuilders approved by the company, and then inspected the finished car thoroughly before allowing it to be sold; each 3-Litre carried a five-year guarantee.

Chassis number LT 1583 is an original Speed Model, noted by Clare Hay in Bentley: The Vintage Years as having been equipped with the C-Type gearbox, 17-gallon fuel tank, and 6½-Litre style mixture controls. It was bodied by Freestone & Webb as a saloon to the French Weymann patent, with fabric outer panels, similar to the Bentley team cars of the period and a popular choice for lightweight sporting bodies of the time. Charmingly, the car retains its original Weymann patent plate on the scuttle.

The car was delivered in May 1926 to Robert Miesegaes, a prolific acquirer of custom Bentleys well into the post-war era. Hay notes that an A-Type gearbox and low-geared steering box were fitted to the car early in life, in June 1927, followed by a new chassis frame in November 1928. Miesegaes had a habit of keeping his automobiles as long as they amused him; this Bentley thus passed in 1928 to a G.M. Carter, followed by W. Shuker in 1929, J.M. Olden in 1934, and I.J.H. Pitman in 1948. A series of short-term further British caretakers followed, before the car was acquired by the current owner’s family in 1967 from one K.L. George.

Inspection shows that the car retains many of its original components, with the proper frame and chassis numbers still stamped into many of the expected locations. Accompanying the car is a small but fascinating history file, including an original “buff” registration logbook, MoTs between 1965 and 2005, and assorted correspondence and invoices. After a period of static display, the Rolls-Royce has been returned to running condition, but bidders are encouraged to perform a mechanical inspection prior to returning the car to the road.

This is a wonderfully pure ‘Red Label’ Bentley that is sure to impress its next caretaker.