“The short chassis 4 ½-litre was the finest car we built.

It was a magnificent car.” –Woolf Barnato The fame and renown of the Bentley 4½-Litre is well-known to enthusiasts, but not all 4½-Litres were created equal.

Foremost among them was surely the handful of “short-chassis” cars, of which 10 were produced to individual customer order between 1927 and 1931.

As the name indicates, these cars were built on a 117 1/2-inch-wheelbase frame, which was similar in length to the earlier 3-Litre, but as a purpose-built unit for the 4½-Litre engine was stronger and more rigid.

The reduction in wheelbase much improved handling and thus road manners, producing a true connoisseur’s “driver’s car.” Longtime Bentley Drivers Club stalwart and archivist Darell Berthon wrote in Cars in Profile: The 4½-Litre Bentley that the short-chassis “handled beautifully on the road...In the opinion of many, they were the best looking and handiest Bentley ever made.” Chassis number NX3463, one of the original f...