An example of W.O.

Bentley’s first production model An authentic short chassis Speed Model featuring coachwork by Vanden Plas Fitted with an upgraded 4½-litre engine in 2013 by specialist VBE Restorations Benefits from nearly £200,000 spent on restorative work over the past 11 years As the first model put into production by W.O.

Bentley’s eponymous new automotive firm, the 3-Litre is for many the purest of the Cricklewood company’s creations.

Of the 1,600 or so cars built, chassis 584 was delivered in May 1924 and owned first by AR Edwards.

As listed in vintage Bentley expert Stanley Sedgwick’s All the Pre-War Bentleys—As New , this car was originally specified as a short chassis Speed Model (featuring the high-compression 2,996-cc engine fed by twin SU carburettors) and dressed in four-seater Tourer bodywork by Vanden Plas.

The car was then acquired in 1928 by Mrs Rose Lancaster of Buckinghamshire.

It is fair to say that under her custodianship, the Bentley endured a colourful f...