Bentley 8 Litre

Weymann saloon by H. J. Mulliner YF5001: the first 8 Litre made; built for entertainer Jack Buchanan.[14]

Announced on 15 September 1930[4] and launched at the London Olympia Motor Show in October 1930,[3] the 8 Litre Bentley was noted for its tractability and smoothness; it could be driven from walking pace to highway speeds in top gear without effort.[13][9]

As a result of the worldwide Great Depression, the 8 Litre did not sell well enough to improve Bentley's financial situation.[12][9] The chassis was priced at £1,850,[3] roughly equivalent to £293,000 in 2010.[15]

Only 100 of these cars were made,[5][13] of which 35 were on the shorter wheelbase and 65 were on the longer wheelbase.[13] Fewer than 25 were fitted with open bodies. It is suggested that the cost of the development of the car was a prime reason for Bentley Motors going bankrupt.[16]

Bentley made one more attempt at financial recovery by installing modified Ricardo 4-litre engines in a shortened 8-Litre chassis and selling the result as the Bentley 4 Litre.[17][18] Announced on 15 May 1931,[19] only 50 were made before Bentley Motors Ltd. was placed into receivership.[17]

When Rolls-Royce bought Bentley Motors from the receiver[20] in November 1931,[21] it discontinued production of the 8-Litre[13][12] and disposed of all spare parts for it.

Saloon rebodied with a replica tourer body

78 Bentley 8 Litre cars were known to survive as at mid-2011.[22] Many of these have had their original limousine or saloon bodies replaced by new replica tourer bodies.[23] As a result, Bentley 8 Litres with original bodies are much sought after by collectors.

The only Bentley 8 Litre with an American body, which was also the first Bentley with an all-metal body, was built by the W.M. Murphy Company of Pasadena for a customer in Santa Barbara, California.[24]

McKenzie's Garages, a specialist in Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars, modified four 8 Litres in the 1930s: YM5050, with shortened chassis, lowered radiator and bulkhead, and triple SU carburettors,[25] YR5083, with a higher-ratio rear axle and triple SU carburettors,[26] YX5117, with a lowered and shortened chassis and triple SU carburettors,[27] and YX5121, with a shortened and lowered chassis and a tuned engine.[28]

• Brooks, Philip C. (2009). Carpenter, Rhonda; Iwalani, Kahikina (eds.). "The Mighty Sixes". The International Club for Rolls-Royce & Bentley Owners Desk Diary 2010. Tampa, FL USA: Faircount: 26–35.
• Buckley, Martin (2004). "2 Exclusivity assured, luxury unlimited". Cars of the Super Rich: The Opulent, the Original and the Outrageous. St. Paul, MN USA: Motorbooks International. pp. 42–43. ISBN 0-7603-1953-7. Retrieved 23 June 2013. Too many of these fabulous cars have lost their original bodywork in favour of replica open-tourers, but the survival rate of the 8-litre is high. ...Few remaining cars now have original saloon bodywork."
• Eybl, Eckhard (7 March 2001). Ostmann, Bernd (ed.). "Achttausender". Auto, Motor und Sport. 2001 Heft 6: 192–197.
• Feast, Richard (2004). "When Barnato bought Bentley". The DNA of Bentley. St. Paul MN USA: MotorBooks International. pp. 64–65. ISBN 9780760319468. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
• Hay, Clare (2011). Bentley Eight Litre. Number One Press. ISBN 978-0-95358-272-3.
• Johnson, Harvey (Fall 2011). Verschoor, Ron (ed.). "The Eight-Litre: Bentley's Last is Bentley's Best". The Classic Car. Beverley Hills, CA USA: Classic Car Club of America. LIX (3): 3–11. ISSN 0009-8310. Of the 100 Bentley Eight-Litre models (sic) produced, 78 are known to exist today.
• King, Tom, ed. (2008). "The Derby Bentley Turns 75 Years Old" (PDF). New Zealand Rolls-Royce & Bentley Club Inc. Christchurch, NZ: New Zealand Rolls-Royce & Bentley Club, Inc (8–6): 16–19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2012. Rolls-Royce Limited bought Bentley Motors through a nominee company on 13 November 1931 for £125,000 and immediately formed Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd.
• Posthumus, Cyril (1977) [1977]. "The End of an Era". The Story of Veteran & Vintage Cars. John Wood, illustrator. Feltham, Middlesex, UK: Hamlyn. pp. 112–123. ISBN 0-600-39155-8.
• Robson, Graham (1990). "Bentley 8-litre". The Worlds Most Powerful Cars. 6 Blundell Street, London N7 9BH: Quintet Publishing. pp. 24–27. ISBN 1-85076-254-6. The Derby company was relieved when the trade depression killed off Bentley – and the 8-litre model was never revived by the new management.CS1 maint: location (link)
• "1931 Bentley 8-Liter". Conceptcarz. Daniel Vaughan. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
• "1931 Bentley 8 Litre Chassis No. YX5121 Engine No. YX5122 Registration no. GW 2926". VintageBentleys.org. 2006. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2017. This famous car will forever be associated with just two people: Mr. Forrest Lycett, the original owner, and Mr. L. C. McKenzie, the developer.
• "History By Chassis – List of all W. O. Bentleys with original chassis nos. 8 Litre". Houston, TX USA: VintageBentleys.Org. Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
• "HISTORY OF MARQUES: BENTLEY – British". Sportscars.TV. 1966. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2012. There was nothing to complain about in the engine design, but unfortunately the very heavy 8-litre chassis was used and this resulted in a rather dull and slow car.
• "Lot 244: Bentley 4-Litre/8-Litre Le Mans-style Tourer". Motorbase. Hastings, UK: Classic Vehicles. Retrieved 8 April 2012. A double-drop chassis was adopted, closely based on that of the contemporary Bentley 8-Litre, and offered in two wheelbase lengths: 11' 2" and 11' 8", both of which were shorter than the shortest of the two 8-Litre chassis available.

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