We’re doing a little digging in the prewar section this month, because when all is said and done, they sure made them differently back then. And different is good. I mean, look at this bespoke blue beauty if you don’t believe me. For instance, this car has a panoramic windshield of sorts. Not one that went over the sides, like they would in the ‘50s, but over the roofline. That’s different. Not sure about useful, but definitely different.
You could say that about most of the rest of the car, actually. Two openings for the boot? Uncommon. Suicide doors front and back? How curious. A moonroof for the rear passengers? Fascinating.
The most wonderful thing about this particular Bentley, from a CC writer’s point of view, is how well-known it is. Certainly made for a lot less sifting through badly informed or mistranslated IA-infested slop than usual to research this post. So what do we have here?
In March 1939, bicycle magnate Sir Edmund Crane took delivery of a brand new Bentley 4¼ Litre saloon, fresh from coachbuilder H.J. Mulliner’s works in Chiswick, West London. The car was painted solid black at the time.
The chassis was, by then, a well-known and highly successful one. After 1931, Bentleys were wholly designed and manufactured by Rolls-Royce at their Derbyshire works. The 3½ Litre (1933-36) was essentially a short-wheelbase Rolls 20/25 with a more sporting flair. The 4 ¼ Litre chassis debuted in late 1936, in parallel to the new Rolls 25/30. It was an upgrade to the 3½ Litre, with the OHV twin carb straight-6 bored up to 4257cc. Beam axle up front, live in the back with leaf springs all round and servo-assisted mechanical brakes – all quite conservative, even by late ‘30s standards.
At the 1938 Earl’s Court Motor Show, Bentley unveiled a revised (a.k.a. “MR/MX series”) chassis, featuring a much improved steering box, a slightly more powerful engine (no hard data provided, but around 130hp was the general guess) and a new 4-speed gearbox with overdrive that allowed the car to reach over 90mph, depending on the body fitted. By late 1939, 200 MR/MX series 4¼ Litre Bentley chassis were produced – the last ones only received their bodies in the first half of 1940.
All Derby Bentleys were coachbuilt cars, at least theoretically. In practice, Rolls-Royce already had full control of Park Ward, who dressed half of all chassis (be they Rolls or Bentley) of their parent company. There were many other options available besides the few included above, such as VandenPlas, Freestone & Webb, Rippon or Corsica.
Of course, if you ordered your Bentley abroad, you could also get it bodied locally. Many folks did – some coachbuilders like Erdmann & Rossi, Vanvooren or the Belgian firm Vesters & Neirinck dressed over a dozen 4¼ Litre chassis between 1936 and 1940.
As a general rule, Bentleys were seen as a far more owner-driver-oriented marque compared to R-R and coachbuilders were typically more daring when dressing them. Some cars donned the conservative “Razor edge” look, but quite a few got more modern streamlined bodies, like this bulbous 1937 saloon by Carlton.
H.J. Mulliner, who made carriages since the 1760s, became specialized in high-class automobile bodies by the 1910s – naturally, they practiced their art on many Bentley chassis. Their creations were distinctly on the conservative side, but in 1937 they started proposing a pair of designs (a coupé and a saloon, which could both be customized per the client’s wishes, naturally) called “High Vision” that incorporated a pair of Perspex windows just above the windshield.
Most cars also featured another see-through panel set in the roof, usually above the back seat. This “High Vision” solution was H.J. Mulliner’s take on the automotive roof trends that had been gathering steam since the late ‘20s.
As more cars became topped with metal instead of fabric or leather, several carmakers started proposing sunroofs. Some added portholes up there, or full panoramic roofs. Still others tried to fashion the first panoramic windshields – Tatra and Panhard (above) did so by essentially turning the A-pillars into small windows. Yet another solution was to do away with the A-pillars completely: French coachbuilder Labourdette patented a system called “Vutotal” that did exactly that.
Mulliner’s approach was novel, but it only required complex work on the roof panel – the rest of the greenhouse was unaffected. This probably kept costs in check, though anything produced by that coachbuilder was on the expensive side anyway.
I’m not sure how many of these were made, whether in two- or four-door configuration, but at least a half-dozen are still with us. The 1938 coupé above was for sale at Sotheby’s last year, for example.
The interior, thanks to the attention paid to letting the sunshine in, is a very bright and pleasant place to be, at least when the temperature is below 30°C. This car was restored at least twice many moon(roofs) ago – in the ‘70s and the 2000s, with some mechanical work done later – so it has re-acquired some patina.
The original owner, Mr Crane, sold it in 1948. These held up their value pretty well, even when they were just old cars, which explains why quite a few have survived. This particular one crossed the Atlantic at least twice since the ’70s and went through many owners before heading to Japan sometime in the present decade.
The current owner seems to be keen to be seen driving it around town. Here it is on Ginza, one of the best places to putter about in a prewar Bentley, in my opinion. If nothing else, it shows all the other Rolls and Bentley owners around (and there are many on that stretch of tarmac on weekends) just what a genuine high-class and high-vision car should look like.
There is the thorny issue of the colour scheme, though. It’s true that taking it back to its original black might not be the wisest course of action, but that sky blue is too bright for this type of car. Imagine it in more of a royal blue or burgundy over black…
Luckily, I’ll never have to make these kinds of decisions. Backseat driving a Bentley is far more comfortable, especially one that has a panoramic roof. That must have cost a pretty penny when new, though. The PR department at H.J. Mulliner diligently promoted their firm’s “High Vision” specials; some obviously saw through those arguments, but a small number of well-heeled patrons were persuaded that this was the car to be seen in.
Related post:
Curbside Classic: 1934 Bentley 3½ Litre Cabriolet by Park Ward – Reinventing Bentley, by T87
That modern Rolls-Royce following the Bentley down the Ginza with its hideous blue bonnet is a pretty good illustration of how tacky the old parent marque has become in recent years.
Just beautiful. And I don’t mind the colours at all. But what a shame Mulliner didn’t conceal the fuel filler, rather than plating it. Or was that the restorer?
As always, I am amazed at the variety or period photos you manage to assemble. The Vanvooren saloon looks almost like the postwar standard steel bodies at a quick glance. The less said of the Carlton design, the better.
It’s interesting “coachbuilders were typically more daring” with pre-war Bentleys than with chassis from Rolls-Royce or Daimler. Some of those you pictured with the suicide doors may have been pillarless a la the later Lancia Appia, avoiding the problems afflicting the Facel Vega Excellence by keeping window frames so there was an upper latching mechanism. On the 4¼ Bentley chassis, both Vanden Plas and Park Ward offered four-door “pillarless” bodies: 1937 (left) and 1938 (right) Bentley 4¼ Litre Pillarless saloons by Park Ward pictured.
This is the answer to narrow windshields with a tall driver. I have a car from the opposite end of the spectrum, a Citröen 2CV, and I am fairly tall. There is lots of headroom, but when I am stopped at a traffic light, I cannot see the signals unless I slouch down. In summer I open the roof and then I can look over the top of the windshield.
Touring the continent (and especially the Alps) was a popular thing back then to do with cars like this. And how better to see the Alps than through the windows of this?
I love the current color combo.
Does the glass piece open, or is it just a fixed glass roof?
The black 1938 at Sotheby’s (https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/ch25/lots/r0004-1938-bentley-4litre-high-vision-coupe-by-hj-mulliner/) appears to open in some manner — there’s a crank handle on the inside, ahead of the transparent panel. I think maybe it’s a sliding steel sunroof that happens to have a transparent panel set into it, but I can’t tell for sure.
I’m keeping an eye on Craigslist for a Labourdette version. 🙂
The Panhard ad was interesting. I recently watched a Jay Leno’s Garage episode on the
1967 Panhard 24 BT, a car I can easily imagine as around-town transportation in 2026. The Panhard head office has sadly long disappeared from 19 Av. d’Ivray in Paris.
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8223176,2.3678002,3a,90y,239.73h,117.2t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sJwJZG2UYDJW1_Z4DxjF3Eg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-27.195133894769583%26panoid%3DJwJZG2UYDJW1_Z4DxjF3Eg%26yaw%3D239.72641233507818!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDcwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
The amazing Hooper body, with the landau bars and what looks like a little coach lamp, is trying to be a sporting hearse.
The Sothebys example shows that the potential for an Englishman (or his mad dog) to suffer barbequed eyebrows is rather elegantly obviated by the installation of very discrete concertina blinds. Further, there is a shade for the moonroof. The risks of brain boilage have been forethought, not that the attributes of the inter-related class who could afford these demonstrated it.
I too think the blue is too pusillanimous for Derby Bentley: it belongs more on some effete ’50’s bathroom fitting.
I am not so taken with the car as a whole. It too much resembles a Triumph Renown that has conjoined with a lovely Bentley bonnet, and to add a final demerit, it has a contrivance from the era that I have never been able to bear, to whit, the spats that aren’t fully spat. Detestable little Baroque gargoyles, to my mind, and certainly out of sync with the square hat the car wears.
This has just shown up in my X feed via a Citroen owning contract in Japan
I have the blue Rolls 20HP parked to the ’39 Bentley’s left in my files… Might write it up this month!
I’m the owner of this Derby Bentley ‘High Vision’.
Thank you very much for such a detailed and perceptive account of the car. I was genuinely impressed, and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
I had no idea that it had been photographed so carefully on the morning when I had it parked at Gaien, or on the day I was driving through Ginza.
Unless I’m mistaken, I don’t think I’ve yet had the pleasure of introducing myself to you in person. If you happen to spot the car again somewhere, please do come over and say hello.
I intend to continue looking after it with great care, but also to use it as much as possible and take it on many more journeys to all sorts of places.
P.S. I must admit I was a little sad to see that the two-tone blue doesn’t seem to be terribly popular, judging by some of the comments as well! I rather love it myself. As a female owner, I particularly like the fact that the colours bring out a certain charm and prettiness in the car rather than simply emphasising its imposing presence.
It isn’t the car’s original colour scheme, of course, but I believe combinations of this sort would have been quite at home in the 1930s. There is something distinctly British to my eye about that slightly muted shade of sky blue.
That’s awesome that you’ve found your car here! I agree with you, I like this two tone blue far better than dour black.