This 1935 Bentley is a rare beauty
Once considered a luxury car in Britain, the Bentley 3.5-litre Park Ward Aero Saloon's maker was in severe financial crisis in the 1930s. The company desperately required financial support and just when aircraft engine manufacturer D. Napier and Son was planning to buy the company, an unknown man acquired it for a highest bid of 25,000 pounds.
Later, it was revealed that the man had acquired the company on behalf of car manufacturer and arch-rival Rolls Royce.
Rolls Royce expected Bentley’s sporty look to appeal to its younger customer base. Among the first steps it took was to stop the production of Bentley’s 3-litre model, and moved on to produce a 3.5-litre version, produced in Derby, UK.
Before that, Rolls Royce was manufacturing its entry-level model Rolls Royce 2025 in Derby since 1929. Thus, this was the first Derby Bentley 3.5-litre.
When it came to technical specifications, the car was, in large part, similar to the Rolls Royce 2025, but to incorporate Bentley’s sporty style in it, the car had to undergo some major changes.
The car’s chassis was made lighter, and was fitted with a straight-six engine. Rolls Royce perhaps did not need horsepower, but Bentley certainly did.
Technicians were successfully producing 110 horsepower from a 3.7-liter cubic capacity engine, and had transformed a luxury sedan into a silent sports car.
Although the 3.5-litre Bentley’s axles were hard, owing to its adjustable hydraulic shocks, the 1.7-ton car offered the passengers comfort and a sporty feel at the same time.
The 3.5-litre Bentley is fitted with a sporty radiator grill, and the design is certainly better than that of the Rolls Royce.
The car features an aerodynamic design, with the rear portion of the car being visibly flat. Dubbed as the Aero Saloon, this model was designed by famed aircraft designer, Sir Roy Fedden.
Car designers Park Ward had designed only three cars in Wilsden, and so it will not be wrong to term these cars as ‘rare’.
In 1930s, Rolls Royce acquired Park Ward, and subsequently Park Ward designed the exterior of about half of the Derby Bentleys.
They designed Open Tour, The Sedanca coupé, and the Sports Saloon.
For increased performance, this model offered a high compression ratio, and was fitted with a camshaft like that of sports cars, whereas two SU carburetors were also fitted with the cross-flow cylinders.
This combination gives this car its 110 horsepower, which was unusual in 1935. Some adventurist Bentley owners even toured the world in 80 days in this 3.5-litre car.
In total, 2,422 such cars were produced out of which 70 percent are still in use around the world.
This single characteristic is sufficient to make this car a classic, but that’s not all.
In 1998, the Volkswagen Group acquired Rolls Royce, becoming the owner of Bentley and brought significant changes to the production line.
Today, Bentley is once again in competition with Rolls Royce, which is now owned by the BMW.