Cars for Sale

1931 Bentley 8 Litre le Mans Tourer

• Chassis number YF5012, first registered in January 1931
• One of only 100 Bentley 8 Litres to leave the Cricklewood factory
• Extensive history file and clear history since new
• Stunning Le Mans Tourer body fitted by H&H coachbuilders

The magnificent Bentley 8 Litre was the marque’s flagship model when it was introduced in late 1930. Earlier that year, Bentley had taken its fifth victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours, a run of success that had made the company famous around the world, and now it turned its attention to making the ultimate road car.

WO Bentley’s ambition was to combine luxury, comfort and power. As he put it, he wanted to produce a ‘dead-silent 100mph car’. To do so, Bentley took the six-cylinder engine from the 6½ Litre model and stretched it to 7983cc. The crankcase was made from Elektron – a magnesium alloy – in order to save weight, and a new ‘F-type’ gearbox was developed in order to cope with the immense torque.

A sturdy new chassis was also designed and offered in a choice of two wheelbases: 12ft and 13ft. Bentley’s wealthy clients could then specify the coachwork, and the company guaranteed 100mph performance, whatever body was fitted.

Sadly, the car’s launch coincided with a global economic downturn and Bentley itself was also in financial trouble. Only 100 examples of the 8 Litre were built before the company was acquired by Rolls-Royce in late 1931, but it remains a majestic high point in Bentley history. When The Autocar tested WO Bentley’s personal 8 Litre, it said that it was ‘motoring in its highest form … On performance alone, it stands right in the forefront as an equal, at least, of any other car in existence.’

This particular 8 Litre is chassis number YF5012, which was first registered on 30 January 1931 and sold new to FA Simmonds of Aldershot, UK. Originally fitted with a handsome six-light Weymann saloon body by Gurney Nutting, the 8 Litre was still in that form when it was sold to HP Spinks in 1938 via the well-known London dealer Jack Barclay.

In 1953, the Bentley was acquired by W and MJ Dundas Fox before passing through a handful of other UK Owners in the 1950s. It is at this point that the princely Gurney Nutting saloon body was swapped with a 4-seater open tourer body, and that the car was fitted with engine YX5114 from another 8 Litre chassis, YF502.  The car was photographed in that form outside the Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern during the summer of 1959, when it was owned by PH Fearis and GR Furley.

In 1963, YF5012 was brought over to the United States for Mrs E. Ann Klein, remaining Stateside for more than 40 years and subsequently being owned by CM Crowhurst, JS MacKiernan and JE Goodman, before being bought in 1979 by Bentley enthusiast Dr Peter Walling in Texas. By the time Walling acquired the car, the chassis had been shortened from its original 13ft to 10ft 10in. Walling kept OU7794 for 24 years, 10-12 of those years being eaten up by a painstaking and ground-up restoration by Roger Cook and Barry Guppy, which included the fitting of a new 2-seater body – costing more than £160,000, and which was completed in 1998. For the following 6 years, Walling enjoyed OU7794 for a further 5000 miles on various events and trips in the USA.

In 2004, the Bentley was sold to a UK-based enthusiast, who soon commissioned a new Le Mans-style body from H&H Coachworks. After that considerable investment, the car was ready for its next owner to enjoy on events such as the Birkin Celebration Rally in Germany in 2013, plus the First International Bentley 8 Litre Rally in 2016. It also attended the Classic Days Schloss Dyck meeting in August 2019.

In 2024, the engine was rebuilt by renowned specialist David Ayre, and the comprehensive history file includes copies of the factory services records, plus photographs from when the current body was fitted in 2004.

Still wearing its original registration of OU 7794, this Bentley 8 Litre combines sporting coachwork with the effortless performance for which these rare, coveted and highly collectable cars are rightly renowned. Eligible for a wide range of tours and events, YF5012 is a unique example of the ultimate ‘Cricklewood-era’ Bentley.