Sold: Sep 28, 2015

Bentley 3/4½ Litre – “Old Mother Gun” Sports 1925
Location: Australia
Price: GBP 289500

The Bentley motor car company was founded back in 1919 by brothers W.O. and H.M. Bentley. The Bentley brothers were involved in the motor industry having acquired the agency to sell French built DFP (Doriot, Flandrin & Parant) cars in 1912, however, they desperately wanted to build their own cars. So that they did and the first Bentley motor car, being just a chassis with a dummy engine, was shown at the 1919 London Motor Show and in late 1921 the first production Bentleys were built and delivered to their new owners.

Bentley got the formula right and their cars proved to be luxurious, reliable and fast thus attracting buyers from the elite of society in period. The cars were also incredibly successful on the race track with Bentley achieving the ultimate success winning Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930.

The difficult economic times in the late 1920’s had a major impact on Bentley and they stopped motor racing soon after winning Le Mans in 1930 and ultimately fell into receivership in 1931. Rolls Royce acquired the assets of Bentley in late 1931.

In this period Bentley produced some fabulous motor cars including the 3 Litre, 4½ Litre, ‘Blower Bentley’, 6½ Litre and 8 Litre models that are all today highly sought after by enthusiast and collectors all over the world.

Oldtimer Australia is delighted to offer this stunning Bentley 3 Litre/4½ Litre “Old Mother Gun” recreation. This particular car is chassis number 1123, engine number 1115 and it was originally a standard 3 Litre model that was delivered new with Gurney Nutting four-seat coachwork to its first owner, Commander R V Eyre, on July 25th 1925. It was registered in the UK as ‘YK 5740’. This Bentley is understood to be one of 171 cars built on the 10’ 10” chassis that year.

The car was found in a barn of Blackhouse Farms Ltd in Bristol in the UK where it had sat for many years. It was purchased by its current owner in 2007 and immediately sent to Australia. When the car arrived in Sydney it was decided to restore the original car as a recreation of the famous winner of the 1928 Le Mans 24 Hour Race, “Old Mother Gun”.

This painstaking, detailed and much researched rebuild was undertaken by the highly respected Vintage Motor Garage on the Central Coast of New South Wales in Australia.

The original engine, number 1115, was enlarged to 4 ½ litres and a new body of Australian coachwood constructed. This body has been panelled in aluminium and covered in automotive exterior vinyl, painted in the correct Napier Green, matching the original “Old Mother Gun”. The seats and interior are trimmed in Connolly hide and other “Old Mother Gun” features include the brake adjustment lever on the floor, taller radiator, oil reservoir under the dashboard with filler pipe routed through the bonnet and fuel tank capacity increased from 12 to 35 gallons. Blockley Vintage tyres were chosen as these have a deep tread typical of endurance racing of the late 1920s. The car has three types of windscreen: a full screen finished in wire mesh as those of 1920s competition cars, a second of toughened glass, and a third comprising two aero screens. Only one of the latter is fitted to the car, in keeping with “Old Mother Gun” specifications. A large central 13” Marchal driving light complements the standard lighting as fitted by the ‘Bentley Boys’.

This true W.O. Bentley rebuilt and rebodied to an exacting standard is in freshly restored condition with less than 100 miles covered since its completion. It is considered by many to be one of the finest recreations of “Old Mother Gun” in its 1928 guise, and most importantly with work carried out in the correct fashion on the correct model and chassis.

Interestingly the car has been registered in Queensland with its original number plate YK 5740 and is original cast iron number plates YK 5740 will accompanying the car.

A unique opportunity.

Now Mother Gun replica at Vintage Motor Garage, 2009. Chassis 1123 was rebodied to look like the original Mother Gun.

"I am told that this car was discovered in 2002 with its original Gurney Nutting body... Does anyone have a photo of the car, as discovered, with its original body? Few of those left..."

"1925 3 litre Bentley
Owner's name: Chris Mc Girl
Year: 1925
Chassis no: 1123
Engine no: 1115
Registration no: YK 5740
Asking price: Aus $ 520 000

This car has been rebuilt as Old Mother Gun by the Vintage Motor Garage in NSW in 2009 and has little use since then. Please refer to the car's history on this page. I am selling this car on behalf of Chris as he cannot drive due to bad knees. The car is located at my home in Tamborine Village Qld."