Bentley 4 1/4 Litre I gallery (1936–1939)
The direct evolutionary successor to the Derby 3 1/2 Litre, offering an enlarged inline-six engine and refined overdrive gearbox.
The Bentley 4 1/4 Litre was introduced in 1936 as the natural evolution of the celebrated 3 1/2 Litre model, designed to deliver enhanced power and offset the weight of heavier, increasingly luxurious coachwork. The car utilized a reinforced ladder-frame chassis with live axles, semi-elliptic leaf spring suspension, and four-wheel drum brakes augmented by a mechanical servo mechanism licensed from Hispano-Suiza. Delivered as rolling chassis, bespoke coachbuilders like Park Ward, H.J. Mulliner, and Vanden Plas supplied custom four-door saloons, two-door drophead coupés, coupés, and open tourers. The primary engineering update was an enlarged bore for the overhead-valve inline-six engine, expanding displacement to 4.3 liters and boosting output to around 125 horsepower. In 1938, Bentley introduced a notable technical revision on the MR and MX series chassis, incorporating an overdrive fourth gear to reduce engine RPM and enhance cruising capability on newly expanding motorways. It was sold in Britain and across Western Europe and North America.
