The hands
The people behind the car
The people whose work shaped the Bentley 3 Litre.
W.O. Bentley
Founder and chief engineer
Defined the 3 Litre's engine architecture and used competition to prove the production chassis.
3 Litre
Bentley's first production chassis
The 3 Litre established the W.O. Bentley formula: a large, slow-turning engine, separate coachbuilt body and endurance results that made the road car credible. Chassis, engine and original coachwork outweigh a later Le Mans-style body.
Market value · road
$203K–$296K
Typical $259K · 30 sales · +25% vs ’19–’20
$107K$572K
Market value · road
$203K–$296K
Typical $259K · 30 sales · +25% vs ’19–’20
$107K$572K
’03’26
Market history · in the terminal
- Engine
- 2'996 cc four (SOHC · four valves per cylinder)
- Power
- 70 to 80 bhp (standard and Speed factory figures)
- Top speed
- 90 mph (145 km/h · Speed Model)
- Transmission
- 4-speed (manual · non-synchromesh)
- Production
- 1'622 (513 Speed Models)
- Le Mans wins
- 1924 · 1927 (overall)
Market & Price
The price and the proof
A terminal for one car: the model curve over the documented record, the benchmarks it is measured against, and the instruments that read it.
Records: 50 documented road sales on file · 2003–2026; estimate band $203K–$296K · good road cars. recorded sale prices · mixed hammer and premium-inclusive basis.
HCN:3LITRELive model
$258'782-50.2% · 12M
Model curve · anchored to 50 documented sales · benchmarks rebased at window startmodel v1 · seed bentley-3-litre · not investment advice
The readouts · model figures against the benchmarks50 documented anchors · last sale 4 mo ago
Compound annual growth
| Window | This car* | S&P 500 | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | -50.2% | +18.8% | +21.9% |
| 5Y | +1.0% | +11.4% | +17.6% |
| 10Y | -2.2% | +13.3% | +11.8% |
*Modeled price CAGR · S&P is a price index, no dividends
Deepest drawdown · model window
This car*-83.9%Aug 2018 → Mar 2024 · not recovered
S&P 500-50.8%Oct 2007 → Mar 2009 · recovered Mar 2013
Gold-39.3%Sep 2011 → Dec 2015 · recovered Jul 2020
Forecast ladder · model quantiles
| Horizon | P10 | P50 | P90 |
|---|---|---|---|
| +6M | $212K | $257K | $311K |
| +12M | $195K | $255K | $333K |
| +24M | $172K | $251K | $365K |
Median path with the 10th and 90th percentile · not investment advice
Transaction ledger · documented salesMixed price basis · not estimates
50 of 50 recorded sales · shown in USD · recorded currency in each record
Recent public Speed Model results cluster below the exceptional early-chassis and competition cars.
Price range · road · openConfidence · mediumThree documented USD auction sales anchor the band, but coachwork continuity, specification and chassis history produce a wide spread. The first production Bentley and cars with major period competition provenance sit outside it.
Floor
$203K
Typical
$259K
Ceiling
$296K
Estimate band for good road cars. 30 documented sales since 2019 plotted below.
$105K$203K$259K$296K$577K
Hover the spectrum to read a value, or a dot for the sale behind it.
Band and axis shown in USD. Sale positions use indicative fixed-rate conversion to USD; sale readouts retain recorded currencies. USD; representative of documented, usable 3 Litre road cars rather than the first chassis or works-raced examples.
The wider market · Bentley at auction · median per year · modeled between anchors1,032 lots · 2003–2026 · exact yearly anchors · modeled line
Instrument calibration for this file is in progress — the terminal above reads the documented record directly.
Published sold totals are recorded without currency conversion. Each result must be read with its coachwork and numbered-component file.
Overview
A sporting chassis sold to owners who chose the body.
Bentley Motors delivered its first production car in September 1921. The 3 Litre's long-stroke four, twin ignition and overhead camshaft gave the new company a technical identity before it had a competition record.
The model expanded into standard, Speed and short-chassis high-performance specifications. Bentley's current archive gives 1'622 cars, including 513 Speed Models; some older auction catalogues print 1'624, so a two-car discrepancy remains in published sources.
Most chassis left Cricklewood for an outside coachbuilder. Bodies, engines and other numbered assemblies were frequently changed during long working lives, making a Clare Hay report, factory service records and physical-number inspection central to valuation.
- Built
- 1'622
- Engine
- 3.0L inline-four
- Valvetrain
- SOHC · 16 valves
- Factory
- Cricklewood
- First delivery
- September 1921
Reference
Technical specifications
Powertrain
- Engine
- 2'996 cc inline-fourcast-iron monobloc; fixed cylinder head
- Valvetrain
- Single overhead camshaft, 16 valvesbevel-shaft cam drive; four valves per cylinder
- Ignition
- Twin spark plugs and twin magnetos
- Output
- 70 bhp standard · 80 bhp SpeedBentley factory figures; the Green Label was the 100 mph specification
- Transmission
- 4-speed manualnon-synchromesh
Chassis and variants
- Frame
- Pressed-steel ladder chassis
- Speed wheelbase
- 117.5 in2'984.5 mm; factory Heritage Collection specification
- Suspension
- Solid axles and semi-elliptic leaf springs
- Brakes
- Mechanical drumsspecification evolved during the nine-year production run
- Coachwork
- Independent coachbuildersVanden Plas supplied many open sporting bodies
The records
0
cars in Bentley's factory total
0
Speed Models
0valves
four per cylinder
HICON BID
Buying interest, silently.
A HICON Bid is a confidential expression of buying interest on the Bentley 3 Litre file — never public, never shown to other members. It is not a binding purchase, and HICONIUM holds no funds.
Sign in
HICON Bids are a member instrument. Sign in to place one.
The vault
Open a file on yours.
You keep one? The record starts in your garage — identity, papers, photography, and the market evidence this file already carries, bound to your chassis.
The variants
One badge, 3 executions
The register separates the 3 Litre into its documented executions. One reference silhouette per execution — each opens as its own file as the archive fills.
Blue Label01Reference in preparationRed Label Speed02
Reference in preparationGreen Label03
3 executions on file · references drawn to the house standard
The cars
The 3 Litre register
Documented individual cars — chassis, colour, ownership and sale history. Open one for its full provenance. Public records only; members see the complete registry.
03 documented · public records