The hands
The people behind the car
The people whose work shaped the Bentley 4½ Litre.
W.O. Bentley
Founder and chief engineer
Directed the naturally aspirated 4½ Litre programme and favoured increased capacity over supercharging.
4½ Litre
The four-cylinder endurance Bentley
The naturally aspirated 4½ Litre won Le Mans in 1928 and supplied the chassis for the Blower project. Original coachwork and traceable numbered components distinguish a period car from later Le Mans-style rebuilds.
Market value · road
$104K–$462K
Typical $339K · 43 sales · -30% vs ’19–’20
$12K$1.6M
Market value · road
$104K–$462K
Typical $339K · 43 sales · -30% vs ’19–’20
$12K$1.6M
’04’26
Market history · in the terminal
- Engine
- 4'398 cc four (SOHC · four valves per cylinder)
- Power
- 110 bhp (standard road specification)
- Le Mans tune
- ~130 bhp (period specification varied)
- Transmission
- 4-speed (manual · non-synchromesh)
- Production
- 720 (factory headline, including Blowers)
- Le Mans win
- 1928 (Barnato · Rubin)
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: 91 documented road sales on file · 2004–2026; estimate band $104K–$462K · good road cars. recorded sale prices · mixed hammer and premium-inclusive basis.
HCN:4LITRELive model
$338'6570.5% · 12M
Model curve · anchored to 91 documented sales · benchmarks rebased at window startmodel v1 · seed bentley-41-2-litre · not investment advice
The readouts · model figures against the benchmarks91 documented anchors · last sale this month
Compound annual growth
| Window | This car* | S&P 500 | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | +0.5% | +18.8% | +21.9% |
| 5Y | +12.7% | +11.4% | +17.6% |
| 10Y | -6.4% | +13.3% | +11.8% |
*Modeled price CAGR · S&P is a price index, no dividends
Deepest drawdown · model window
This car*-99.7%Aug 2013 → Feb 2018 · 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 | $286K | $347K | $421K |
| +12M | $273K | $356K | $465K |
| +24M | $257K | $374K | $545K |
Median path with the 10th and 90th percentile · not investment advice
Transaction ledger · documented salesMixed price basis · not estimates
91 of 91 recorded sales · shown in USD · recorded currency in each record
Body identity and competition specification matter more than model year alone.
Price range · road · openConfidence · mediumThree documented USD sales show the spread between a rare closed body, an original Vanden Plas tourer and a factory Le Mans-converted car. Works competition history can move a car far beyond this road-car band.
Floor
$104K
Typical
$339K
Ceiling
$462K
Estimate band for good road cars. 43 documented sales since 2019 plotted below.
$11K$104K$339K$462K$1.7M
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; naturally aspirated road cars. Factory team cars and genuine Blowers require separate treatment.
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.
Sold totals are recorded as published, without currency conversion. The 2024 result is a factory Le Mans conversion and is not a baseline standard tourer.
Overview
More capacity without the six-cylinder car's mass and complexity.
Bentley introduced the 4½ Litre in 1927 as the 3 Litre was losing ground in competition. The long-stroke four retained the company's fixed-head, overhead-camshaft architecture while lifting swept volume to 4'398 cc.
The 1928 Le Mans win gave the model its central result. Seven road cars later received the factory's Le Mans conversion, and period competition chassis sit in a different value class from standard tourers and saloons.
Like every Cricklewood Bentley, the factory sold a chassis rather than a single fixed body style. Rebodying became common after the war, often into an open Vanden Plas or Le Mans idiom, so the body number and its documented continuity belong in every valuation file.
- Built
- 720 incl. Blowers
- Engine
- 4.4L inline-four
- Induction
- Twin SU carburettors
- Factory
- Cricklewood
- Major result
- Le Mans winner
Reference
Technical specifications
Powertrain
- Engine
- 4'398 cc inline-four100 mm bore, 140 mm stroke
- Valvetrain
- Single overhead camshaft, 16 valvesfixed cast-iron cylinder head; twin ignition
- Induction
- Twin SU carburettors
- Output
- 110 bhpperiod road specification; Le Mans conversions are commonly quoted around 130 bhp
- Transmission
- 4-speed manualC- or D-type gearbox according to chassis and specification
Chassis
- Frame
- Pressed-steel ladder chassis
- Suspension
- Solid axles and semi-elliptic leaf springs
- Brakes
- Four-wheel mechanical drumsBentley-Perrot system
- Steering
- Worm and sector
- Coachwork
- Supplied as a chassisVanden Plas built many open tourers; closed bodies also survive
The records
0
factory 4½ Litre total
including 55 period Blowers
0cc
engine capacity
0lap
1928 Le Mans winning margin
HICON BID
Buying interest, silently.
A HICON Bid is a confidential expression of buying interest on the Bentley 4½ 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, 2 executions
The register separates the 4½ Litre into its documented executions. One reference silhouette per execution — each opens as its own file as the archive fills.
Open Tourer01Reference in preparationLe Mans02
2 executions on file · references drawn to the house standard
The cars
The 4½ 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.
12 documented · public records