Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motors Works’ manager at Derby, E.W. Hives, headed the team tasked with designing the all-new Bentley 3½-Litre in the early 1930s. He submitted a list of specifications for a sports car that would appeal to a wide range of prospective buyers. His personal notes read, “...answer to the moods of the driver...be driven fast with safety or will tour without fuss and noise...maximum speed should not be obtained at the expense of acceleration...controls, steering, and brakes shall be light to operate, and the braking shall be adequate for a fast car...maximum speed of the car on the road should be 90 mph, 75 mph in third gear.”

Armed with Hives’ notes and his other instructions, and determined to limit re-tooling costs, the team set to work. The 3½-Litre model was based on the current-series Rolls-Royce 20/25 HP chassis, but it was re-configured using the 20/25’s 2¾-liter engine. They increased displacement and added a new crossflow head, twin SU carburetors, a higher compression ratio, and a re-profiled camshaft. The result was a fast, smooth, long-wearing, responsive, excellent-handling car that soon became known as “The Silent Sports Car.”

In recent years, the Derby Bentley has come into great favor by all collectors, not just British car enthusiasts. Few pre-war cars carry more graceful coachwork or offer more fun behind the wheel than the Derby Bentley.

From 1933 through 1936, 1,177 Bentley 3½-Litre cars were produced. Of these, only 9 chassis were delivered to Windovers, an age-old British coachbuilder that was founded in 1796. This company was the originator and patentee of many horse-drawn vehicle designs, and it continued until 1956 by building coachwork exclusively on Rolls-Royce and Bentley chassis, many for Indian maharajahs.

The design on this chassis, B111FC, is absolutely unique, as it was tailored for its original owner, B. Gootnick, who accepted delivery in March 1936. The chassis and build information sheets on this car, of which copies have been acquired from the Hunt House and are on file, state that the car was built for “Town work and touring…the car will be used for RAC rally and acceleration should be ‘specially considered.’” Undoubtedly, Mr. Gootnick was a gentleman, but he was a gentleman with a lead foot.

As noted in Michael Ellman-Brown’s book, Bentley: The Silent Sports Car 1931–1941, chassis number B111FC “could easily have come from the drawing board of a continental coachbuilder. Although the rear portion of the roof has the appearance of a drophead coupe and is fabric-covered, it is in fact fixed; the hood irons are dummies. Also unusual on this car is the very narrow scuttle section, necessitating widening of the bonnet top at the rear, in order to achieve a more graceful flow into the door, the leading edge of which is forward of the norm, because of the rake of the windscreen. The wheel discs are also unusual for an English coachbuilder, adding to the continental flavor.”

This car has enjoyed a long and happy history of West Coast show appearances, which is fitting for a car in the Swimmer Collection. It was formerly owned by Herbert Boyer, of pharmaceutical giant Genetech fame, who was known for having only the highest-quality classics and for performing many of his own restorations, with the help of several talented Bay Area restorers.

It is believed that Mr. Boyer acquired the car after ownership by well-known Bentley and Rolls-Royce enthusiast Dr. Mark Sheppard, whose name appears in Rolls-Royce Foundation documentation for the car. The car was shown by Mr. Boyer at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1983, where it won First in Class and the Lord Montague Trophy. Then, it underwent an extensive body-off restoration before it was shown by him again at Pebble Beach in 1993. It was later acquired by the Blackhawk Collection, whose founder, Don Williams, a close friend of Mr. Swimmer’s, recalls that “the car looked like it had been freshly restored.” In 2002, it was sold by Mr. Williams to Mr. Swimmer, and it reappeared, under its new ownership, at Pebble Beach a year later. When one considers how seldom a car is invited to that famed event, it is incredible to think that this car appeared there every 10 years for 30 years!

The car, boasting an honest and prestigious provenance, is listed on page 96 of Stanley Sedgwick’s seminal tome on the marque, All the Pre-War Bentleys – As New. In addition, it is pictured on page 175 of the 2003 edition of Johnnie Green’s Bentley: Fifty Years of the Marque. It is also accompanied by the aforementioned Hunt House documentation, as well as by information received from the Rolls-Royce Foundation. The car has now been owned by Mr. Swimmer for well over a decade, and it is in nice condition throughout, having always been maintained and cared for. While the restoration is older, it certainly has held up very well, and the paint, interior, chrome and brightwork all present nicely, with just a dash of patina, which ads character to the car’s lovely features.

In many ways, chassis number B111FC represents the Silent Sports Car’s first tentative steps back towards its performance roots. As it is specified with lightweight bodywork for fast touring and aggressive modern lines, it could be considered a 3½-Litre Continental, and it is no doubt one of the world’s most attractive Derby Bentley’s ever produced.