Some of the most beautiful bodies on the early Derby Bentley chassis were produced not in England, but in Brussels by the renowned Belgian firm, Vesters et Neirinck. Vesters et Neirinck enjoyed a close relationship with Rolls-Royce and Bentley during this era, courtesy of local dealer André Pisart, whose premises were only a short distance from the coachbuilder’s, and who, in collaboration with his wealthy clientele, spurred some remarkable creations into being.

Among them was this 3½-Litre, chassis number B114DG, commissioned by Pisart on behalf of his client Clang Lang, a young Brussels financier. An especially beautiful fixed head coupé, the car featured a low raked windscreen, a rather crisp ‘blind-quarter’ roofline with a small formal rear window providing privacy to the four-passenger interior, and tapered pontoon fenders, in the front flanking a bonnet whose louvres extended into the scuttle, and in the rear enclosing a luggage compartment with a rack for additional cases. All was set off by judicious touches of bright metal and chrome, as well as full bare metal wheel covers. The result was an exceptionally pleasing design, that pleased Monsieur Lang most of all; he went on to commission a second Bentley two years later, on the 4¼-Litre chassis, that aped much of B114DG’s lines.

B114DG was sold by Lang in the late prewar era to Armand Kirschen; Lang seems to have missed his prize, however, as he reacquired the car postwar, before finally selling it again, for the second and final time, in 1952 to Jan Verswyver of Antwerp. It eventually journeyed to England, probably for the first time as an intact automobile, and in the early 1980s was acquired by the well-known Roberts Family collection of Rolls-Royce and Bentley in Wales. The 3½-Litre remained in their care for some forty years, before joining the distinguished collection of sporting automobiles from which it is now offered.

With its matching 4¼-Litre now tucked away for good in the renowned Loh Collection, this is a singular opportunity to acquire an especially significant Derby Bentley, among the most truly beautiful of the “Silent Sports Cars”, with lines difficult to match and provenance as rich as its curves.