Bentley 8 Litre History

Announced in September 1930, the 8 Litre was the final and largest car designed by W. O. Bentley as the marque's flagship — a near-silent, 100-mph luxury chassis with a 7,983 cc inline-six, intended to rival Rolls-Royce's Phantom II.

It arrived at the worst possible time, a year into the Great Depression. Only 100 were built, and less than a year after its launch Bentley Motors went into receivership. In November 1931 Rolls-Royce — acting through a front company, the British Central Equitable Trust, to hide its identity — bought Bentley and immediately halted the 8 Litre, which it regarded as a direct Phantom II competitor. The last of the 100 cars was completed in 1932.