Fit enough for John Steed, fast enough for the gentleman racer and utterly amazing in almost every way - this is the Bentley 3-Litre... 

W. O. Bentley proudly displayed his new 3-litre Bentley at the 1919 Olympia Motor Exhibition a four cylinder car which had first turned heads when fired up in the garage of a mews off Baker Street, London, just weeks earlier.

Deliveries did not begin until 1921, the 9 9 short chassis accounting for 194 of the 1619 built. The engine was a robust overhead camshaft unit with four valves per cylinder which proved extremely reliable, and indeed the 3-litre remained in production almost throughout the entire lifetime of the company, the last car delivered in 1929.

In mildly developed form, this was the model which was to become a legend in motor racing history and which, with its leather strapped bonnet, classical radiator and British Racing Green livery became the archetypal vintage sports car.