A Bargain?

[John Murch]

https://www.silverstoneauctions.com/sa076-lot-16582-1925-bentley-3-0-litre-vanden-plas-style-tourer?el=16582&pn=1&pp=100

[Nicholas Simons]

I spotted this and was surprised by the price realised. Is this really what a good 3 litre is worth these days? Why wasn't there a sensible reserve? Maybe there is something amiss with the car? Any ideas?

[Stephen Blakey]

I wonder if it's a misprint?

The convention is to quote the result as the winning bid plus the buyer's premium but without the VAT thereon. The £105K quoted would then correspond to a bid of £93 333. If it's the hammer price, then the buyer would have paid £118K, or £121 if he or she isn't VAT registered.

This is quite a contrast to what Bonhams subsequently got for the ex Stan West 3L which some might feel is nudging bitsa territory as it's got the wrong chassis, engine and body (that we know about);

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27000/lot/208/

(plus the £6000 VAT on the £30 000 buyer's premium, which will have to paid by someone.)

The Silverstone one went under my radar, sadly. There are so many auctions going on now that it is almost impossible to keep up with them even with resources like this;

https://www.glenmarch.com/auctions/upcoming

I wonder how long the market can continue to find homes for the thousands of cars that are up for sale? As the saying goes;
Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei (or as George Harrison put it more succinctly; All things must pass).

[Christopher Carnley]

Chuck Berry wrote, "Roll over Beethoven".

The quoted BHP figures are a bit perplexing to me, in as much as are they engine (unit) only figures on the dynamometer, or a rolling road, as there is no mention of any such facility at Bentley Motors?.

The Bentley 3 1/2 litre engines delivered an average of 85 BHP at 3600 rpm, on the R-R rig with full constipating exhaust system, and the back wheels driving the drums attached to the water dyno, with a 400 lb "body" load.

So, how realistic are the Speed 6 claims of 170 BHP,? At the flywheel, or the wheels?

[Stephen Blakey]

Bonhams recently sold this car for a hammer price of £120,000. There was £18,000 buyers premium and a further £3600 VAT on top of that.

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/27520/goodwood-members-meeting/

Bonhams are quite coy about their sellers commission which is "agreed" with the seller.

Unless the agreed commission was zero, the vendor will have made a loss on the car. Rum do.

I've never understood horsepower at the wheels and there seems to be no standardised way of measuring it. There must be a very variable loss to hysteresis in the tyres.

Having worked in the industry, my guess is that the 170 BHP was at the flywheel with no silencer or air filter. Given that the displacement is nearly twice that of the Derby, and the valve area likewise, and that the Derby was constipated, the 170 sounds entirely plausible. Also the speed six engine was developed by Harry Weslake whose company I worked for after graduating, so I'm biased.

[Nicholas Simons]

Why would the new owner sell it so soon? Maybe there are a few problems.
I would expect HP at the wheels to be measured by connecting the back axle to the dynamometer, so any tyre losses are ignored.

[Christopher Carnley]

P3 loaded chassis, full exhaust, back wheels driving the drums.