To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' Amelia
Island event, 8 - 9 March 2019.
Estimate:
$200,000 - $300,000
- Offered from the Richard L. Burdick Collection
- Perennial winner of the Great American Race
- Ideal candidate for future vintage tours
- Iconic Red Label Bentley
Every Bentley boy has his favorite model. Some celebrate Bentley's
recent liberation from Rolls-Royce with the new Continentals;
others revere the timeless R- and S-Type models. The pre-war 3�-
and 4 �-Litre "Silent Sports Cars" have their adherents, but for
many enthusiasts, a Bentley is not a Bentley unless it was built
when W.O. himself was in charge. For them, one of the most prized
"W.O." models is the Red Label, the short-chassis three-liter car
built from 1924 to 1929.
For its engine, Bentley chose a long-stroke four with four valves
per cylinder, operated by a shaft-drive overhead camshaft. The
cylinder head was fixed, a feature of subsequent cars until the
1930s. Announced in The Autocar in May 1919, the car was christened
"3-Litre," said to be the first use of engine capacity as a model
name. The introductory illustrations were by Bentley's friend F.
Gordon Crosby, the renowned artist, who also designed the car's
iconic radiator shell and famed "Winged B" emblem.
At �1,060 for the chassis alone it was expensive, but sales were
encouraging, growing to 402 in 1924. Most cars were sent to nearby
coachbuilder Vanden Plas for four-seater touring bodies. By the
mid-1920s the Bentley was accepted as the archetypal British sports
car and achieved considerable racing success. The 3-Litre remained
in production through 1929, by which time 1,622 had been built.
The cars are characterized by their radiator emblems, which changed
in color over the years. The "standard model" on either short or
long chassis used a blue background and came to be called "Blue
Label." Extra-short wheelbase 1924-�1926 cars with high compression
were called "Green Label," and high-compression short-wheelbase
(117.5-in.) 1924- 1929 models were "Red Label."
Once owned by F.L. Regnery, this 3-Litre 'Red Label' boattail
two-seater was acquired by Arthur Lieberman of Skokie, Illinois, in
the 1970s. It came to the Burdick Collection in 1984. From then
until 1992, it was a regular competitor in the Great American Race.
The Great Race, as it is commonly known, is a long-distance
time-distance rally for vintage cars. First run from Buena Park,
California, to Indianapolis in 1983, it became an annual event, and
continues to this day.
In its first race, 1985, the Bentley managed a 7th-place finish.
The following year it managed to place 2nd, just two seconds behind
the 1st-place scorers. Over the next six contests it managed one
3rd-place finish, two managed Best Overall Cumulative Scores, and
three Grand Championship 1st-place wins. Dick Burdick driving and
Wayne Bell navigating are the only three-time winners in the
history of the Great Race. Burdick, Bell, and the Bentley retired
from competition after 1992.
Well conserved and preserved since its competition retirement, this
Red Label longs to race again. The 2019 Great Race takes place in
June. There is still time to register.
To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction,
please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/am19.
