To be sold at the Gooding & Company Amelia Island Auction on March 9, 2012. For further details please visit www.goodingco.com or contact a vehicle specialist at 001.310.899.1960. Engine Specifications: 4,398 CC SOHC Inline 4-Cylinder Engine 4 Valves per Cylinder Dual SU Carburetors Approximately 110 HP 4-Speed Manual C-Type Gearbox 4-Wheel Mechanical Drum Brakes Front and Rear Solid Axle, Semi-Elliptical Leaf-Spring Suspension with Friction Plate Shock Absorbers About this Car: By 1926, Bentley saw a need for a new four- cylinder model. Although a Le Mans winner, the three litre was lacking in international competition and the standard road cars suffered from increasingly heavy bodies. With the 6 1/2 Litre in production, Bentley looked to combine the light chassis of the 3 Litre with the added power of a larger motor. The result was essentially a 3 Litre chassis with a cut down, four-cylinder version of the 6 1/2-litre engine. On completion, the new 4 1/2 was immediately put to use in competition. With a handful of 4 1/2 Litre team cars at their disposal, the Bentley Boys quickly amassed Le Mans and Grand Prix finishes and victories. The 4 1/2 Litre was also put to the test on record runs, where it likely found success. Although the Speed Six was the true victor at Le Mans for Bentley, it was race car driver Tim Birkin?s respect for the 4 1/2 Litre that led to the development of the Blower. For Bentley, the production 4 1/2 Litre was, in most cases, a luxury car fitted with saloon coachwork. But for Bentley enthusiasts, the 4 1/2 Litre was a racing car. Campaigned privately throughout Europe, the short chassis 4 1/2 quickly gained a reputation for being the best handling Vintage Bentley with an exceptional power-to- weight ratio. It was only fitting that many 4 1/2 Litre models were rebuilt as Le Mans Sports Tourers. PB3549 was delivered new on April 14, 1930, to Sir James Wilson Bart of Callander, Perthshire, Scotland. Coachbuilders A.C. Penman & Co. fitted the coachwork to this new 4 1/2 Litre which represented the sole W.O. Bentley to be clothed by the Dumfries-based company. The body was referred to as a Saloon but is believed to have had a bolt-on top section which, when removed, formed an open tourer. PB3549 was specified with chromium-plated hardware, a C-Type gearbox and double-spoked wheels. In the stewardship of Sir James, the Bentley saw a great deal of use, and factory records indicate that the car was regularly serviced and repaired throughout the 1930s. According to copies of PB3549?s registration logbooks, Sir James continued ownership through 1945, when Alexander Archibald became the car?s second registered owner. Mr. Archibald kept the W.O. Bentley for a couple of years before selling it to Ivor McAdam, who sold the car to Leonard Potter in 1948. In 1950, PB3549 was purchased by Londoner J.B. Chadwick. A number of work orders from various London-based Bentley specialists finely document a great deal of work performed on the aging 4 1/2 Litre during Mr. Chadwick?s ownership. The work varied from attention to mechanical items such as the clutch and rear axle, to the installation of a sportier fold-down windshield. Mr. Chadwick kept the car until 1972 when Arthur H. Cocks of Cornwall, England, acquired the car. As described in the August 1977 BDC article by Mr. Cocks himself, by the early 1970s, PB3549 was beginning to show its age and, in particular, the A.C. Penman coachwork was in need of attention. As A.C. Penman & Co. had ceased business and no drawings or specifications were available as a guide for rebuilding the coachwork, Mr. Cocks decided to build a new body in the style of a period Tourer by Vanden Plas. The work was carried out by a group of carefully selected Bentley specialists and Mr. Cocks himself. Restoration specialists Richard C. Moss and H & H Coachbuilding carefully crafted the bodywork to original Vanden Plas drawings and fitted a new interior. James Pearce constructed the windshield. A great deal of mechanical work was also performed during that time. Mr. Cocks further describes PB3549 as having been a very original and well-preserved 4 1/2 when he acquired it. In 1982, the Bentley was sold to Mr. R. Cutler of Staffordshire, England, who kept it for just a couple of years before passing it on to renowned Bentley dealer Stanley Mann of Edgware, England, in 1985. The following year, the Bentley journeyed across the Atlantic to settle in New England with Armand Zildjian, president of the Zildjian Cymbal Company. Mr. Zildjian upgraded the Bentley with Le Mans-type cycle fenders, ????installed a pair of Brooklands-style aeroscreens and re-trimmed the interior. He then took great pride in showing PB3549 at occasional BDC and RROC events throughout his ownership. In 2002, the Bentley was acquired by its current owner, a renowned Florida-based Rolls-Royce and Bentley collector. He has since cherished this great W.O. Bentley and used it as was intended, on BDC Rallies and Tours. Accompanying the sale of PB3549 is a CD containing an extraordinary amount of historical documentation. The CD contains scans of the original UK Registration logbooks and titles from new until now, copies of the factory build sheets and service records, an abundance of receipts from work performed in the past 50-plus years and many period and contemporary photos of the car. Research by the W.O. Bentley Memorial Foundation and the Rolls-Royce Foundation is also enclosed in the car?s file. PB3549 is a fine example of the classic 4 1/2 Litre, carefully upgraded to the renowned and hard-to-obtain open Vanden Plas Tourer body. Still intact with its original chassis, engine and drivetrain, PB3549 is a very important and highly-regarded W.O. Bentley that offers its next owner an ideal entry for touring and vintage rallies. ??