Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Price Guide

The Bentley 4½ Litre won Le Mans in 1928 and is the car James Bond drove in the original Ian Fleming novels. Specifically, a supercharged “Blower” that was, according to Fleming, Bond’s only personal hobby. The Blower Bentley remains one of the most iconic images in British motoring, though W.O. Bentley himself disapproved of supercharging and considered the car a corruption of his engineering principles.

The Car

Produced from 1927 to 1931, the 4½ Litre used a four-cylinder engine sharing the bore and stroke of the six-cylinder 6 1/2 Litre but with two fewer cylinders. The standard car produced around 110bhp. Sir Henry Birkin, funded by the Hon. Dorothy Paget, persuaded Bentley to build approximately 55 supercharged “Blower” cars for racing homologation. The Roots-type Amherst Villiers supercharger raised output to around 175bhp. Birkin’s single-seater Blower set the Brooklands Outer Circuit record at 137.96mph. Around 720 4½ Litres were built in total, including the supercharged cars.

Buying

Blower Bentleys are among the most valuable British cars in existence. Standard 4½ Litres command substantial but more accessible sums. Provenance is everything.