Bentley 6 1/2 Litre Price Guide

The Bentley 6½ Litre was W.O. Bentley’s response to customers fitting increasingly heavy coachwork to the 3 Litre chassis and finding it sluggish. His solution was characteristically direct: build a bigger engine. The result was a six-cylinder of enormous capacity that powered Bentley’s grandest touring cars.

The Car

Introduced in 1926, the 6½ Litre used a 6,597cc straight-six with the same overhead-cam, four-valve architecture as the smaller engines. Standard output was around 147bhp. The chassis was available in two wheelbase lengths to accommodate everything from lightweight sports bodywork to formal limousines. Around 362 Standard Sixes were built. The car was conceived after a prototype encounter with a Rolls-Royce New Phantom in France in 1924 convinced W.O. that his six-cylinder needed to be larger than the initially planned 4.5 litres.

Market

The Standard Six is rarer than the Speed 6 that evolved from it and appeals to collectors who value the more refined touring character over outright sporting intent. Coachwork by Mulliner, Barker, and Gurney Nutting graced the finest examples. The 6½ Litre was Bentley’s entry into the luxury market previously dominated by Rolls-Royce.