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Edward ‘Eddie’ Hall was a British racing driver, born in 1900. He was a private owner who built several car for competition. He entered the 4½ Litre Bentley into the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1936, but this race was cancelled. After the Second World War, Hall became the first and only man to drive the entire distance solo during the 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans. He completed 236 laps, which equals to nearly 3.200km. Denis Jenkinson asked him what the toilet arrangements were if he never left the cockpit for 24 hours: Hall replied ‘Green overalls, old boy’!

Model history

The 3½ Litre built a reputation as a fast, reliable grand tourer. Many owners tuned them for racing, creating Bentley ‘specials’ that still compete today in historic events worldwide.

The Bentley 3½ Litre was introduced in 1933 after Rolls-Royce acquired Bentley Motors in 1931. It was built at Rolls-Royce’s Derby factory and was intended to combine Bentley’s sporting reputation with Rolls-Royce refinement.

The car used a 3.5-litre inline-six engine, derived from the Rolls-Royce 20/25, but tuned for better performance. Thanks to its smooth engine, strong acceleration, and high cruising speed for the time (around 90 mph / 145 km/h), it became known as ‘the silent sports car’.