Photo copyright and courtesy of Gooding & Company, LLC. Image by Brian Henniker.
1931 Bentley Eight Litre Sports Tourer (Estimate: $1,500,000 – $2,000,000)
The exceptional provenance of this 1931 Bentley Eight Litre Sports Tourer, chassis YR5097, begins with 22-year-old Lord Brougham & Vaux, who configured his Bentley to highly specificized preference. However, this ownership was short-lived, and by May 1932, the Eight Litre was acquired by London Bentley dealer Jack Barclay, who refitted the chassis with the current Vanden Plas four-seat sports tourer coachwork before selling YR5097 to Elizabeth Cutter and Mr. A. Storkey in July 1933.
After subsequent ownership by a series of Britons, the Eight Litre was exported to the US in 1951, where it joined the collection of Maryland advertising executive Walter Stocklin. Stocklin boosted the car’s sporting appearance by modifying its doors with a sporting cut-down design. It then passed to noted New York collector Dr. Samuel Scher, who retained it well into the 1960s, before it was sold to Richard Paine Jr. of Seal Cove Auto Museum fame in 1967. YR5097 was a proud attraction at the museum for 20 years before passing to collector Charles LeMaitre in 1987, who had the car restored in England.
In 2002, this Eight Litre was acquired by respected collectors William and Aneice Lassiter of Palm Beach, Florida, joining the ranks of several other prime vintage Bentley models.
YR5097 participated in a week-long CCCA caravan in Colorado in 2003, as well as the North American Vintage Bentley Meet in Vermont in 2007, where it would return in 2012. In more recent years, under current ownership, the Bentley was displayed at the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®.
Today, YR5097 presents handsomely, finished in dark green with matching spoke wheels and a single, rear-mounted spare. Its interior is upholstered in black leather, matching its black canvas top and two-piece tonneau. It is one of only 35 Eight Litre Bentleys built on the short-wheelbase chassis, and this example is confirmed to retain its original engine, chassis, and other major mechanical components per factory build records