While Bentley Eight Litre attributes are numerous, W.O. Bentley himself remarked that “the dominant note of the new Bentley is its tremendous performance…it stands right in the forefront of any other car in existence.” Drafting off five Le Mans victories from the 1920s and 1930, the Eight Litre offered refined performance coupled with commensurate doses of comfort and safety. Marque authority Dr. Clare Hay concluded it was “the greatest of them all,” an accolade well suited to this example, a 12-foot chassis fitted with signature Vanden Plas sports tourer coachwork more than 90 years ago.

The exceptional provenance of chassis YR5097 begins with 22-year-old Lord Brougham and Vaux, who was most particular about how his new Bentley would be configured. The February 1931 Jack Barclay invoice states “the chassis to be to the specifications of Mr. W. O. Bentley’s own 8-litre model and to be fitted with racing type speedometer and revolution counter, high compression engine, dual Delco ignition and special cut-out.” Writing about YR5097, historian Hay remarked, “It is the only such specifications I have ever seen.”

Delivered in July 1931 with Vanden Plas two-seat drophead coupe coachwork, young Lord Brougham parted with his beloved Bentley due to gambling debts and the car was acquired by Barclay in May 1932. The two-seat body was replaced with Vanden Plas four-seat sports tourer coachwork, identical to that of Woolf Barnato’s personal Eight Litre, from chassis YF5023 and was sold to Elizabeth Hutter and Mr. A. Storkey in July 1933. Barclay facilitated its next sale in 1935, this time to Mrs. Garstin, and it passed through three other British owners before export to the US in 1951.

Maryland advertising executive Walter Stocklin was YR5097’s first American owner, where the Bentley joined a Mercedes-Benz 680 S Gläser Sports Tourer and a Bugatti Type 57 Corsica Roadster, forming an exquisite trio of sports tourers. Mr. Stocklin, who raced at Watkins Glen and Bridgehampton, had the doors of the Bentley modified with a cut-down design, adding to its sporting appearance. It then passed to noted New York collector Dr. Samuel L. Scher, who retained it well into the 1960s, before acquisition by Richard C. Paine Jr. of Seal Cove Auto Museum fame in 1967. It served as a notable attraction at the museum for 20 years before passing to collector Charles LeMaitre in 1987, who restored the car in England, at which time the fenders and running boards were reshaped as a single flowing surface. In 1997, it passed to Gerald Bowes of Pennsylvania and was then acquired by William and Aneice Lassiter of West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2002.

Bentley was the favored marque in the Lassiter collection, which spanned 3 Litre, Speed Six, 4 1/2 Litre, Derby, and two other Eight Litre models. Chassis YR5097 participated in a week-long 2003 CCCA caravan in Colorado and in the 2007 North American Vintage Bentley Meet in Vermont, before benefiting from paint and upholstery work in 2010. It returned to Vermont for the 2012 Bentley Meet and was shown at the 2014 Cavallino Classic & Sports Sunday as part of the featured Bentley display. Following its acquisition by the current owner, the Bentley was displayed at the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®.

Today, YR5097 presents well, finished in dark green with matching spoke wheels and a single, rear-mounted spare. Its interior is upholstered in black leather, matching the black canvas top, and a two-piece tonneau that can be configured to cover the rear seat or enclose the entire interior compartment. With the front windshield folded and top stowed, it appears eager to tackle the most challenging roads, and that same confidence is obvious from the driver’s perspective, facing the full array of gauges, including the large-diameter “Le Mans” tachometer and speedometer, set in the engine-turned dashboard as originally ordered by Lord Brougham.

Of the 100 Eight Litre Bentleys built, 35 employed the short-wheelbase chassis and this example retains its original engine, chassis, gearbox and other major mechanical components per factory build records, as well as the numbered Vanden Plas body fitted in 1932 by Barclays, a factory agent. Owned by a series of noted automobile enthusiasts since arriving stateside almost 75 years ago, its earlier ownership and care is documented by service receipts from the 1930s. One of the rarest Bentley’s ever built, the original, open-bodied Eight Litres remain among the most sought after examples of the marque.

Clare Hay’s succinct summation of the Eight Litre described it as “an immensely fast, stable, secure machine.” Unmatched on the road for exhilarating touring opportunities, YR5097 would be equally at home on the show field.