NATIONAL VELVET

As smooth asvit is rapid and superbly built,this Vanden Plas tourer reveals how Derby Bentleys set new standards of aspirational motoring

- MARTIN BUCKLEY

Loved as they are today, the 'Derby' Bentleys were viewed with the deepest suspicion by the hardcore owners of the 'WO'-era cars. If you valued the rugged, Edwardian appeal of the Cricklewood Bentleys, then you likely had no truck with the concepts of smoothness and ease of driving that characterised these silky, whispering machines. They were the products of new thinking, but also commercial expediency, by a regime that was looking to bring much needed volume to its business by building a car that would appeal to younger buyers. When Rolls-Royce outbid Napier for the bankrupt Bentley firm in 1931, the Wall Street Crash was still a very fresh memory in a world gripped by the Depression. With military aero-engine contracts slowing down, the pressure was on to bring more chassis production into Derby as sales of the Phantom II and 20/25 stalled.

The deal proved an astute move on several levels. As well as the satisfaction of having denied its closest rival in the aero-engine business, Napier, the chance to reassert itself in car manufacture, Rolls-Royce gained the physical assets and goodwill associated with Bentley's Le Mans-winning reputation - and for a bargain price. It was the perfect opportunity to expand the model range in the direction of a smaller, lighter car based on an 18hp entry-level Rolls-Royce already under development. Launched at Olympia in 1933, after two years of dithering over final specification, the new 3½-litre could have emerged as a supercharged model, or a cheaper car in the Alvis/Lagonda idiom, had some factions had their way.