Bentley 8 Litre

1930 1932 Bentley 8 Litre

The Bentley 8 Litre was a large inline 6-cylinder super-luxury car made in various configurations by Bentley Motors Limited at Cricklewood, London. Announced 15 September 1930, it was also the last completely new model by Bentley before the company's financial collapse and forced sale to Rolls-Royce Limited.

A Bentley 4 Litre featuring a 4-Litre Inline-6 engine in a shortened chassis was announced on 15 May 1931.

Introduced a year into the Great Depression, the 8-litre and its smaller 4-litre sibling were unable to turn the company's finances around. Less than nine months after the 8-litre's introduction, Bentley Motors was placed into receivership.

78 Bentley 8 Litre cars were known to survive as at mid-2011. Many of these have had their original limousine or saloon bodies replaced by new replica tourer bodies. As a result, Bentley 8 Litres with original bodies are much sought after by collectors.

The only Bentley 8 Litre with an American body, which was also the first Bentley with an all-metal body, was built by the W.M. Murphy Company of Pasadena for a customer in Santa Barbara, California.