I’ve always had more than a passing interest in the 41/4 litre Derby Bentley. Superbly balanced they are very easy to handle in modern traffic and behave in a very predictable fashion with a good turn of speed. Today, they are a very popular collector car and of the 2,422 built between 1933 and 1940 around 1800 are known to survive

Surely one of the more elegant cars of the 1930’s the Derby Bentley is one of the most sought-after collector cars with its ability to mix in a modern driving environment with ease. This all-new Bentley emerged from Rolls-Royce’s Derby works in the October of 1933, almost two years after Henry Royce had beaten Napier to the financially strapped Bentley in a sealed bid auction for the sum of 125,000 pounds.

Dubbed the “Silent Sportscar” the first ‘Derby’ Bentley was a 31/2-litre ‘six’ with pushrod overhead valves of 3,669cc. capacity. Basically, a modified 31/2-litre engine from the Rolls-Royce 20/25 model it lacked the “balls and all” performance of the ‘Cricklewood’ Bentley’s but came with a level of smoothness and refinement previously not seen from the British Bulldog marque. The Derby Bentley however would gain a larger 41/4-litre engine in 1936 to handle the weight of ever more luxurious coachwork.

W.O. Bentley had no input in the new design despite being on the payroll of Rolls-Royce until 1935 at which time he joined rival sports car maker Lagonda. However, by all accounts he regarded the new model as the best car to have carried his name. Importantly, it retained a certain sportiness that Rolls-Royce saw as an essential ingredient to exploit the Bentley name.

I have fond memories of driving a friend’s standard 41/4 litre in the 70’s and 80’s fitted with open Vanden Plas coachwork. In total, 60 different coachbuilders clothed the Derby Bentley chassis with almost half built by Park Ward in which Rolls-Royce had a financial stake. Only a small number of these superb cars were fitted with French coachwork, so I was delighted at Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance several years ago to come across a somewhat exquisite example.

Few would argue that the French in the Thirties were not pre-eminent in car styling – although challenged at times by the Italians, the French undoubtedly produced some of the most beautiful, graceful, and sweeping coachwork, which at times was simply breathtaking. Coachwork by the likes of Figoni and Falaschi, Letoureur et Marchand, Guilloie, Franay, Gangloff and Saoutchik was always special, but the work of Marcel Pourtout perhaps stood alone.





The 1938 41/4-litre Bentley Pourtout Coupe on the lawns of Pebble Beach reflected an era where style truly represented substance and quality. Known as the Embiricos Bentley this graceful coupe was just one of 10 examples at Pebble Beach in a special class celebrating the special coachwork of Carrosserie Pourtout - a special tribute to a man whose style was defined by a certain elegance and purity of line. Rather than relying on colour or trim his coachwork is seen as somewhat restrained while at the same time heavily reliant on aviation styling.

Pourtout would eventually become associated with Emile Darl’mat, the leading and very energetic Peugeot dealer in Paris, along with Georges Paulin, a Dentist who had more than an eye for car design. The trio combined to produce some of the most exotic coachwork in the world before World War 11. Amongst others along the beautiful 18th.fairway of Pebble Beach were a 1938 Peugeot Darl’mat 402 Pourtout Coupe, a 1938 Delage D8-120 Pourtout Coupe, 1934 Lancia Belna Pourtout Roadster and a superb 1935 Peugeot 401 Eclipse Convertible Coupe.




The 1936 Peugeot 401 Eclipse with Paulin designed fully retractable electric roof

The latter example perhaps best reflects the remarkable talent of Georges Paulin, recognised today as the master of French aerodynamic car styling. Above all he was the inventor of the fully retractable steel roof, a feature of the Peugeot 401 Eclipse, which stores itself electrically in the trunk of the car and transforms a coupe into a convertible. First used on a Hotchkiss in the early 1930’s this type of roof was revived by Peugeot in the modern era on their diminutive 206CC and the larger 306CC model.

Paulin would eventually become the official stylist for Carrosserie Pourtout and produce designs on various chassis, which would particularly find favour with the intellectual elite of France. By 1936 Paulin had also been approached by Walter Sleator, the representitive in France for Rolls Royce and Bentley and the owner of the Franco-Britannia Garage in Paris. Sleator suggested he design a body around a 41/4-litre Bentley chassis for the wealthy Greek Banker, Andre Embiricos.

It was said at the time that the Embiricos Bentley was created in accordance with strict aerodynamic principles and tested in wind tunnels in England and Paris. Perhaps the most famous of the Derby Bentleys it was one of just two non-Cricklewood Bentleys to race at Le Mans. It was entered in the 24-hour race in 1949, 50 and 51, its best place was sixth on its first attempt, it’s worst 22nd in 1951 when it was 13-years old, the year Jaguar took the chequered flag for the first time.



With stiffened suspension, high-compression pistons, and a special rear axle ratio it had achieved a maximum of 118 mph on a German autobahn in early 1939. The Autocar also reported in July of that year that Capt. George Eyston had averaged 114.63 mph for an hour on Brooklands track – his fastest lap 115.02 mph. Paulin always claimed that this stunning Bentley emulated an earlier design that year on a Delage D8-120S, which was coachbuilt by Marcel Pourtout and presented at the 1937 Paris Salon to wide acclaim.

Interestingly, such was the acclaim for the Embiricos Bentley across the English Channel that Rolls-Royce executives at Derby wanted to meet its creator. Paulin was warmly received, and subsequently offered a design contract he put his touch to designing cars, instruments, mascots, steering wheels, Bentley badges, even a new look for the Rolls Royce radiator.

Walter Sleator would again approach Paulin after the outbreak of war - this time as an agent for British Intelligence. Paulin was asked if he could provide information to the Allies on German Military Installations. The British were particularly keen to know about work on a secret jet fighter that was being carried out in workshops requisitioned by the Germans from several French coachbuilders. A member of the British Intelligence Service in France with a deep affection for his English friends Paulin was eventually found out and shot by the Nazis in 1942 aged just 42.

The examples of his design displayed at Pebble Beach on a magnificent August day, framed by the peaceful serenity of Carmel Bay, were a fitting and lasting reminder of his exquisite sense of fashion and style - surely some of the most beautiful prewar coachwork designs. And of these the Embiricos Bentley is undoubtedly the best.

Carrosserie Pourtout incidentally survived the German occupation of France and would go on to produce industrial vehicles such as the “Bateau Mouche” tour boat that today cruises the river Seine.