LUXURY car-maker Bentley Motors in Crewe is celebrating a centenary of sales to customers

A 3-Litre model registered in 1921 as KS 1661 was purchased by wealthy Londoner Noel van Raalte, who enjoyed a passion for racing exceptional motor cars and whose family owned Brownsea Island, near Poole Harbour.

Originally bought for £1,150, the first production Bentley ordered was manufactured in Cricklewood, North London, and featured lightweight aluminium coachwork and brass brightwork.

Introduced by company founder, W.O. Bentley, the 3-Litre became an immensely popular motor car, exhibiting the build quality and engineering prowess that has been a hallmark of the company ever since. In fact, in Bentley's 102-year history, over 200,000 cars have been handcrafted, 97 per cent of which have rolled off the Crewe production line since the company moved in 1946.

While van Raalte was the first customer to order a Bentley, somewhat strangely he wasn't the first to take delivery. That honour belongs to Ivor Llewellyn, who in August 1921 took delivery of the first of three 3-Litres that he bought. This was the third production chassis, and still exists today as the oldest surviving production (non-Experimental) Bentley in the world.

This history of exceptional Bentley craftsmanship helped ensure a 3-Litre went on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924 and 1927. It was the start of an epic run of five Bentley victories in eight years at the event, with the legendary Bentley Boys dominating the circuit. Somewhat fitting of the 3-Litre's dominance in the country's iconic race, van Raalte's Chassis No. 1 was last heard of racing in France in 1931.

In a review of the 3-Litre in the January 1920 issue of The Autocar, kindly supplied by the recently-launched Motoring Archive, the writer perfectly summed up the new Bentley: "For the man who wants a true sorting type of light-bodied car for use on a Continental tour the three-litre Bentley is undoubtedly the car par excellence."

Speaking of the correspondence, Mark Tisshaw, Editor of Autocar, said:

"Dating back to 1895, Autocar archive encompasses the entire history of Bentley. Indeed, we were already 26 years old when this significant milestone in Bentley's rich history occurred. Opening up access to our archive for the first time with the digital launch of the Motoring Archive allows amazing stories like the origins of this very special Bentley to be more easily rediscovered and shared once more." The 3-Litre model quickly helped establish the Bentley brand and was followed by the 6 ½, 4 ½, 8 and then the 4-Litre – some of the most distinctive vintage cars of the pre-War period. Post-War, the breath-taking Bentley R-Type Continental debuted in 1952. The fastest four-seater car in the world could hit a top speed of just under 120 mph and was the ultimate, luxury grand tourer. The Bentley T-Series was launched in the 1960s before the company's long-serving V8 engine was re-engineered during the 1970s, increasing capacity to 6.75 litres. Many celebrated models followed, including the Mulsanne and the Turbo R – the latter the fastest road-going Bentley of the age. In 1998, Volkswagen Group acquired the company and started a major investment plan that marked the dawn of a successful new era for Bentley. A new Flying Spur was introduced in 2019 during Bentley's centenary year, followed in 2020 by the ultra-rare, open-air Bacalar. This hand-built, limited edition model marked a return to traditional coachbuilding by Bentley Mulliner, the oldest coachbuilder in the world. Despite a global pandemic, Bentley recorded its highest ever sales figures in 2020 and also revealed its Beyond100 strategy. The target is to be end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030, with the entire Bentley range powered only by battery.