Bentley Celebrates The 100th Anniversary Of Its First Customer Car

Pop a bottle of bubbly, Bentley is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its first sale. The first customer car ever ordered was a 3-Litre model registered in 1921 as KS 1661.

The car was purchased by Noel van Raalte, a wealthy Londoner whose family owned Brownsea Island, near Poole Harbour, and had previously competed in the 1915 Indianapolis 500 race in a Sunbeam.

By 1921, van Raalte ordered the first-ever production Bentley for the rather reasonable sum of £1,150, which is the equivalent of £57,569 ($77,123 USD) today. Manufactured in Cricklewood, North London, the 3-Litre featured an aluminum body with brass brightwork. Sadly, today the car’s whereabouts are unknown and was last heard of in 1931 racing in France.

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The car, however, led a good life and Noel van Raalte (above) was an avowed fan of it. In a glowing letter to the editor of Autocar at the time, he was full of praise for the 3-Litre.

“The reason I bought a Bentley was because of its exceptional performance in all respects of the road,” he wrote. “Such features as steering, suspension, holding the road, brakes, change speed, and engine efficiency, leave nothing to be desired, and are, in my opinion, to be found to a higher degree in this make of car than any other of the many makes I have owned or used.”

Although van Raalte was the first customer to order a Bentley motorcar, he wasn’t actually the first to take delivery. Somewhat curiously, Ivor Llewellyn was the first to actually take delivery of a Bentley, in August 1921. Also a 3-Litre model, it was built on the third production chassis and is the oldest surviving non-experimental Bentley in existence.

Indeed, the 3-Litre was a triumph and helped to establish the Bentley brand. The model would go on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924 and 1927 and helped establish the brand’s run of early successes at the legendary race.

In a 1920 review of a pre-production 3-Litre, Autocar magazine, whose archives were recently digitized, called it the perfect car for the driver “who wants a true sorting type of light-bodied car for use on a Continental tour.”