Sep 2

1932 Bentley 8-Litre Saloon

1932 Bentley 8-Litre with coachwork by H.J. Mulliner. 8- Liters over 6 Cylinders. 220 HP. Gobs of Torque. Pure.

I had the opportunity to put this car through its paces on the 2026 North American Bentley Tour, and I’ll admit it managed to impress a rather difficult-to-impress non-Bentley guy.

Huge hills, long stretches of open road, sustained speed...it simply didn’t care. Just massive, effortless power from a car built nearly 100 years ago.

I’ve driven my share of serious prewar machinery, and I’d put the Bentley 8-Litre among the most powerful and capable prewar automobiles ever built.

Sep 2, 2026

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Replies (6)

· Sep 2

8L Bentley and Duesenberg Model J are all so much faster and powerful as large production cars. They were not intended to be race cars and are huge but so impressive on the road.

· Sep 2

I suppose it’s a failure to pay attention in grade school, or denial, as kids my age were told we’d have to learn the metric system. But I had never actually done the math to realize that 8L is close to 500 in.³. No wonder those Bentleys pull like they do!

· Sep 2

Close. 488. Phantom II RR is 468 but the Bentley is geared up to go faster.

· Sep 2

They only made 100 of the 8L as Bentley was going under. Soon to be bought by RR. Most have attractive closed bodies. They all drive like locomotives.

· Sep 7