VBE Restorations presents

Petronella

The ultimate vintage Bentley for the modern-day driver.
One exists. Only four more will ever be built.

Register your interest Discover the car

A one-of-a-kind motor car

Concours elegance.
Endurance-rally heart.

Petronella is a bespoke vintage Bentley, designed for endurance rallies, tours and racing — with concours d'élégance styling and enough reliability to be your daily driver. This is something truly special.

Her foundation is a 1926 Bentley 3 Litre short chassis, stiffened with additional tubular cross members and reinforcement plates. The unique boat-tail body was 3D-modelled in-house, inspired by the long-bonnet Gurney Nutting Blower built for "Bentley Boy" Woolf Barnato — a lightweight laminated timber frame skinned in hand-formed aluminium on a traditional English Wheel.

Beneath the flat, Speed Six-like bonnet line sits a 3 Litre engine converted to 4½ Litre specification with an oversized 5.3 litre cylinder block: a forged, semi-counterbalanced crankshaft and forged rods designed by VBE, shell bearings in place of white metal, forged pistons, up-rated needle roller rockers and lightened valve gear. It is, in effect, a straight-six 8 Litre with two cylinders lopped off.

Going against the grain of the purists, Petronella is aimed at the modern discerning driver. She carries the elegance and authority an original-character Bentley demands on the road, while discreet modern engineering — hydraulic brakes, coil ignition, alternator charging, a Laycock overdrive — makes her genuinely practical for modern-day driving: 70 mph at just 2,200 rpm.

5.3litres
200bhp @ 3,500 rpm
120mph top speed
10sec 0–60 mph
1,200kg

Petronella specification

Engineered in-house by VBE

Chassis
1926 — 9' 9½" 3 Litre Bentley chassis with added tubular cross members and reinforcement plates for extra stiffness.
Engine
3 Litre Bentley engine converted to 4.5 litre specification with an oversized 5.3 litre cylinder block. VBE-designed forged crankshaft and rods running on shell bearings; forged pistons, up-rated needle roller rockers and lightened valve gear. Original 3 Litre oil pump fitted with high-speed driving gears.
Ignition
Converted from ML magnetos to Delco Remy coil ignition.
Starter
Custom lightweight starter.
Charging
Converted from dynamo charging at 9 amps to alternator charging at 45 amps.
Clutch & Flywheel
Lightened flywheel with VBE modern plate clutch conversion.
Gearbox
Original Bentley C Type casing converted to take D Type gears as per the later Blower cars — gears made and conversion done by VBE. Laycock overdrive fitted.
Differential
Completely new differential produced by VBE. Housing cast in HT aluminium with increased flange thickness; 4-star diff cage in SG iron running a 14/53 crown wheel and pinion.
Body
3D-modelled, inspired by the Barnato Gurney Nutting Blower. Laminated timber frame skinned in aluminium.
Fuel System
Tank made by VBE to 3 Litre design with extra capacity. Switchable dual fuel supply, Autovac and fuel pump, breathing through H6 SU carburettors.
Brakes
Converted from rod-operated brakes to hydraulics, with rod actuation for the handbrake.
Shock Absorbers
Double shock absorbers as per the Le Mans 4½ team cars — aluminium rather than steel, to the Hartford pattern.

1926 Bentley 3/5.3 Litre — 5,300cc four-cylinder, OHC, 16-valve, twin SU H6 carburettors · four-speed manual plus overdrive, rear-wheel drive · worm-and-wheel steering · beam axles with semi-elliptic leaf springs and paired friction dampers · hydraulically operated drum brakes.

Petronella was ours.
What's yours?

VBE Restorations has all the skills required in-house to create a dream car. Petronella is the first of a strictly limited series — only four further cars will be built. If you are interested in commissioning one, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Telephone +44 (0)1788 891548 Email enquiries@vbe-restorations.co.uk Website www.vbe-restorations.co.uk