1927' Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Jackson Special

Bonhams are delighted to offer at our forthcoming Collectors' Motor Car Auction on Friday 5th July 2019 at The Goodwood Festival of Speed, Chichester, England 87 collectors motor cars. The full online catalogue can be viewed on the Bonhams website.

THE FIRST 4½-LITRE MODEL; 1928 LE MANS-WINNING, BARNATO/RUBIN; RICHARD MARKER; VAUGHAN DAVIES; STANLEY MANN
1927 BENTLEY JACKSON SPECIAL 'OLD MOTHER GUN'
REGISTRATION NO. DS 9092
CHASSIS NO. RRJ1/ST3001

*Raced at Le Mans in 1927 (DNF), 1928 (1st), and 1929 (2nd)
*Extensive Brooklands racing history
*Known ownership history
*Exceptionally well documented
*8-litre engine
*Restored by Stanley Mann in the late 1980s
*Holder of various speed records



Refer to department



The first ever Bentley 4½-Litre off the Cricklewood production line, chassis number 'ST3001' was constructed in June 1927. It was completed with a Vanden Plas Le Mans-type body and delivered to Captain Woolf Barnato for use as a Bentley Motors team car. It was Woolf Barnato who gave 'ST3001' the nickname Old Mother Gun. Registered 'YH 3196', she made her debut at the Le Mans 24 Hour Race on 18th June 1927 carrying competitor number '1'. Driven by Bentley regulars Frank Clement and Leslie Callingham, Old Mother Gun broke the circuit record in only the second lap of the race, still with the convertible hood up. Unfortunately, she retired from the race after 35 laps while leading, having become embroiled in the infamous White House Crash that eliminated seven cars, including the entire Bentley team.

Following the Le Mans debacle in June 1927, there was a second 24-hour race held at the Circuit de la Sarthe on August 15/16th that same year, the Grand Prix de Paris. On this occasion Old Mother Gun was able to realise her full potential when, driven by Frank Clement and George Duller, she took the lead at the outset and held it unchallenged to the finish, finally winning by over 80 miles.

Old Mother Gun was back at Le Mans again for the 24 Hours Race in June 1928 as part of a three-car Bentley works team, and like its two stablemates was equipped with an additional large headlight fitted between the regular two. Its drivers were Woolf Barnato and Bernard Rubin. The Bentley team was no doubt hoping for a less dramatic outcome than they had experienced in 1927, but it was not to be. Frank Clement's car was forced out when the chassis frame cracked, disconnecting a water hose and emptying the radiator, and all seemed lost when the frame of Old Mother Gun, leading at the time, cracked in similar fashion with around 15 miles left to go. Despite having to slow down, Barnato hung on to take a famous victory, with the other 4½-Litre of Birkin/Chassagne in 5th place having been delayed by a lengthy wheel change. Old Mother Gun then received a replacement chassis, which was removed over the winter of 1928/1929 when Old Mother Gun was rebuilt on a new heavy-pattern chassis frame. OMG's second chassis was later used to rebuild the 4½-Litre 'MF3157' (Lot 332 in this sale).

In 1929, Old Mother Gun was campaigned once more at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. She was the only 4½-Litre entered that year, alongside the Bentley team's two 6½-Litre Speed Six cars. Victory went to the Speed Six Old Number One, while Old Mother Gun finished in 2nd place, driven by Jack Dunfee and Glen Kidston.

In 1929, only some four weeks after her last successful outing at Le Mans, Old Mother Gun was sold by Jack Barclay, London to Capt. The Hon. Richard Norton (6th Lord Grantley). In October of the same year she raced at Brooklands for the first time when Norton entered her in the 500 Miles Race; she was driven by Jack Dunfee, who had raced her at Le Mans. Norton also entered the car in the 1929 Tourist Trophy at Ards in Northern Ireland where it was driven by Hayes/Field, failing to finish on account of a collapsed wheel.

In 1932, Richard Marker was looking for a car that he could race in Brooklands, and bought Old Mother Gun from H M Bentley (W O Bentley's brother's company). She was still in her 1929 Le Mans guise at this time, and before Marker took her to Brooklands he had some fun competing at several rallies including the MCC London-Exeter Trial.

In 1932, Richard Marker decided to convert Old Mother Gun into a car more suited to the peculiar demands of the Brooklands track. He fitted a lightweight two-seater fabric racing body and fabricated an outside gear lever linkage. That body had previously been mounted on Tim Birkin's (Dorothy Paget's) 4½-Litre racing car, 'YV 7263', for the 500 Miles Race in 1931. With the exception of body and gear lever, Old Mother Gun was still much as raced by Bentley Motors at Le Mans in 1929. On her first race at Brooklands with Richard Marker, in 1932, she finished in 1st place in the Byfleet Lighting Long Handicap.

In 1934, Richard Marker obtained the 1½-seater streamlined body of the 1928 Barnato/Froy 3/4½-Litre race and record car, chassis number '1106', and fitted that body to Old Mother Gun, modifying it with some in-fill panels to fit the longer wheelbase. People started calling the car the Marker Bentley or the Marker Special.

During the 1934 500 Miles Race at Brooklands on September 22nd, the flywheel sheared off the end of the crankshaft and the original 4½-litre engine was wrecked. It was replaced by a modified 6½-Litre Speed Six unit based on engine number 'LB2345' from chassis number 'LB2338', the ex-Prince George Imeretinsky Speed Six. At this occasion, Marker changed the exhaust system from a single pipe on the left side to a double pipe on the right side (the Bentley engine's fixed-head cylinder block casting can be rotated 180°). In 1935 Old Mother Gun was photographed at Brooklands with all four wheels off the ground due to the track's notoriously bumpy surface, now with the 6½-Litre engine and faster than ever.

Richard Marker was awarded the Brooklands 120mph badge by the BARC (Brooklands Automobile Racing Club) in March 1935, while Christopher 'Kit' T Baker-Carr received the same award in October that year after both men had lapped Brooklands at over 120mph in Old Mother Gun.

On 14th March 1936, Marker and Old Mother Gun lapped the Brooklands outer circuit at an average speed of over 130mph. Marker was awarded the very rare Brooklands 130mph badge (sold by Bonhams at its sale of The Robert White Collection, New Bond Street, London in September 2016).

In 1936 Marker began hiring his Bentley to Miss Margaret Allan, one of the relative handful of lady competitors at Brooklands. Allen too received the coveted 120mph award, having lapped the Broooklands banking at 122.37mph on 1st June 1936.

Building on the successes of Old Mother Gun, Marker decided to finalise the transformation of his former Le Mans-winning car into a thoroughbred Brooklands racing machine. With this in mind, he commissioned R R Jackson of Brooklands to construct a new chassis frame and a new single-seater body for Old Mother Gun, specifying a longer wheelbase and a central seating position.

As racing at Brooklands gained in popularity, a community of racing specialists had grown up around the clubhouse and paddock. In 1931, Robin Jackson, one of motor racing's leading engineers and tuners at the time, set up a workshop to build and maintain racing cars. It became famous as the 'Robinry' a place where drivers could have their cars serviced and tuned to the highest possible standards. Robin Jackson, himself a racing driver, became well known for building Brooklands 'Specials'.

Marker's new car was reconstructed by Robin Jackson during the winter 1936/1937. The new extended chassis was specially constructed to accommodate the all-aluminium single-seater body, being narrower than standard aft of the engine and under-slung below the rear axle. Jackson's letter to Messrs Jonas Woodhead & Sons Ltd, discussing the supply of suspension springs and referring to the car's construction as 'a close secret', is on file. Jackson added 'RRJ1' to the chassis number 'ST3001' and the Bentley Jackson Special was born. The car's identity and the name Old Mother Gun have remained unchanged ever since.

In 1955, Richard Marker, who owned Old Mother Gun during the period of her transformation from Le Mans car to Jackson Special, wrote to Lt Col C H Darell Berthon (motor sports journalist, secretary of the Bentley Drivers' Club, and author of A Racing History of the Bentley) telling him the complete history of his former car (copy on file). One of Marker's most important statements in his letter is as follows: "We always referred to her affectionately as Mother Gun. I think Barnato originally christened her".

Richard Marker continued to hire out Old Mother Gun for racing and she had several drivers during her career at Brooklands, being driven by Marker himself, 'Kit' Baker-Carr, Margaret Allan, Thomas Forthingham, Oliver Bertram, Anthony Bevan, and George P Harvey Noble. On 16th October 1937, Christopher Baker-Carr achieved the 130mph badge, the second won with Old Mother Gun. Her fastest lap at Brooklands was achieved in 1938 when she circulated at an average speed of 134.97mph (217km/h) during the Easter Meeting. In 1939, she was officially timed on the railway straight at a speed of 148mph (238km/h).

On August 7th 1939, during the last meeting ever to be held at Brooklands before the track's final closure, George P Harvey Noble also secured his 130mph badge with Old Mother Gun. This was the last of only 17 130mph badges ever awarded, three of which went to drivers of Old Mother Gun, another unique achievement for this quite remarkable Bentley, which is also the last car to record a 130mph at Brooklands prior to its closure.

Following the outbreak of World War Two, the Brooklands aerodrome and racetrack were requisitioned by the British Government and devoted to the production of Vickers and Hawker aircraft. Richard Marker served in the Army during the war, and Old Mother Gun was in storage from 1939 until 1944 when she was sold. Her purchaser was Thomson & Taylor, the famed motor racing and engineering company located at the Brooklands track, who had built several of the famous land speed record-breaking cars of the day. When peace returned in 1945, enthusiasts lived in high hopes of the Brooklands' eventual reestablishment, but it quickly became apparent that it would not open again because the anticipated costs were too high and hangars had been erected on the track. Thomson & Taylor sold Old Mother Gun to Bill Short in 1945.

Bill Short competed at the Brighton Speed Trials in 1947 and 1948 but did not participate in any event with Old Mother Gun after 1948. In 1960 she was sold to Alan Vicat, who passed her on to Vaughan Davies in 1963. Vaughan L P Davies was a Vintage Bentley enthusiast and specialist, who had seen the car racing in Brooklands in the 1930s. Having purchased Old Mother Gun, Vaughan dreamt of restoring her and seeing her again at 130mph, but this time from behind the wheel.

When the Bentley came to Vaughan Davies, the axles and the body were missing. He started the restoration process, but after acquiring a pair of original Speed Six axles and restoring the chassis frame, he ran out of money. Following years of slowly progressing restoration at his workshop, Vaughan Davies made an agreement with renowned Bentley specialist Stanley Mann, who completed the car's long lasting and painstaking restoration between 1988 and 1989. The original registration 'YH 3196' having been lost, Davies reregistered the Bentley as 'DS 9092'.

After the restoration's completion, Old Mother Gun was ready for her next challenge. On 28th May 1990, she set the British Class B 500 miles record; the British unlimited three-hour record; and the 200 miles record in Millbrook, all on the same day. The drivers were Vaughan Davies, Stanley Mann, Philip Greenwood, and John Guppy. In April 1992, HRH Prince Michael of Kent, Stanley Mann, Vaughan Davies, and Philip Greenwood used Old Mother Gun to set the British Class B 1,000-mile record in Millbrook. Brass plaques affixed to the car record its many achievements both before and after WW2.

In 1999 it was decided to increase the engine capacity to 8 litres by swapping the 6½-Litre cylinder block/head for an 8-Litre component. The crankcase and engine number were not changed in any way. The original 6½-Litre block, which came with the car when Vaughan Davies acquired her and which most likely was part of the Speed Six engine that was fitted to Old Mother Gun by Richard Marker in 1934, is included in the sale.

Immensely successful since her restoration in 1989, Old Mother Gun has been actively campaigned by Stanley Mann Racing Ltd for more than two decades. In addition to a very successful career as a racing car, she was and is a welcome guest at motor shows, exhibitions, and exclusive events - including the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival - because of her uniqueness and significant history, which is fully documented in the accompanying history file. One of the most extensive Bonhams has ever seen, the latter contains copies of factory service records, assorted correspondence, and other original paperwork; FIA and VSCC eligibility documents; a 117-page illustrated technical report compiled in January 2019 by Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Kukuk. This report includes a material analysis dating the chassis frame as original in period. Also on file is a 47-page illustrated history and a more general 508-page illustrated report. Prospective purchasers are urged to take the time to peruse these important documents. The car also comes with a box containing assorted accessories and parts; the aforementioned 6½-litre cylinder block; a set of mudguards with lights; and a separate silencer for use on the road.

The most famous of all Bentley Specials, Old Mother Gun was selected as one of 25 Silver Jubilee Cars at the 25th Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2018, to which the Duke of Richmond and Gordon had invited "the greatest cars and biggest personalities of the past 25 years". As such it represents a unique opportunity for the successful bidder to share in the life story of one of the most important cars in Bentley Motors' history, commencing in its 100th Anniversary year.