1926 Vauxhall 30-98 versus 1929 Bentley 3-litre review "A happy sound to die to - the exhaust roar of the first 3-litre Bentley engine," is how WO reported one witness comment in his autobiography. His engine was more advanced than the Vauxhall's, following aero engine practice with four-cylinder monobloc construction, a single bevel-driven overhead cam and four valves per cylinder (one of the first road cars to be so equipped). About half of the 1,500 3-litres built are known to still exist. Allan Winn is the director of the Brooklands museum and has owned his late-model 3-litre for more than 20 years and uses it often and enthusiastically. Originally bodied by Freestone and Webb, it is now on its fourth body, a elegant four-seater to Winn's own design, with a fixed centre deck and a lift-up section which accommodates a rear screen. Would these cars have met each other back in the day? Almost certainly, since 30-98s and Bentleys were overwhelmingly purchased by wealthy sporting motorists and often used for racing. After a spectator injury at the Kop hillclimb in 1925, there'd been a ban on speed testing and racing on UK public roads, so private venues such as Brooklands and Shelsley Walsh became Meccas of motorsport. Bentley's 3-litre had gained a good reputation for durability, not to mention sporting success, with a win at the 1924 Le Mans 24 Hours race, but by the time Winn's car rolled off the line at Cricklewood in 1929 (where the Earl of March's grandfather, Freddie, was apprenticed) the company was in financial trouble and had less than two years as an independent entity before it was purchased by Rolls-Royce. Both cars have to be entered from the passenger side to avoid the painful embarrassment of the gear lever or, worse, the brake lever disappearing up your trousers. They also retain their centre throttle position, which isn't quite the problem you'd imagine. As Winn says, "When I climb into this car, it's got a centre throttle, it's never a case of having to remember." In the Vauxhall (above) you sit close to the thick, wood-rimmed wheel and very upright on unyielding button-back upholstery. It's comfy, but feels fantastically vintage. A new set of tyres has transformed the steering weight, but this is still a car you have to surprise into corners and once the front axle has sensed the weight transfer, you'll not be altering course quickly. The Bentley's driving position is by contrast much more laid back and comfortably farther from the wheel, although there's not the same amount of room around the pedals for those with large feet. So while the Bentley's huge front drum brakes are massively superior to the Vauxhall's tiny drum and transmission set-up, it takes much longer to negotiate a size 12 on to the Bentley's brake pedal, which means the difference in stopping distances is not so great. The Bentley's steering is vastly superior to the Vauxhall's system, although it has been fitted with a contemporary 4½-litre steering box. It's light, full of feel and is adjustable even at quite high cornering forces. Disconcertingly, however, the black steering wheel vibrates in your hands, the joints chattering like an old man's knees. It's a similar story with 0-60mph acceleration, a test negotiated with spirited enthusiasm by both drivers, while yours truly worked the clocks and Garmin satnav. The more powerful Vauxhall should have blitzed the Bentley, but its tricky gearchange slowed acceleration, so in the end there was less than 0.8sec between the two. The Bentley, with its more progressive throttle linkage, four-valve configuration and twin carbs, likes to rev more than the Vauxhall. With its slightly suspect carburation through the single aeronautical Zenith unit and abrupt throttle linkage, the Vauxhall didn't feel as useable as the Bentley, but in a top-gear drag race it was the Griffin that pulled easily and gently away from the Bentley wings. Both are enormously engaging to drive, although the Vauxhall's tricky four-speeder means you are continually striving to get the change right, while the brakes can be a source of concern. The 3-litre belies the reputation of Bentley gearboxes and slots lightly, cleanly and swiftly - with the correct double declutching, of course. Neither car has its original exhaust but the Bentley, with a back section of copper and a fish-tail end, sounds loud, rude and lovely. The Vauxhall's stainless pipe is too small and it lacks an appropriate boom until you are really on it. Both Vauxhall's Simon Hucknall and Allan Winn have driven the cars long distances and report the bits of the driver's body that give up first. "Your right ankle," reports Hucknall, "together with your right shoulder with all the gear changing. I love the smell of the car though, and the heat through the firewall. "My right buttock," says Winn, who does about 3,500 miles a year. The seats aren't as padded as they should be. Also on long journeys my ears start to ring with the sound of the trucks, it's like being lightly tapped on the head by a rubber mallet. Both men say the sound of the cars through town centres and tunnels, the sight of them in shop windows and the feeling of motoring in its primeval sense more than compensate. I thoroughly concur, but this is a road test so I have to chose. It is close and very difficult, but the Bentley's delicacy, easy gearbox and better brakes put it ahead of the more powerful and practical Vauxhall, but I'd have happily taken either home. 1926 Vauxhall OE 30-98 with four-seat Velox coachwork. Four-cylinder, 4,224cc petrol engine with detachable cylinder head, single cam in block and two overhead valves per cylinder, four-speed crash gearbox, rear-wheel drive 1929 Bentley 3-litre with four-seat coachwork. Four-cylinder, 2,996cc petrol monobloc engine, with bevel-gear-driven single overhead camshaft and four valves per cylinder, four-speed crash gearbox, rear-wheel drive Vauxhall, price then: chassis £1,050 with Velox body about £300. Value now: £350,000 Bentley, price then: chassis £1,100, with Vanden Plas body about £350. Value now: £180,000 Vauxhall 115bhp @ 3,300rpm Bentley 85bhp @ 3,500rpm Vauxhall 80mph Bentley 85mph Vauxhall 0-60mph in 29.8sec Bentley 0-60mph in 29.0sec Vauxhall 15mpg Bentley 15-16mpg Both these cars were expensive luxuries in their day, with motorsport at the heart of their appeal. The Vauxhall is the older design at a time when car development was leaping forward and it shows, but not by much. There is a question of authenticity here and while both cars are substantially as they were when built, slight modifications favour the Bentley over the Vauxhall. Even taking those into account, the Bentley is marginally the nicer car, although you'd not be disappointed with either of these magnificent machines Vauxhall four and half out of five stars Bentley five out of five stars