A British urban explorer filming an abandoned building has discovered a rare 1928 Bentley 4.5 Litre Sports Tourer hidden under decades of dust and debris inside an unused barn.
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explorer → film → barn
The car was found by Colin Smith, who makes videos for his YouTube channel, The Bearded Explorer.
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who → find → channel
While exploring the building, Smith came across the vintage vehicle with its original Vanden Plas bodywork still intact.
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bodywork → explore → vehicle
The discovery has attracted attention from classic car fans and historic vehicle collectors around the world.
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discovery → attract → world
Bentley built around 720 examples of the 4.5 Litre model between 1927 and 1931.
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Bentley → build → 1927
Of these, the historic coachbuilding company Vanden Plas fitted bodies to just 204 cars.
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company → fit → cars
Only 148 were built as open four-seat tourers, matching the design of the car found in the barn.
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148 → build → barn
Rarity and factory specifications
More than 50 Vanden Plas four-seat tourers left the Bentley factory in 1928 alone.
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tourers → leave → 1928
This places the newly discovered car within the first years of production of the 4.5 Litre range.
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This → place → range
Under its long bonnet, the standard touring model had a naturally aspirated 4.4-litre inline-four engine.
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model → have → engine
It used two carburettors and produced 110 horsepower when new.
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It → use → horsepower
The model helped establish Bentley as a major name in sports car manufacturing during the late 1920s.
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model → establish → 1920s
According to a technical analysis published by automotive publication Motor1, pre-war Bentleys rarely keep their original bodywork after spending long periods in storage.
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Bentleys → accord → storage
Old barns can be particularly damaging to these vehicles.
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barns → damage → vehicles
Their wooden frames and thin steel body panels are often affected by rot, rust, or serious structural damage over time.
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frames → affect → time
An early check of vehicle registration records suggested that the sports car originally left the factory with black paint.
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car → suggest → paint
However, automotive historians have not yet confirmed whether its current paint is original or whether an earlier owner had it repainted.
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it → confirm → ?
Valuation and authentication requirements
The value of surviving pre-war Bentleys can vary greatly.
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value → survive → Bentleys
Important factors include the car's ownership history, whether its original numbered parts still match, and the condition of its bodywork.
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parts → include → bodywork
"This barn find is the naturally aspirated flavor, which still means seven figures is realistic once it's authenticated and restored, just not Blower money," Smith stated in comments published alongside the discovery.
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Smith → mean → discovery
He was comparing the car with Bentley's much more valuable and rare supercharged "Blower" models.
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He → compare → models
Historical auction records reported by Motor1 show how widely prices can vary for 4.5 Litre Bentleys with Vanden Plas bodies.
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prices → report → bodies
At Broad Arrow's Villa d'Este auction in May 2026, a 1928 example sold for a price in the mid-$400,000 range, according to public auction records.
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example → sell → records
By comparison, an authentic 1928 tourer with matching original numbers and a complete record of ownership sold for $1,105,000 (£850,000) at an RM Sotheby's auction in Monterey in 2021.
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tourer → match → 2021
The highest price among these examples was reached in 2013.
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price → reach → 2013
Gooding & Company sold an original-bodied 4.5 Litre Semi-Le Mans Tourer with a documented racing history for $2,750,000 at its Amelia Island auction.
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Gooding → sell → auction
Next steps for the historic sports car
Before the newly discovered Bentley can be sold publicly or undergo a full restoration, experts and brand specialists must carry out detailed checks to confirm its identity and history.
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experts → discover → identity
Classic car experts explain that wealthy collectors care about paperwork just as much as the physical condition of a vehicle.
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collectors → explain → vehicle
They need to establish a clear ownership history and confirm that the original identification numbers on the chassis, engine, and gearbox match.
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numbers → need → chassis
Until specialists complete a full inspection of the chassis numbers and historical records, the 1928 Sports Tourer remains one of the most interesting unverified barn finds discovered in the United Kingdom in recent years.
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Tourer → complete → years
The Aporia
