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1928 Bentley 4.5 Litre Sports Tourer Discovered in Abandoned Barn, Identity Yet to Be Confirmed

By TOI World Desk

A British urban explorer filming an abandoned building has uncovered a rare 1928 Bentley 4.5 Litre Sports Tourer hidden under decades of dust and debris inside an unused barn. The vehicle was found by Colin Smith, who creates videos for his YouTube channel, The Bearded Explorer. While exploring the structure, Smith came across the vintage car with its original Vanden Plas bodywork still intact. The discovery has attracted attention from classic car enthusiasts and historic vehicle collectors worldwide.

Bentley produced about 720 examples of the 4.5 Litre model between 1927 and 1931. Of those, the coachbuilding company Vanden Plas fitted bodies to only 204 cars, and just 148 were built as open four‑seat tourers, matching the design of the car found in the barn. More than 50 Vanden Plas four‑seat tourers left the Bentley factory in 1928 alone, placing the newly discovered car within the first years of production of the 4.5 Litre range. The standard touring model was powered by a naturally aspirated 4.4‑litre inline‑four engine with two carburettors, producing 110 horsepower when new.

A technical analysis published by automotive publication Motor1 notes that pre‑war Bentleys rarely retain their original bodywork after long periods in storage, and old barns can be particularly damaging due to rot, rust, or structural damage to wooden frames and thin steel panels. An early check of vehicle registration records suggested the sports car originally left the factory with black paint, but automotive historians have not yet confirmed whether its current paint is original or if an earlier owner repainted it.

The value of surviving pre‑war Bentleys varies widely, depending on ownership history, whether original numbered parts still match, and the condition of the 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 commented, comparing the car with Bentley's more valuable and rare supercharged "Blower" models.

Historical auction records reported by Motor1 show the range of prices for 4.5 Litre Bentleys with Vanden Plas bodies. At Broad Arrow's Villa d'Este auction in May 2026, a 1928 example sold for a mid‑$400,000 price. An authentic 1928 tourer with matching original numbers and a complete ownership record sold for $1,105,000 (£850,000) at an RM Sotheby's auction in Monterey in 2021. The highest price among these examples was reached in 2013 when 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.

Before the newly discovered Bentley can be sold publicly or undergo a full restoration, experts and brand specialists must conduct detailed checks to confirm its identity and history. Classic car experts explain that wealthy collectors value paperwork as much as physical condition, requiring a clear ownership history and confirmation that the original identification numbers on the chassis, engine, and gearbox match. 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.