What makes this 'Le Mans' Bentley classic car potentially worth $0.8m?

A 1925 Bentley 3 litre shooting brake is among the highlights in Bonhams' sale of the Meldonfoot collection, next month (September 10).

But if you can't make it over to Hampshire, UK, to bid on that Bentley, then another one is being sold up north in the UK county of Cheshire by H&H.

This 1929 Bentley 4.5 Litre 'Le Mans' Tourer carries an estimate of £400,000-500,000 ($819,135).

What's more, according to copied factory records, this car - chassis number NX 3457 - was supplied new to none other than Captain Woolf Barnato.

Barnato was the only driver to turn three Le Mans 24-hours entries into a 100% victory record, making him undoubtedly the most famous and successful of the legendary 'Bentley Boys'.

The 1929 Bentley 4.5 Litre 'Le Mans' Tourer

Originally built on an 10ft 10inches wheelbase and fitted with a Vanden Plas 4-seater body and Glacier lined steel shells, this 4½ Litre has covered some 12,000 miles says H&H.

According to its lot notes, the car has since passed through the hands of Colonel JF Neilson, Sir John Donaldson Hudson and a host of other prestigious-sounding names before coming into the possession of an Isle of Man-based enthusiast

During this time, the Bentley was treated to a comprehensive restoration courtesy of John Pennington and Reg Parker (during the 1960s and 1980s respectively) - the latter seeing its mechanicals entrusted to Tony Townsend of Wiltshire, UK.

H&H Coachworks of Henley was also commissioned to create a replacement Vanden Plas-style 'Le Mans' body.

The car has a fully-restored Vanden Plas-style 'Le Mans' body

NX 3457 most recently entered the Litchfield Collection in 1998, about which more information can be found in the car's paperwork.

Since then, the car has just been inspected by marque enthusiast and Benjafield Club member Philip Strickland, whose report will be "available shortly" say H&H, presumably prior to the car's sale.

These factors all add up to a car that could potentially worth £0.5m when it auctions next month on September 21.

Watch this space for more news on the sale.