The late 1920s and the early 1930s are generally acclaimed as being outstanding years as far as motorcar
bodywork was concerned. By this time, designers had gone a long way towards perfecting the art of producing a pleasing body shape and assembling the various components for the best possible effect. The builders employed craftsmen of great skill and experience: men who were not simply metal workers but who would try to obtain the most stylish car that they could build from the designer's specification. The addition of a slight curve or a chamfer was all that might be necessary to make or break a good design.
The Bentley Speed Six is a well known car of this period. This car won the company's last two races at
Le Mans in 1929 and
1930, and was thought by many people to be the best of the old-style Bentleys. Possibly, the long bonnet and the
radiator encouraged the designer to produce appropriate coachwork. The Mercedes SS 38/250 open tourer was a similarly well designed car, and it is interesting to compare the two. The lines of the two cars were very similar, but it would be unlikely that they could be confused with each other. The Mercedes looked a little less fussy, having only two doors instead of the four of the Bentley. It also retained a better-defined line along the edge of the bonnet and the top of the doors. The rather flamboyant sweep of the Mercedes' wings - front and rear - and the rake of the windscreen complemented the capable and solid-looking body, and gave it an air of power and speed.
The Bentley, on the other hand, with its bonnet louvres and a less-flamboyant sweep to its wings, was somehow more genteel. The straight line along the bonnet and door tops still existed, but was not artificially pronounced by any other design feature. The windscreen, although raked, was more vertical than that of the Mercedes and did not clash with the upright radiator. In all, the Bentley achieved a degree of 'rightness' and balance in every detail that has not often been obtained in other cars. In contrast, the Mercedes seemed to have been endowed with a number of features that produced the necessary impression.
1929 saw the joining of Hillman and Humber; Humber would become a fully owned subsidiary of Rootes in 1932 (Rootes also acquired Hillman). Two new sixes were launched; the 2.1-litre 16/50 and the 3.5-litre Humber Snipe.