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The Saloons The Continentals The Concepts The History: Bentley's History in Le Mans A late May day in 1923 and a 3-litre Bentley leaves London for the coast. On board are two drivers, one mechanic and a few spares. Spool 79 years and one fortnight to an early June day. As you read this another Bentley is on its way to exactly the same place: Le Mans.
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Bentley History: The early Cricklewood years
The first-ever Crewe-built Bentley appeared in 1946 – just a year after the Second World War ended – as Crewe production shifted from war-winning Merlin aero engines to post-war luxury cars. It, too, was an international success. The Mark VI was significant in many ways, not least that it was the first Bentley clothed in a ‘standard’ body rather than different bodies designed and made by bespoke coachbuilders.
Just as important as the construction was the commerce: the Mark VI was then the best-selling car ever to wear a Bentley badge. More than 5,000 were sold in five years, almost as many Bentleys as were made in the entire 20-year pre-war period. W.O. Bentley builds ‘a good car, a fast car, the best in its class’ The company, of course, goes back much further than 60 years.
In October 1919, Bentley Motors’ first-ever engine, the 3-litre, burst into life in New Street Mews, near Baker Street, London. Naturally it used aluminum pistons, a Bentley invention (and now normal in the motor industry).
The first 3-litre
production car, the first car ever named after its cylinder capacity, was
delivered in September that year. |
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W.O. reckoned racing was the best way to promote the new company and embarked on an ambitious program of motor sport, even before the sale of his first car. A Bentley won its first event in May 1921 and the 3-litre was to compete at Le Mans five times and win it twice. It still holds the record for the biggest winning margin (by 212 miles, in 1927). Bentley went on to win Le Mans five times - Bentley's Le Mans history -, between 1924 and 1930. It was to be 73 years before it would win again…
Great cars followed the 3-litre. Deliveries of the six-cylinder 6 1/2-litre began in 1926, while the 4 1/2-litre, launched in 1927, had a modular four-cylinder version of the 6 1/2-litre’s motor and is probably the most fondly remembered of all the Cricklewood cars: it won Le Mans in 1928. The Speed Six, W.O Bentley’s own favorite, used a modified 6 1/2-litre engine and won Le Mans twice (1929 and 1930).
There was also the legendary ‘Blower Bentley’ – a supercharged 4 1/2-litre – that was fast and spectacular, but never won a major race. W.O. hated it. The 8-litre, on the other hand, was probably the best Bentley to come from Cricklewood. Alas, it was launched just before the Great Depression. In desperation, Bentley produced a more economical – in every sense – 4-litre version. It was not all bad, but a small engine fitted to the leviathan 8-litre chassis was never going to drive like a true Bentley.
Bentley Motors becomes bankrupt and is bought by Rolls-Royce
Napier, maker of many fine pre-war cars and cash-rich despite the recession, tabled a generous offer, but just one rubber stamp away from a deal, Rolls-Royce, luxury car and aero engine makers, topped the Napier bid. W.O. stayed on for a while, effectively as glorified test driver, before leaving Bentley for good and joining rival sporting car maker Lagonda. The era of the Derby Bentley, ‘the Silent Sports Car’ Production at Cricklewood ceased; future Bentleys would be made, at least for the remainder of the ’30s, at Rolls-Royce’s home in Derby. The first Derby Bentley, the 3 1/2-litre – the ‘Silent Sports Car’ – was announced in October 1933 and although it may have lacked the ‘bloody thump’ of W.O.’s better cars, it had a civility and refinement new to Bentleys. W.O. claimed it was the best car ever to bear his name. In 1936, the 3 1/2-litre engine was bored out to 4 1/4 litres. All Bentleys built at Derby were Bentleys in their own right: they did not share engines or chassis with Rolls-Royces made at the same plant. That changed with the Mark V, development of which began in 1937, but which was effectively still-born (only 17 were built) because of the war. W.A. Robotham, head of car engineering, was a prescient man who saw that the future lay in the American modular method of car building: parts should be as standardised and widely used as possible. The Mark V was step one in the widespread sharing of components between Rolls-Royce and Bentley. It was a philosophy that continued for almost 60 years. photos: Bentley
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