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BENTLEY THE ORIGINS W.O described his designs as ‘fast, sporting cars that are also comfortable and civilised’. The ‘Bentley Boys’ helped drive the company to success in the 1920s W.O Bentley 8 Although Bentley famously won the gruelling Le Mans 24 Hour race five times between 1924 and 1930, in the early days the company was not in a strong financial position. It was supported from 1926 to 1931 by the chairman Woolf Barnato, one of the wealthy ‘Bentley Boys’ – a group of social celebrities and amateur racing drivers who drove Bentley to success in the 1920s. Their new interpretation of the historic ‘Grand Tour’ developed Bentley’s reputation for ‘grand touring’, as they travelled across Europe, relishing the thrill of motoring. Their endeavours ranged from the Le Mans 24 Hour Race to racing one of the fastest trains of the day – the Blue Train from the French Riviera to Calais. After the heady days of the 1920s, Bentley went into administration in 1931. The company was acquired by Rolls-Royce and for the next 70 years Britain’s two most prestigious car marques were run in parallel. Kidston and Barnato at Le Mans, 1930
BENTLEY HISTORY Bentley R-Type Continental Rolls-Royce and Bentley car production moved to Crewe in 1946. The site in Pyms Lane was built in 1938 to produce Rolls- Royce Merlin engines for military aircraft and played an important part in equipping Allied forces in World War II. The first postwar Bentley, the MkVI, was the first to offer a standard steel body supplied complete from the factory; all pre-war Bentleys had been sold in rolling chassis form and bodied by independent coachbuilders. The most significant of the early Bentleys to be built at Crewe was the R-Type Continental in 1952. At the time, its top speed of 120mph made it the world’s fastest four-seat production car. Its elegant, flowing, two-door body was the inspiration for the first new model produced under Volkswagen’s ownership. The first Bentley with unitary construction (body and chassis as one piece) was the T-series of 1965, sister model of the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. At the time, Bentley lived in the shadow of Rolls-Royce; T-series sales amounted to less than 10 per cent of the Shadow’s. Bentley flowered once again as a sporting marque with the introduction of the 140mph Mulsanne Turbo in 1982. The stalwart 6.75 litre V8 engine, which had been introduced in 1959, was boosted to 300 horsepower by fitting a turbocharger. The name referred to Bentley’s former glories; Mulsanne is the village near Le Mans at the end of the circuit’s 5.5km Hunaudières straight. Bentley Mark VI 9
Page 1 and 2: BENTLEY MOTORS
Page 3: BENTLEY History of Bentley 6
Page 7 and 8: HONDA HR-V - AUTO TRADER > Issue 02
Page 9 and 10: TOIA MAGAZINE # 77 MARINA WARNER, I
Page 11 and 12: TOIA MAGAZINE # 77 And more recentl
Page 13 and 14: Astra Sports Tourer makes huge leap

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