The history of Bentley is dominated by the renowned Bentley Boys. This group of well-heeled owners brought their ‘Blower Bentleys’ to the Le Mans 24 hours in the mid-1920s and proceeded to win it four times in a row. Ettore Bugatti jokingly called the big heavy Bentleys “the fastest lorries in the world”.
Race against Le Train Bleu
One of the Bentley Boys, millionaire Woolf Barnato, was the saviour of this marque when it was threatened by financial problems. With a keen sense of publicity, in 1930 Barnato organised a race against Le Train Bleu, the fastest train of its time. The race ran from Cannes via Calais and Dover to London. Barnato won gloriously with his Bentley Speed Six.
Owner and driver are one and the same
It is performances such as that race that still leave their mark on the marque. A Bentley is a noble car, large and stately, and the owner is at the same time the driver; not the type to sit in the backseat, reading his Financial Times. On the contrary, the car boot always has a pair of racing gloves lying at the ready, next to the picnic basket and briefcase.
