The history of Bentley is closely linked to the history of the 24h of
Le Mans. Today the race is important for the manufacturers to
show their advanced technology but in these days it was even
more important to show the reliability of the cars in an 24 hour
test on the most demanding circumstances.
At the first edition in 1923 a private entered Bentley 3 Litre in the
Hands of Duff and Clement came home forth overall after leading
before a stop because of an leaking tank. WO Bentley himself
was at the pits and it seems that he realized the importance of
the race as every of the coming years saw a works entry of the
Cricklewood company.
Based on the experience of the first year Duff and Clement
partnered again a 3 Litre in 1924 giving Bentley their first victory.
The next 2 years were not very successful with none of the works
entered cars finishing but 1927 saw the next victory. The famous
white house crash took out the entire works team including the
new 4 ½ Litre with just one car surviving in battered form to take
the chequered flag first. The 4 ½ Litre set the lap record and was
the option for the following year to replace the 3 Litres and
compete with Stutzes and Chryslers of the same capacity giving
Bentley another win. For 1929 Bentley took even a step further
and entered a 6.5 Litre Speed Six to follow the credo of WO that
an increase of power should be achieved by increasing the
displacement. The 6.5 Litre was introduced in 1926 but was not
intended to race in the beginning but to carry heavy coach build
bodies. Bentley-Boy Woolf Barnato won its second Le Mans after
1928 partnering Henry “Tim” Birkin who should become the driving
force behind the Blower project.
Birkin did not agree with WO that a naturally-aspirated large
capacity engine should be the option but he wanted a
supercharged version of the 4 ½ Litre to compete with the very
fast supercharged Mercedes that was entered in 1930 for
Caracciola and Werner. WO agreed to run a 50 cars production of
the 4 ½ Litre Blower to meet the requirements of the regulation
but the race cars were entered by Birkin and financed by Dorothy
Paget. The supercharger was supplied by Amherst Villier and
attached to the later heavy crank engine of the 4 ½ litre
production line.
In the 1930 Le Mans race there were few opponents for the 6
Bentleys entered except the Mercedes so WO gave out the
simple team order to chase the very fast Mercedes with all cars
into retirement. Birkin in his Blower was the first to compete and
in an epic battle he passed Caracciola with 2 wheels in the grass
to set a new lap record despite a destroyed rear tire. This might
be one of the most painted scene of classic racing beside
Barnatos battle with the Blue Train. Birkin fell back with a blown
tire and had to retire a few hours later with a broken valve but as
the Mercedes was overstressed by the chase of the Bentleys as
well the remaining Speed Sixes came home at a invulnerable 1-2
giving Barnato his third win in a row with the very same car that
won in 1929, becoming famously known as “Old No.1”.
Birkin campaigned the Blowers throughout the season in either
single-seater form or with standard tourer body with a best
second place at the French GP, this led Ettore Bugatti to call
them “the fastest trucks in the world”.
Although the Blower Bentley never won a major race in his active
career and therefore is the least successful of the Bentley racers
he became an icon of its era over the years. With just 50 units
build (plus the 4 Birkin team cars and a spare car) and the
charisma of Tim Birkin and WO Bentley behind it, it is highly
sought after in today's market. With the years of experience most
of the cars are sorted out today leaving most of the problems of
the original design behind and they are actively campaigned by
the very adventurous members of the Bentley Drivers Club.
This July the long time Blower owners and enthusiasts Franco
and Kathy Weibel and family organised a jubilee rally to celebrate
80 years of the Le Mans entry. Between the second and the sixth
of July about a dozen of the original Blowers plus the first
supercharged Bentley (a 1923 3 Litre) and a few 4 ½ Litre that
were supercharged later in their life came together in Bad
Säckingen near the German-Swiss border to enjoy their toys on
various daily trip in the Black Forest, the Jura mountains and the
Alps.
Just between the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Le Mans
Classics we had the opportunity to join them on their last day to
the Alps. After a long journey from Sussex to Bad Säckingen we
were welcomed by 13 cars parked on the parking lot in the
pedestrian zone in front of the hotel. Being the last day the field
had already dried out a little bit with 3 cars already on their way
home and a few more to leave the following morning.
9 cars left in the following morning on the freeway directly to the
Klausenpass that once showcased the famous hill climb in the
30s and today features the Revival every 5 years.
Unfortunately the weather has changed overnight so rain and fog
accompanied the crew on their way up the hill. With no additional
weather protection for the rear passengers this was a rare
opportunity to see Bentleys with hood up as usually they are
driven open at whatever conditions, but here one could see why
the dual-cowl was a well chosen option these days if the back
seats were used by others than luggage.
The first stop was at a local cheese manufactory at the
Urnerboden for a taste of the local specialities before the convoy
headed up for the last miles to the top of the pass to take lunch
at the Hotel Klausenpass. During lunch the weather cleared up a
little bit and when the cars left the Klausenpass the sun was out
again. Nevertheless most of the crews have chosen the direct
route back to Bad Säckingen with a coffee break at the Lake
Lucerne and just one car challenged the optional Susten- and the
Bruening Pass. They reported it was very cold up there but still
much to the enjoyment of the drivers.
Even when we joined just for the last day and with a reduced field
one could see that the rally was a big success and when asked
all the participants would join in again. This might have been the
largest gathering of Blowers in the last years and hopefully others
might take over the torch to organise the next meeting in a few
years. Maybe due to the experiences of this meeting there might
be also more support from the factory.
Text & Images Peter & Wolfgang Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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