Bentley has finally built its first Speed Six Continuation Series car through its Mulliner department, and it’s now on its way to its new owner in the USA. That makes it the first Bentley Speed Six since 1930 to be built and sold. A continuation car means that it is, essentially, a recreation of a car no longer in production. In this case, it’s Bentley building them from original specifications, including the reproduction of 600 individual parts, including a new engine block casting for the 6½-liter race specification engine. Bentley refrained from improving the car with modern technology from new cars like the Continental, opting instead to create a Bentley exactly as it would have looked and driven in 1930.
The Specifications
The Bentley 6½ Litre went into production in 1928 and the Bentley Speed Six variant went on to become the brand’s most successful race car. It became a legend partly due to its six-cylinder, 6½-liter engine, upgraded to produce 180 horsepower on the road and 200 hp in race spec. The continuation model’s engine went on the dyno and showed 205 hp.
The first one, shown here, is painted using authentic period Parsons Napier Green while the interior is built to the specification of the Speed Sixes that won at Le Mans in 1930. The leather is a beautiful rich, deep brown and the steering wheel is wrapped with rope for grip. Even the gauges are reproduced faithfully and using the same manufacturing processes as the original car – as is the wood floor and red carpeting.
The new owner, John Breslow, already owns a Blower Continuation Series car, making this the “racing companion” to his Blower Continuation Series. The Bentley Blower is named for its supercharged 4½ liter four-cylinder engine. It came about due to Bentley’s driver, Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin, refusing to stick to Bentley’s philosophy that a bigger engine is always preferable to forced induction. As a result, the Bentley Blower was the more powerful and faster car, but at the cost of outright reliability – which is an obvious liability when it comes to endurance racing.
Meanwhile, the Speed Six was known for its dependable performance, hence its success at Le Mans. In fact, Bentley notes that a factory-built Blower finished its first 24-hour race this year as part the Benjafield’s 24 at the Portimão circuit in the Algarve. In the race hosted by the Benjafield Racing Club, 25 period Bentleys, driven by a spread of 87 club members, competed together. Sounds like an absolute ball.
Story courtesy of Ian Wright, CarBuzz 08/11/24
