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Bentley
Bentley
Motors Limited is a British based manufacturer of
luxury automobiles and Grand Tourers. Bentley Motors
was founded in England on January 18, 1919 by Walter
Owen Bentley, known as W.O. Bentley or just "W.O."
(1888–1971). He was previously known for his
successful range of rotary aero-engines in World War
I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in
later versions of the Sopwith Camel. Since 1998 the
company is owned by Volkswagen Group's Audi division.
Bentley
as a separate company
A group of wealthy British automobile aficionados
known as the "Bentley Boys" (Woolf Barnato,
heir to diamond mining magnate Barney Barnato, Sir
Henry Birkin, George Duller, steeplechaser, Glen Kidston,
aviator, S. C. H. "Sammy" Davis, automotive
journalist, and Dr. Dudley Benjafield amongst them)
kept the car's reputation for high performance alive.
At one point, on a bet, Barnato raced Le Train Bleu
from Cannes to Calais, then by ferry to Dover and
finally London, travelling on public highways with
normal traffic, and won; the special-bodied 6.5 L
car became known as the Blue Train Bentley. Thanks
to the dedication of this group to serious racing,
the company, located at Cricklewood, north London,
was noted for its four consecutive victories at the
24 hours of Le Mans from 1927 to 1930. Their greatest
competitor at the time, Bugatti, whose lightweight,
elegant, but fragile creations contrasted with the
Bentley's rugged reliability and durability, referred
to them as "the world's fastest lorries".
Perhaps the most iconic Bentley of the period is the
4.5 L "Blower Bentley", with its distinctive
supercharger projecting forward from the bottom of
the grille. Uncharacteristically fragile for a Bentley,
however, it was not the racing workhorse that the
6 L Bentley was. It became famous in the popular media
as the vehicle of James Bond in the original novels,
but not in any film; rather, John Steed in the television
series The Avengers did drive a Bentley on-screen.
A
great deal of Barnato's fortune went to keeping Bentley
afloat after he had become chairman in 1925; but the
Great Depression destroyed demand for the company's
expensive products, and it was finally sold off to
Rolls-Royce in 1931. It should be noted that Bentley
was a very serious competitor to Rolls-Royce and that
the 8 L Bentley was probably a better machine than
anything Rolls-Royce at that time had to offer.
Early Bentleys
1921–1929 3 L
1926–1930 6½ L
1928–1930 Speed Six
1926–1930 4½ L
1928–1930 Blower
1930–1931 8 L
1931 4 L
1933–1937 3½ L
1936–1939 4¼ L
1939–1941 Mark V
1939 Corniche
Bentleys
of the Rolls-Royce era
S1 Continental Fastback Coupé with Mulliner
BodyworkRolls-Royce merged the Bentley line into its
own, so that the Bentley marque became just a Rolls-Royce
without the distinctive grill and with a lower price
tag. In the 1980s, however, Bentley became a separate,
high performance car line once again. The most notable
car in the Rolls-Royce period was probably the Bentley
Continental, which appeared in various forms from
1952 to 1965, and again in 1992 with production ending
in 2003. The Bentley factory in Crewe, Cheshire, is
still known in the town by the name "Royce's".
For more on Bentley Motors from 1931 to 1998, see
Rolls-Royce and Rolls-Royce Motors.
1946-1952
Mark VI
1952-1955 R Type and Continental
1955-1959 S1 and Continental
1959-1962 S2 and Continental
1962-1965 S3 and Continental
1965-1980 T-series
1965-1977 T1
1977-1980 T2
1971-1984 Corniche
1984-1995 Continental — convertible
1992-1995 Continental Turbo
1975-1986 Camargue
1980-1987 Mulsanne
1984-1988 Mulsanne L limousine
1982-1985 Mulsanne Turbo
1987-1992 Mulsanne S
1984-1992 Eight — lower-priced model
1985-1995 Turbo R — turbocharged performance
version
1991-2002 Continental R — turbocharged 2-door
model
1999-2003 Continental R Mulliner — performance
model
1994-1995 Continental S — intercooled
1992-1998 Brooklands — improved Eight
1996-1998 Brooklands R — performance Brooklands
1994-1995 Turbo S — limited-edition sports model
1995-1997 Turbo R — updated Turbo R
1996 Turbo R Sport — limited-edition sports model
1995-2003 Azure — convertible Continental R
1999-2002 Azure Mulliner — performance model
1996-2002 Continental T — short wheelbase performance
model
1999 Continental T Mulliner — firmer suspension
1997-1998 Bentley Turbo RT — replacement for
the Turbo R
Volkswagen Group ownership
2003 Bentley Azure Mulliner Final SeriesIn 1998, Rolls-Royce
and Bentley Motors was purchased from Vickers (its
owner since 1980) by Volkswagen for £430 million,
after bidding against BMW. BMW had recently started
supplying components for the new range of cars, notably
V8 engines for the Bentley Arnage and V12 engines
for the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph. The Rolls-Royce
name was not included in VW's purchase; it was instead
licensed to BMW (for £40 million) by the Rolls-Royce
aero engine company.
BMW
and Volkswagen came to an agreement whereby Volkswagen
would manufacture both Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars
until the end of 2002, whereupon the right to build
Rolls-Royce cars would be BMW's alone. During this
period, Volkswagen reduced its reliance on BMW as
a supplier: as of 2003, BMW engines are not used in
Bentley cars.
Modern Bentleys
The current Bentley lineup: Flying Spur, Continental
GT, and Arnage
Queen Elizabeth II's Bentley State LimousineIn 2002,
Bentley presented Queen Elizabeth II with an official
State Limousine to celebrate the Golden Jubilee. In
2003, Bentley's 2-door convertible, the Bentley Azure,
ceased production, and the company introduced the
Bentley Continental GT, a large luxury coupe. The
car is powered by a version of VW's W-12 engine.
Demand
had been so great that the factory at Crewe, Cheshire,
had been unable to satisfy demand despite installed
capacity of approximately 9500 vehicles a year. There
was a waiting list of over a year for new cars to
be delivered. Consequently, production of the new
Flying Spur, a four-door version of the Continental
GT, was assigned to the Transparent Factory, where
the VW Phaeton luxury car is also assembled. This
arrangement ceased at the end of 2006, all car production
reverted to the Crewe plant.
In
April, 2005, Bentley confirmed plans to produce a
4-seat convertible model, the Azure, derived from
the Arnage Drophead Coupe prototype, at Crewe beginning
in 2006. By the fall of 2005, the convertible version
of the successful Continental GT, the Continental
GTC was also presented. These two models were successfully
launched in late 2006.
Bentley
sales have been strong in 2005 with 8,627 sold worldwide,
3,654 of these vehicles were sold in the United States.
1998–
Arnage saloon
1999– Hunaudieres Concept
2002– State Limousine
2003– Continental GT coupé
2005– Continental Flying Spur saloon
2006– Azure convertible
2006– Continental GTC convertible
(Credit:
Wikipedia)
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