About Bentley Motor Cars
Bentley Motors was established in 1919 by W. O. Bentley, who developed, designed, manufactured and delivered his first model in 1921.
The first 3 litre model was soon upgraded to a 4.5 litre model to handle the heavy bodies buyers were adding to the chassis. Nicknamed the Blower Bentley it had a distinctive supercharger projects forward from the bottom of the grille. In spite of it’s looks and popularity it was overshadowed in performance by the 6.5 litre which would find it’s own fame as the original James Bond car and the choice of The Avengers Steed.
Although recognised as a quality manufacturer the company always struggled financially. A buyout by millionaire Woolf Barnato held things together and the company enjoyed a series of acclaimed racing wins, achieving four consecutive victories at Le Mans thanks to the dedicated “Bentley Boys”. Closest racing competitor Bugatti, with their elegant and stylish cars joked that Bentley actually made the “world’s fastest lorries”!
More celebrity followed in 1930 when Barnato challenged Rover, who had raced and beaten Le Train Bleu, to a race from Calais to London; the Bentley won with a new streamlined model that went straight into production as the Blue Train Bentley. In spite of the prestige and race wins, financial security remained elusive and when the Great Depression hit Rolls Royce seized the opportunity to buy the company.
Bentley’s Cricklewood factory was soon closed and Bentley production moved to Rolls Royce in Derby and Rolls quickly stamped their own style on it. The new 3.5 litre released in 1933 was basically a sports 20/25, it disappointed many traditional Bentley customers but was well received by everyone else, including W. O. Bentley.
The merging of cars continued with Bentley becoming Rolls less costly little brother and sales gradually drained away until 1980 when Vickers acquired the car making part of Rolls Royce and rebuilt the Bentley brand with the Mulsanne. Within a decade Bentleys were equalling Rolls sales and went on to exceed them with increasingly popular prestige cars that had a sporting edge and performance related alternatives including the Mulsanne, Turbo R, Continental, Brooklands, Azure and finally the Turbo RT before BMW bought Rolls Royce in 2003.
Bentley is a company that has seen many ups and downs, but always produced exceptional quality cars. Sometimes it has been overshadowed by Rolls Royce but it has frequently shown the ability to fight back with quality that is still often the first choice of royalty and statesmen.
Although perhaps more popular than ever today, drivers fortunate enough to own one of the classic Bentleys are finding it harder and harder to get quality spare parts and that’s where T&G Autos can help. We’re passionate about classic cars like Bentley and Rolls and can supply a wide range of original parts as well as sourcing skilled British precision engineers to custom fabricate anything that can’t be found. If you’d like to know more give us a call and see how we can help with your Bentley spare parts.
Have a classic Bentley or a vintage Rolls Royce? We provide exceptional spare parts to clients throughout a variety of areas, encompassing Keighley, Huddersfield, Manchester, Bradford, Leeds, Halifax, Sheffield, Dewsbury, Harrogate, Kirklees, Wakefield, Doncaster, Rotherham and York.