Bentley

Bentley as a separate company

A group of wealthy British automobile aficionados known as "the Bentley Boys" (Woolf Barnato, heir to a partnership in the Kimberly diamond mines, Sir Henry Birkin, George Duller, steeplechaser, Glen Kidston, aviator, Sammy Davis, automotive journalist, and Dr. Dudley Benjafield) kept the car's reputation for high performance alive. At one point, on a bet, Barnato raced a legendary car from Cannes to Calais, then by ferry to Dover and finally London, traveling on public highways with normal traffic, and won; the special-bodied 6.5 liter 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 1927-1930. 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 trucks". Perhaps the most iconic Bentley of the period is the 4.5 liter "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 liter Bentley was, but became famous in the popular media as the vehicle of both James Bond in the original novels, and John Steed in the television series ''The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers. A great deal of Barnato's fortune went to keeping Bentley afloat and he eventually became chairman; 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 liter Bentley was probably a better machine than anything Rolls-Royce at that time had to offer. Early Bentleys

Bentley 3 Litre

Bentley 4 1/2 Litre

Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Supercharged (Blower)

Bentley Speed Six

Bentley 8 Litre

Bentleys of the Rolls Royce era

Rolls 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 $300 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. For more on Bentley Motors from 1931 to 1998, see Rolls-Royce.

1955-1959 Bentley S1

1959-1962 Bentley S2

1962-1965 Bentley S3

1965-1980 Bentley T-series

1971-1984 Bentley Corniche

1980-1987 Bentley Mulsanne

1984-1992 Bentley Eight

1985-1995 Bentley Turbo R

1992-1997 Bentley Brooklands

1996-2002 Bentley Continental R and T

Volkswagen Group ownership

In 1998, Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motors was purchased from Vickers (its owner since 1980) by VAG|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

In 2003, Bentley's 2-door convertible, the Bentley Azure, ceased production, and the company introduced the Bentley Continental|Continental GT, a large luxury coupe. The car is powered by a version of VW's W-12 engine. Demand has been so great that the factory at Crewe, Cheshire, has been unable to satisfy demand despite producing 4,500 vehicles a year and there is a waiting list of over a year for new cars to be delivered. Consequently there are proposals to produce the new model Bentley Continental|Flying Spur, a four-door version of the Continental GT (140.000 Euros) in Dresden in the same factory where the VW Phaeton luxury car is made. In April, 2005, Bentley confirmed plans to produce a 4-seat convertible model, the Bentley Azure|Azure, derived from the Bentley Arnage|Arnage Drophead Coupe prototype, at Crewe beginning in 2006. By the fall of 2005, the convertible version of the successful Continental GT, the Bentley Continental|Continental GTC was also presented.

1998+ Bentley Arnage|Arnage sedan (car)|saloon

2002 Bentley State Limousine|State Limousine

2003+ Bentley Continental|Continental GT coupe

2005+ Bentley Continental Flying Spur|Continental Flying Spur sedan (car)|saloon

2006+ Bentley Azure|Azure convertible

2006+ Bentley Continental#Continental GTC|Continental GTC convertible

Current Bentley racing

In 2001-2003, the Bentley Speed 8 enjoyed a successful racing streak in the Le Mans series.

See also

List of automobile manufacturers

External links

http://www.bentleymotors.co.uk/

http://www.bentleymedia.com/

http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/121/121299.html

http://www.rrab.com/

http://www.stadioscope.com/