1925 Bentley 3 Litre Speed Model Works Le Mans car.

1925 Bentley 3 litre Speed model, Le Mans Classic 2016.

Pour plus de photos des voitures avant guerre a Le Mans, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the pre-war Plateau 1 at the Le Mans Classic 2016, click on the link above.

Bentley, Cricklewood, England.  The 3 litre Bentley was one of the original models and this particular car was one of the first works cars to compete in the Le Mans 24 hours in 1925.  A non-works 3 litre car had won in 1924 but in 1925 the works cars failed to finish.In 1927 a works 3 litre won the race.  The Bentley 3 litre engine had 4 in line cylinders.

At the 2016 Le Mans Classic the driver put the top up during the Le Mans start and raced as it would have raced in period.

1929 Bentley Blower 4.5L

J.Ernst, Blower Bentley, Le Mans Classic 2016.

Pour plus de photos du Mans Classic 2016, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the pre-war cars at the 2016 Le Mans Classic, click on the link above.

Bentley, Cricklewood, England.  Tim Birkin, the famous Bentley driver, came up with the idea of supercharging the 4.5 litre Bentley as a way of beating the supercharged Alfa Romeos of the time.   The idea did not meet with the approval of W.O.Bentley who favoured building a bigger engine to keep the reliability that had proved one of Bentley's strong points.  Nevertheless, Tim Brikin persuaded the Bentley chairman Woolf Barnato to build over fifty super-charged examples so that they could enter the 1930 Le Mans.  The supercharged or blower Bentleys had a top speed advantage of about 12mph over the non-blown versions. The blower bentley's did as, W.O. had predicted, prove unreliable.  Neither of the two blown cars finished the 1930 Le Mans 24 hours.  However, Tim Birkin did finish second in that year's French GP in the blown Bentley behind a Bugatti Type 35.

1925 Bentley 3 litre Speed 4 Cyl

1925 Bentley 3 litre Speed 4 Cyl, Petersen Auto Museum LA, Breakfast Club Cruise-In, January 2016

Pour plus de photos du Breakfast Club Cruise-In à Petersen Auto Museum, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the January 2016 Breakfast Club Cruise-In at the Petersen Auto Museum in LA, follow the link above.

Bentley, Cricklewood, England.  This 1925 Bentley has the famous 3 litre 4 cylinder engine that started to make Bentley a success.  This is a short chassis speed model with a Taylor Sports model. The owner told me that this was the original registration number and that it had been a Pebble Beach Concours class winner. It certainly has immaculate bodywork, obviously restored but very nice and good to see it being driven around.  This has the red Bentley badge that identifies it as a Red label Speed Model 513 car.