Bentley Speed Six
| Bentley 6½ Litre & Speed Six | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Bentley |
| Production | 1926–1930 545 produced |
| Designer | Walter Owen Bentley |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Luxury car |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 6.5 L I6 |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 132 in (3353 mm) 138 in (3505 mm) 140½ in (3569 mm) 144 in (3658 mm) 145½ in (3696 mm) 150 in (3810 mm) 151½ in (3848 mm) 152½ in (3873 mm) |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | 4½ Litre |
| Successor | 4 Litre |
The regular Bentley 6½ Litre and the high-performance Bentley Speed Six were Bentley automobiles in production from 1926 to 1930. They were created out of the desire for more engine power by Walter Owen Bentley by adding two cylinders to the straight-4 engine used in his Bentley 4½ Litre car. The Speed Six, introduced in 1928, would become the most-successful racing Bentley. Two Bentley Speed Six became known as the Blue Train Bentleys for their owner Woolf Barnato's involvement in the Blue Train Races of 1930.
Bentley 6½ Litre
The 6½ Litre was inspired by the Rolls-Royce Phantom I as a closed-body car. Although based on the Bentley 3 Litre, it incorporated many improvements. The cone-type clutch was replaced by a dry-plate design, incorporating a clutch brake for fast gear changes, and four wheel finned-drum brakes were used. The front brake drums had 4 leading shoes in each drum and the brakes were also power assisted - another first at the time. A single adjustment took care of the wear of all four brakes (an ingenious patented compensating device made this possible) which was adjustable by the driver, whilst in motion, from the driving seat. This was particularly advantageous during racing.
Like the four cylinder engine, Bentley's straight-6 included overhead camshaft, 4 valves per cylinder and two sparking plugs per cylinder, all exotic technologies at the time, as well as a single-piece engine block and head cast in iron, and therefore no head gasket to blow. Bore and stroke dimensions were identical to the Bentley 4½ Litre car at 100 mm (3.9 in) and 140 mm (5.5 in), respectively, giving a total of 6.6 L (6597 cc/402 in³) of displacement. 180–200 hp (134–149 kW) was produced, and the car was faster and more reliable than the supercharged Bentley 4½ Litre produced at the same time.
A large variety of wheelbases were produced for such a low-production car, ranging from 132 in (3353 mm) to 152½ in (3873 mm).
Bentley Speed Six
The Bentley Speed Six was introduced in 1928 as a more sporting version of the Bentley 6½ Litre. It would become the most-successful racing Bentley, claiming victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1929 and 1930 with Bentley Boys drivers Woolf Barnato, "Tim" Birkin, and Glen Kidston.
However, the Speed Six was also fitted as a conventional road car, and many were indeed used for everyday transportation. Bentley Motors Chairman Woolf Barnato used them with various bespoke bodywork from British coachbuilders as his personal automobiles. Two saloon-bodied Speed Six even served as patrol cars for the Criminal Investigation Department of the Western Australia Police.
In January 1930, the Rover Company's Rover Light Six gained a worldwide reputation when it was the first successful participant in the Blue Train Races, a series of record-breaking attempts between automobiles and trains in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It saw a number of motorists and their own or sponsored automobiles race against the Le Train Bleu, a train that ran between Calais and the French Riviera. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
One evening in March 1930, at a dinner at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, talk around the table had swung round to the topic of motor cars; in particular to the advertisement by Rover claiming that its Rover Light Six had gone faster than the famous "Le train bleu" express. Woolf Barnato contended that just to go faster than the Blue Train was of no special merit. He raised the stakes by arguing that at the wheel of his own Bentley Speed Six, he could be at his club in London before the train reached Calais and bet 100 Pound Sterling on that challenge. The next day, the 13 March 1930, as the Blue Train steamed out of Cannes station at 17:45h, Barnato, with one of his friends who had gallantly offered to act as a relief driver set off at the double. From Lyons onwards they had to battle against heavy rain. At 4:20h, in Auxerre, they lost time searching for a refueling rendezvous. Through central France they hit fog, then shortly after Paris they had a burst tyre, requiring the use of their one and only spare. And yet, racing non-stop through the night along the bumpy, 1930's Routes Nationales, they reached the coast at 10:30h, sailed over to England on the cross-Channel packet, and were neatly parked outside The Conservative Club in St. James's Street, London, by 15:20h - four minutes before the Blue Train reached Calais. He won the bet, whereupon the French authorities promptly fined him a sum far greater than his winnings for racing on public roads.
The Blue Train Bentley Controversy
Barnato drove a H. J. Mulliner-bodied Bentley Speed Six formal saloon during his Blue Train Race, which became known as the Blue Train Bentley. Two months later, on 21 May 1930, he took delivery of a new Bentley Speed Six streamlined fastback "Sportsman Coupé" by Gurney Nutting. Barnato named it the "Blue Train Special" in memory of his race, and it too became commonly referred to as the Blue Train Bentley. The H. J. Mulliner-bodywork was stripped off the original car's chassis to make place for a bespoke replacement, as was common practice for automobiles at that time.
With growing historical distance from the event, the Gurney Nutting-bodied car was regularly mistaken for or erroneously referred to as being the car that had raced the Blue Train. This was re-iterated in articles and various popular motoring paintings depicting that car racing "le train bleu". Even in 2005 for the 75th anniversary of the race, Bentley's promotional material continued this depiction as the rakish coupé and the related daredevil Bentley Boys mythology symbolised the brand image Bentley was asked to project as a marque of the Volkswagen Group much better than the rather staid formal saloon bodywork by H. J. Mulliner [6] [7].
Thanks to research efforts and a massive automotive restoration by Bruce and Jolene McCaw of Medina, Washington – who became owner of the Gurney Nutting-built "Blue Train Special" – this long-time mistake became finally more widely publicised. The original H. J. Mulliner Blue Train Bentley bodywork was also reconstructed, so that both cars are now in fully restored existence. They are currently owned by Bruce and Jolene McCaw.
Production
- 6½ Litre: 363
- Speed Six: 182
Gallery
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Bentley 6½ Litre Tourer -
Bentley Speed Six prepared for racing -
Rover Light Six with motorists
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Bentley 6½-Litre Tourer -
Bentley 6½-Litre Speed Six Tourer 1930
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References
- ^ Graham Robson (1981). The Rover company (2 ed.). Patrick Stephens. ISBN 0850595436.
- ^ Chris Brady & Andrew Lorenz (2005). End of the Road: The Real Story of the Downfall of Rover. Prentice Hall. ISBN 0273706535.
- ^ Lewis, Robert (2003-07-11). "Five Million Rovers (And More)". Car Keys. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- ^ "Rover Report on their first 70 years". British Motor Heritage Centre. 1974-07-26. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- ^ Pickard, J. (2004-11-16). "Reserved and Refined British Saloon Cars: Official History of Rover and Timeline Milestones". Rover 1904-2004. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- ^ Melissen, Wouter (2004-01-12). "Bentley Speed Six 'Blue Train Special'". UltimateCarPage. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- ^ Burgess-Wise, David (2006-01-01). "The Slippery Shape of Power". Auto Aficionado. Retrieved 2008-11-04.