In addition to the main theme (Italian designers), the 100th anniversary of Bentley was also in the spotlight in the hall of Palais 6, as the InterClassics’s second thematic exhibition.
With the century of Bentley: 100 extraordinary years stage, InterClassics delivered a considerable contribution to the celebration. In cooperation with Bentley Belgium, an exceptional collection of around fifteen prized specimens from the 100-year history of the brand are presented in Palais 6. But that was not all, next to Palais 6, the entire Palais 5 was filled with many impressive classics from the British brand.
Arguably the most exotic car of the podium was a Le Mans race car, the Bentley EXP / Speed 8. After seven decades of absence, Bentley returned to Le Mans in 2001. In 2003, the team claimed first and second place.
The 2001 cars featured a 3.6 Litre V8. They were redesigned for the 2003 season, with a new model name Speed 8, paying tribute to the legendary old speed 8 models.
In 2003, a Bentley started from pole position, and the two cars were able to lead almost the entire event. In the end, the winning car, driven by Tom Kristensen, Guy Smith & Rinaldo Capello took the chequered flag followed by another Bentley.
This specimen with a surprisingly low roofline toured around the region for a while, it was an illustrious guest at this year’s Zoute Grand Prix.
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The Bentley EXP no.2 is one of the most important Bentleys. Given the anniversary, it was not its first appearance at a major car show this year.
The Exp 2 was also featured on the fairly small Bentley stage at the Rétromobile, and I imagine the car follows a busy schedule this year.
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This 3 litre, 2-seater sports tourer, is the oldest surviving Bentley, It is also the first Bentley to enter a race and the first to win. ” the one that started it all ”’. WO Bentley created experimental chassis 1 and 2 during 1919 and 1920. Exp NO.2 took part in extensive testing and racing for the company throughout 1921/1922. Eleven wins and seven seconds. The car went on to be very successful at race meetings and competitions becoming a legend when Duff and Clement recorded their 1924 Le Mans win. The vehicle was subject to a complete rebuild during the early ’90s, restoring the car to her 1921 race specification.
Next up was a Bentley 3 Litre Harrison 2 seater, that was presented as the very he first Bentley ever delivered. Over the last two years, the car has been fully restored and today retains its original body and numbers-matching engine and gearbox. Remarkably, everything on the car was claimed to be authentic. It also won a well-deserved 2nd place in Pebble Beach last summer.
Off the podium, the stage follows with a Continental Flying Spur from 1958. The car is a coachbuilt Continental Flying Spur, bringing together the capability of a Bentley chassis with the style and capacity of a tailor-made bodywork.
As one of 217 Flying Spurs coach built by H.J. Mulliner, it is equipped with the 4.9 Litre straight-six engine. The car is capable of handling long distances in great comfort at high speed, even by today’s standards.
The next corner was occupied by a Bentley Blower that pairs a supercharger with the 4,5 litre 4 cylinder, 16 valve Bentley engine. Approximately 55 “Blower” Bentley’s were produced, with perhaps only 40 still in existence.
This Bentley Blower was fitted with an elegant Gurney Nutting bodywork and delivered to Captain Woolf Barnato in 1930.
The Bentley Mark V was the company’s answer to the dated chassis of the 4.5 Litre Derby Bentley. It was signed off for production in time for its planned debut at the 1939 Olympia Motor Show, where it would have been displayed with bodywork by several independent coachbuilders.
History, however, had a different plan: following the outbreak of war in September 1939, both production and the motor show were cancelled. Ultimately only twelve of the Mark V models were built and were used by leading political figures of the wartime period.
The cream beige Bentley R type Continental is an Art Deco masterpiece. With a top speed of 120mph, it was not only the fastest four-seater car in the world but also the most expensive.
The R Type Continental created a template for Bentley grand touring that lasted decades. It even inspired the design team working on the first Continental GT, fifty years later. By the time production ended in 1955, 208 R Type Continentals had been built. All but 15 of them were bodied by H.J. Mulliner.
The last one of the line-up was a Bentley 8 Litre, the largest and most luxurious Bentley of its time, and the car designed by W.O Bentley.
This car is the second 8 Litre ever built in 1930 and was the personal car of W.O Bentley himself. He commissioned H.J Mulliner to build a saloon body on the foot short-wheelbase chassis.
The 8 Litre was the largest engine of any car available in the UK at the time with a maximum power between 200-230bhp. Only one car recorded a higher speed than the 8 Litre in 1939.
The main stage goes far beyond what Bentley conjured earlier this year at the Rétromobile Paris, where the small exhibition space included the Exp 2 and a 2019 Continental. At InterClassics, the Bentley stage was paired with a second stage featuring modern-day Bentleys.
In addition, the offering of the stages in Palais 6 was reinforced by many collectors who brought a remarkable number of pre-war Bentleys.
Most of them were pre-war period mastodons, often allowing open access to the engine compartment.
I particularly enjoyed the sign posted by a collector with another famous quote (allegedly by Ettore Bugatti: “Bentley is the fastest lorry in the world.”)…
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