There's no replacement for displacement
Bentley
Tagline
Net Worth
$10,000,000
Started in (City)
England
Started in (Country)
United Kingdom
Incorporation Date
18th December, 1919
Bankruptcy Date
-
Founders
- H. M. Bentley
- W. O. Bentley
About
Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs—and a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group since 1998.
Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley in 1919 in Cricklewood, North London—and became widely known for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, and 1930.
Prominent models extend from the historic sports-racing Bentley 4½ Litre and Bentley Speed Six; the more recent Bentley R Type Continental, Bentley Turbo R, and Bentley Arnage; to its current model line, including the Flying Spur, Continental GT, Bentayga, and the Mulsanne—which are marketed worldwide, with China as its largest market as of November 2012.
Today most Bentley models are assembled at the company’s Crewe factory, with a small number assembled at Volkswagen’s Dresden factory, Germany, and with bodies for the Continental manufactured in Zwickau and for the Bentayga manufactured at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant.
The joining and eventual separation of Bentley and Rolls-Royce followed a series of mergers and acquisitions, beginning with the 1931 purchase by Rolls-Royce of Bentley, then in receivership. In 1971, Rolls-Royce itself was forced into receivership and the UK government nationalized the company—splitting into two companies the aerospace division (Rolls-Royce Plc) and automotive (Rolls-Royce Motors Limited) divisions—the latter retaining the Bentley subdivision. Rolls-Royce Motors was subsequently sold to engineering conglomerate, Vickers and in 1998, Vickers sold Rolls-Royce to Volkswagen AG.
Intellectual property rights to both the name Rolls-Royce as well as the company’s logo had been retained not by Rolls-Royce Motors, but by aerospace company, Rolls-Royce Plc, which had continued to license both to the automotive division. Thus the sale of "Rolls-Royce" to VW included the Bentley name and logos, vehicle designs, model nameplates, production, and administrative facilities, the Spirit of Ecstasy and Rolls-Royce grille shape trademarks (subsequently sold to BMW by VW)—but not the rights to the Rolls-Royce name or logo. The aerospace company, Rolls-Royce Plc, ultimately sold both to BMW AG.
Beginning
Before World War I, Walter Owen Bentley and his brother, Horace Millner Bentley, sold French DFP cars in Cricklewood, North London, but W.O, as Walter was known, always wanted to design and build his own cars. At the DFP factory, in 1913, he noticed an aluminum paperweight and thought that aluminum might be a suitable replacement for cast iron to fabricate lighter pistons. The first Bentley aluminum pistons were fitted to Sopwith Camel aero engines during World War I.
In August 1919, W.O. registered Bentley Motors Ltd. and in October he exhibited a car chassis, with a dummy engine, at the London Motor Show. Ex-Royal Flying Corps officer Clive Gallop designed an innovative four valves per cylinder engine for the chassis. By December the engine was built and running. Delivery of the first cars was scheduled for June 1920, but development took longer than estimated so the date was extended to September 1921. The durability of the first Bentley cars earned widespread acclaim and they competed in hill climbs and raced at Brooklands.
Road to Success
Bentley’s first major event was the 1922 Indianapolis 500, a race dominated by specialized cars with Duesenberg racing chassis. They entered a modified road car driven by works driver, Douglas Hawkes, accompanied by riding mechanic, H. S. "Bertie" Browning. Hawkes completed the full 500 miles (800 km) and finished 13th with an average speed of 74.95 miles per hour (120.62 km/h) after starting in the 19th position. The team was then rushed back to England to compete in the 1922 RAC Tourist Trophy.
In an ironic reference to his heavyweight boxer’s stature, Captain Woolf Barnato was nicknamed "Babe". In 1925, he acquired his first Bentley, a 3-liter. With this car, he won numerous Brooklands races. Just a year later he acquired the Bentley business itself.
The Bentley enterprise was always underfunded but inspired by the 1924 Le Mans win by John Duff and Frank Clement, Barnato agreed to finance Bentley’s business. Barnato had incorporated Baromans Ltd in 1922, which existed as his finance and investment vehicle. Via Baromans, Barnato initially invested in excess of £100,000, saving the business and its workforce. A financial reorganization of the original Bentley company was carried out and all existing creditors paid off for £75,000. Existing shares were devalued from £1 each to just 1 shilling or 5% of their original value. Barnato held 149,500 of the new shares giving him control of the company and he became chairman. Barnato injected further cash into the business: £35,000 secured by debenture in July 1927; £40,000 in 1928; £25,000 in 1929. With renewed financial input, W. O. Bentley was able to design another generation of cars.
The Bentley Boys were a group of British motoring enthusiasts that included Barnato, Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin, steeplechaser George Duller, aviator Glen Kidston, automotive journalist S.C.H. "Sammy" Davis, and Dudley Benjafield. The Bentley Boys favored Bentley cars. Many were independently wealthy and many had a military background. They kept the marque’s reputation for high performance alive; Bentley was noted for its four consecutive victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, from 1927 to 1930.
In March 1930, during the Blue Train Races, Barnato raised the stakes on Rover and its Rover Light Six, having raced and beaten Le Train Bleu for the first time, to better that record with his 6½-litre Bentley Speed Six on a bet of £100. He drove against the train from Cannes to Calais, then by ferry to Dover, and finally London, traveling on public highways, and won.
Barnato drove his H.J. Mulliner–bodied formal saloon in the race against the Blue Train. Two months later, on 21 May 1930, he took delivery of a Speed Six with streamlined fastback "sportsman coupé" by Gurney Nutting. Both cars became known as the "Blue Train Bentleys"; the latter is regularly mistaken for, or erroneously referred to as being, the car that raced the Blue Train, while in fact, Barnato named it in memory of his race. A painting by Terence Cuneo depicts the Gurney Nutting coupé racing along a road parallel to the Blue Train, which scenario never occurred as the road and railway did not follow the same route. In March 1930, during the Blue Train Races, Barnato raised the stakes on Rover and its Rover Light Six, having raced and beaten Le Train Bleu for the first time, to better that record with his 6½-litre Bentley Speed Six on a bet of £100. He drove against the train from Cannes to Calais, then by ferry to Dover, and finally London, traveling on public highways, and won.
To celebrate Bentley’s Centenary, we take a look at some of the significant people and events of the first 100 years. From W.O. Bentley, who founded Bentley Motors in 1919, to the current team of over 4,000 dedicated employees, the company’s extraordinary cars have always been designed and built by exceptional people using only the finest of materials.
They have always been driven by exceptional people, too. From the passionate Bentley Boys and Girls who raced the cars in the 1920s, encouraging W.O. Bentley to achieve ever greater feats of engineering, to the visionary Bentley owners of today, Bentley drivers help to shape the world around them.
As a brand, we are also constantly looking forwards, and in this section, you will find our concept cars, including the concept car we launched for our centenary Bentley EXP 100 GT, our technological innovations, and future vision for Bentley.
The unique relationship between those who create the cars and those who drive them has helped create an enthralling story unlike any other.
Challenges
In 1929, Birkin developed the 4½-litre, lightweight Blower Bentley at Welwyn Garden City and produced five racing specials, starting with Bentley Blower No.1 which was optimized for the Brooklands racing circuit. Birkin overruled Bentley and put the model on the market before it was fully developed. As a result, it was unreliable.
Reversing losses and helping to develop a battery system that meets the performance demands of Bentley’s core customers.
Failures
For automakers like Bentley who are normally used to powering cars with extremely powerful and not particularly fuel-efficient engines, the changes the auto industry is currently undergoing regarding new emissions rules can be quite a challenge. The failure of not meeting these new emissions standards means you're out of business. Simple as that. Obviously this was not an option, so Bentley, and others, acted accordingly. But according to Automotive News Europe, Bentley was too slow to prep its cars to meet Europe's strict new Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) program, and the resulting problems were "close to catastrophic,". Turns out that Bentley's future vehicles got "stuck in the queue" for WLTP testing.
Achievements
- Bentayga picks up seven titles in 2017, including ‘SUV of the Year
- Continental GT receives four global awards (2017)
- Flagship Mulsanne recognised as “single best way to travel in a car” (2017)
- Continental GT awarded ‘People’s Car of the Year’ by Jeremy Clarkson (2019)
- All-new Flying Spur named ‘Luxury Car of the Year’ by Top Gear Magazine (2019)
Subsidies
- Volkswagen Group
CEOs
- Adrian Hallmark