95 Years of Bentley
Published on July 10, 2014 in Galleries by Frédérick Boucher-Gaulin
This year, Bentley is celebrating its 95th birthday. For the occasion, here is a quick history lesson about the famous English automaker!
1919 : The brand is created by W.O. and H.M. Bentley. They build their first engine, a 16-valves 4-cylinder engine producing 65 HP in October.
The first Bentley, a 1919 3-Litre.
A Bentley finishes fourth at the first edition of the 24H of Le Mans in 1923.
In 1927, a badly damaged Bentley wins the 24H of Le Mans, while a company-sponsored prototype is destroyed in a crash.
One year later, a 1928 Bentley 4¼-Litre wins the 24H of Le Mans.
The new Bentley Speed Six wins the first four places in the 1929 24H of Le Mans.
For 1930, Bentley Speed Sixes wins again, this time coming in in first and second place. However, it will be the last time the manufacturer races at La Sarthe for 71 years.
The ultimate original Bentley, the 8-Litre is powered by a 240 HP inline-six. Only 100 were made.
In 1931, Bentley is bought by a company named British Central Equitable Trust. However, it was only a front for rival automaker Rolls-Royce, which saw the 8-Litre as a serious competitor to its Phantom II.
After 1933, Bentleys were only pale copies of Rolls-Royces.
After World War Two, Rolls-Royce decided to keep the Derby factory to make planes, so Bentley had to be relocated to Crewe.
In 1946, the Mark VI is launched. It is the first Bentley to come from the factory with a bodywork.
The first Flying Spur dates back to 1957.
1971 : the brand's foundator, W.O. Bentley dies at the age of 71.
The new sedan for 1980 tries to capitalize on Bentley's sucess in Le Mans by giving it the name of a section of the circuit: Mulsanne.
The first Bentley in 37 years that is not based on a Rolls-Royce, the Continental R, is launched in 1994.
In 1998, Volkswagen buys Rolls-Royce and Bentley for $878 millions. They announce that the two English brands will finally be separated.
Bentley returns to the 24H of Le Mans in 2001, finishing third with the EXP Speed 8 racecar.
The Continental GT, Bentley's most important model to date, is launched in 2003.
The Continental GTC is unveiled in 2006.
2009: the luxury sedan Mulsanne comes out, directly challenging Rolls-Royce.
The second-gen Continental GT is from 2011.
Bentley announce their first SUV with the EXP 9F concept in 2012.
The fastest Bentley ever produced, the GT3-R, is launched in 2014. With 577 HP, it goes from 0 to 100 in 3.8 seconds.