One
of the most famous names in the history of motor racing will re-emerge
once again on the Sarthe circuit in France this June to take part in the
famous Le Mans 24 Hours after a gap of almost seventy years. Yes, that's
right, seventy years give or take a year either way. And the marque is
Bentley, which under Volkswagen ownership has been pitched back into battle
by Ferdinand Piech to try and recapture the essence of what was one of
the foremost British sports cars of the 1920s.
It all began for Bentley when Walter Owen Bentley decided to build a fast
sporting car for fast, sporting people. 'W O', as he was normally referred
to, had cut his teeth designing radial aircraft engines for the Sopwith
Camel fighter aircraft which saw action during the World War I. With the
return to peace, he directed his attention to automobiles, setting up
Bentley Motors Ltd. His first car, a 3-litre four-cylinder machine was
shown in bare chassis form at the 1919 Olympia Show but it was not until
1921 that the first pure production models of the same were finally despatched
to customers.
This first Bentley featured a great many cues from the 1914 French Grand
Prix winning Mercedes and Peugeot racers. With large cylinder dimensions
- 80x149mm bore and stroke - measuring upto a 2996cc displacement, the
Bentley four had a single overhead camshaft operating four narrow angled
valves per cylinder. Twin magneto ignition was employed to provide the
spark to the twin spark plugs per cylinder. Pistons were aluminium alloy
and the crank ran on five-main bearings. Initially the unit produced 70bhp
at 3500rpm but with ongoing development, this was progressively bumped
to 85bhp by 1925. The 3-litre employed a cone clutch to effect the transmission
of power from the separate 4-speed gearbox through to the spiral bevel
final drive.
There was nothing radical about the chassis and its accompanying underpinnings,
Bentley obviously looking for strength and survival more than anything
else. Featuring semi-elliptic springs and friction dampers as the means
of suspension all round, the early 3-litre Bentleys only had rear wheel
brakes and it was only around mid-1923 that four-wheel brakes were incorporated.
The 3-litre was made in different wheelbase sizes (graphically designated
Short Standard, TT for Tourist Trophy, Speed, Super-Sports and Long Standard).
That they were mighty robust was never in doubt, weighing anywhere from
1450kg to 2550kg, prompting the great Ettore Bugatti to term them as "the
fastest lorries in Europe." This latter statement might have had
a lot to do with Bentley's successes at Le Mans. This French 24 hour classic
had its first run in 1923 and a singleton 3-litre Bentley driven by John
Duff and Woolf Barnato raced to fourth spot in that inaugural event. In
1924, Duff this time having Frank Clement as his co-driver won the race
overall, the first win for a non-French car. What was most creditable
about the win was that it was an effort solely funded by John Duff and
Bentley Motors played no part in it except for Duff's mechanics to be
trained at the factory. Our pic shows (from left) Frank Clement, W O himself
and John Duff in the pits at Le Mans during that memorable race weekend.
Bentley's early sporting history was inextricably linked with Le Mans
even though it also raced with success at other venues like Brooklands
and the TT. In 1927, another 3-litre Bentley overcame the odds to triumph
for the firm once again. Despite crashing along with one of the newer
4.5-litre Bentleys and another 3-litre car, Sammy Davies extricated his
3-litre from the crash, drove to the pits to get the car patched up somewhat
and with a twisted chassis, skewed steering, battered bodywork and headlamps
askance, he with co-driver J D Banjafield drove to a stunning victory,
the first for the works Bentley team. A larger four-cylinder car - the
4.5 won Le Mans for Bentley in 1928 while the 6.5-litre six-cylinder machines
did the job for the marque in 1929 and 1930. Unfortunately, Bentley Motors
was forced into liquidation in 1931 due to the onset of the depression
and Rolls-Royce bought it over. But that's another story. |
June 2001