well, the blower did win shorter races, where reliability wasn't such a big issue
however in LeMans 1930 everybody knew of the Blower Bentley's tremendous pace. The strategy of Bentley was to drive the Blower at insane speeds fooling Mercedes they were running away with an easy victory. Hence Mercedes gave chase at stressed their car too more than they otherwise would have. It worked. The Blower retired but so did the Mercedes. Meanwhile the Six could cruise home and win.
The 8litre was possibly even better. It was so good Rolls Royce had all the tools and machines for making it destroyed once they bought the company. All spare parts for the 8 litre were disposed. If not for the depression I have little doubt the 8litre Bentley would have became a legend in its time.
As far as I know, the 'blower' Bentleys were dogged with poor reliability when racing; something that the Speed Six's and unblown
4 1/2s never had. To my mind, the Six was WO's magnum opus - a magnificent motor car on or off the track...
marsvltor2 3 years ago
I would suppose early superchargers would get grit caught in them due to bad filters?
whoorderedasexybeast 3 years ago
@marsvltor2
well, the blower did win shorter races, where reliability wasn't such a big issue
however in LeMans 1930 everybody knew of the Blower Bentley's tremendous pace. The strategy of Bentley was to drive the Blower at insane speeds fooling Mercedes they were running away with an easy victory. Hence Mercedes gave chase at stressed their car too more than they otherwise would have. It worked. The Blower retired but so did the Mercedes. Meanwhile the Six could cruise home and win.
McLarenMercedes 1 year ago
@marsvltor2
The 8litre was possibly even better. It was so good Rolls Royce had all the tools and machines for making it destroyed once they bought the company. All spare parts for the 8 litre were disposed. If not for the depression I have little doubt the 8litre Bentley would have became a legend in its time.
McLarenMercedes 1 year ago
I wonder, since the speed six won le mans 3 times and the 4.5 never did why the blower is sio much more expensive.
whoorderedasexybeast 3 years ago
@whoorderedasexybeast - Barneto won LeMans three times. In 1928 he drove a normally aspirated 4.5, In 1929 and 1930 he drove a Speed Six.
JAG312 1 year ago
Sounds kind of like a tractor. I've seen one of these vintage Bentlys run, and they're movers for sure.
gregwddriver 3 years ago
sounds like an old mercedes 608 van...
arvekvalvik 3 years ago
was this car at the concours de elegance show in Kirkland, Washington because I swear I saw one that looked just like it.
porsche0514 4 years ago
no it was in cheshire/uk
it's probably transported to washington. i don't think there is too much examples of it.
hobarey1985 4 years ago
@hobarey1985
If you mean Washington State, I believe I know exactly where it went Hobarey.
CIVILIZEDEUROPE 1 year ago
that remind me of my cadalac that rolled over
varrone2 4 years ago
wish i had this one. it costs as far as i know more then 1 million pound.
hobarey1985 4 years ago
If it is a real blower i think it costs even more.
There exist also some 4,5 litre supercharged (no real blowers) which are cheaper (but still very expensive.
I've seen one of the 55 in munich some years ago.
A real impressive car. It had to speed up in some intervalls for cooling issues!
morphyon 4 years ago