With ideas for prototypes sizzling, Bentley began to create a car like no other, manufactured with technology no one in England had seen. There were four valves per cylinder, the piston stroke was longer than that of most other engines and the displacement was just under three liters. In fact, it was even called the Three Liter - the first time a British car had been described in liters - puzzling many people in the process.

When it hit the market, it hit big. The two-door car went for a little over $1,500 and the waiting list grew to two years as Bentley's company built 21 in 1921, 100 more the next year and 100 more than that in 1923 before finally hitting the peak in 1928 when more than 400 cars were delivered.

Bentley was winning in the showroom, he was winning on the track with his green-painted cars at Le Mans and he was winning with those dreams. Everyone knew about Bentley, including Prince George, who was a Bentley customer.

He was reinventing clutches, brakes and enlarging engines. And then came the Eight Liter... and out went Bentley.

With the onset of the Depression, the eight-liter engine could not have come at a worse time. Bentley was already in receivership eight months into 1930, the year the Depression hit England and the year Bentley's Eight Liter hit the market. Bad quickly went to unworkable. With a friend set to acquire Bentley, and Bentley set to design a new twin-overhead-camshaft sports car for him, a mysterious third party entered the fray, outbidding the friend to the tune of $30,000. A few days later at a cocktail party, Bentley discovered the identity of the buyer: Rolls-Royce. W.O. was retained as an employee but he had little say in the look of the car that had his name. The company had successfully isolated him from design and engineering, never capitalizing on his strengths.

Increasingly unhappy, he left when his contract came up in 1935. He worked for Lagonda and Armstrong Siddeley until 1950, creating engines as well as complete vehicles. In all cases, his engineering revolved around strong, simple and clever construction. All of his designs were renowned for their high output as well as their reliability and durability.

He died in 1971, at age 83, with a loyal group of followers still making those treks to his home in Surrey in their Rolls-produced Bentleys, cars still viewed as the ultimate for dedicated members of the sporting fraternity.

The Bentley Driver's Club, they called themselves. And the dreamer couldn't have been happier.

Source: W.O. Bentley built, then lost, the brand bearing his name