Century of Bentleys hit the road
By Ray Massey, Mail Online, March 2019
(Page 5 of 5)
A spokesman said:’This year, 2019, is one of the most signi?cant in the club’s history – it’s the year all enthusiasts of this legendary British marque come together to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Bentley Motors’.
The ‘Centenary Extraordinary Drive’ fires the starting gun for a series of anniversary events planned during the year which marks the centenary on July 10. This includes the Salon Prive event at Blenheim Palace in September where 1,001 Bentleys are expected to attend. Much has changed in 100 years. Most recently the firm launched a £200,000 207mph open-topped Bentley Continental GT Convertible.
Bentley Motors chairman and chief executive Adrian Hallmark has set out the firm’s path towards ‘full electrification’ of the Bentley range as the firm seeks to shed its ‘gas-guzzler’ reputation.
Hallmark’s stated aim is to have 100 per cent hybrid or electric power available on all models across the Bentley range by 2025: ’With our extraordinary motoring heritage of 100 years to build on, we are now firmly focussed on a future characterised by our passion for innovation.’
On the vexed subject of Brexit Mr Hallmark said the firm remains 'fully committed' to the UK and is putting in place long- and short-term contingency plans to cope.
A special centenary visit to Bentley Motors headquarters at Crewe is also planned where the Bentley drivers can pay tribute to the spiritual home of their luxury cars.
He said a 'hard Brexit' would be 'a blow' but 'not life-threatening' to the company owned by Germany's giant Volkswagen group.
Only 20 per cent of Bentley's global sales are to Continental Europe so it has a more balanced spread of sales. Some 21 per cent is to the USA, 19 per cent to China, 14 per cent remains in the UK and the remaining 16 per cent is exported to the result of the world.
A century after engineering genius Walter Owen ‘W.O’ Bentley founded the firm which bears his name, Mr Hallmark said: 'We have been here for 100 years and we will be here for the next 100 years.'
My 2003 Bentley Continental R
For the first leg of the Bentley ‘Centenary Extraordinary Drive’ from John O’Groats I was behind the wheel of a powerfully luxurious ‘Final Edition’ Bentley Continental R from 2003.
At launch the fastest and most powerful Bentley of its day and the most expensive production car in the world.
With a top speed of 170mph its powerful uprated 6.75-litre turbocharged V8 engine produces 420 bhp – equivalent to four Ford Fiestas – which propels it from rest to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds.
For the first leg of the Bentley ‘Centenary Extraordinary Drive’ from John O’Groats I was behind the wheel of a powerfully luxurious ‘Final Edition’ Bentley Continental R from 2003. It has a top speed of 170mph and its 6.75-litre turbocharged V8 engine produces 420 bhp.
It has a four-speed automatic gearbox, self-levelling hydraulic suspension and ventilated disc brakes with twin Bentley brake calipers at the front, wider wheel arches and 18” 9.5J wheels and tyres. The car also includes a boost gauge, chromed bezels, black-lacquered furnishings and Bentley badges in the waistrails.
The Continental R was the first all-new-bodied Bentley coupe since the stunning R-Type Continental of 1952, rightly considered among the most beautiful cars ever created.
A total of 1548 were built, including 158 bespoke Mulliner editions, 44 Le Mans Series and 11 ‘Final Series’ of the type I was driving.
A Bentley spokesman noted: ‘The Continental R re-established Bentley as a premium sporting marque in its own right, and is a considered a classic. It was the fastest, most expensive, and most powerful Bentley of its day. It was also the most expensive production car in the world at launch.’
The Bentleys making the trip
- 1922 Bentley 3/4.5l
- 1927 Bentley 4.5L VdP style
- 1928 Bentley Continental GT
- 1930 Bentley Speed Six
- 1949/29 Bentley Special
- *1960 Bentley Flying Spur Continental II
- 1964 Bentley S3 Continental
- 2003 Bentley Continental R (Ray Massey’s car)
- 2004 Bentley Continental GT
- 2006 Bentley Arnage T Mulliner
- 2007 Bentley Azure
- 2007 Bentley Continental GT Speed
- *2009 Bentley Brooklands
- 2015 Bentley Flying Spur
- 2016 Bentley Bentayga
- 2017 Bentley Bentayga
- 2018 Bentley Continental GTC
- 2018 Bentley Continental GTC
- *2018 Bentley Bentayga
- 2018 Bentley Bentayga
- 2019 Bentley Mulsanne Speed
- 2019 Bentley Continental GT
- 2019 Bentley Bentayga
History of Bentley
Bentley Motors was founded in 1919 by English engineer Walter Owen ‘W.O’ Bentley whose motto was: ‘To build a good car, a fast car, the best in class.’
The firm quickly established a strong racing pedigree boosted by the ‘Bentley Boys’ of the 1920s led by Woolf Barnato, a triple winner of the Le Mans 24 hour endurance race.
In the original Ian Fleming James Bond novels, 007’s car of choice was a supercharged Bentley. After a bidding war with rival BMW in 1998, Germany’s Volkswagen Group struck a deal to take over Bentley from then owners Vickers, achieving sole control from 2003.