WO Bentley built his first car in 1919 with a 3 litre engine, which achieved a top
speed of 120km/h. The car consisted of a chassis, the engine, two bucket seats, a
large fuel tank and two spare wheels. It was fairly common at that time that coach
builders then added a body to the customer’s specifications, but most Bentleys
bodies would be built as two or four seater open tourers.
Bentley built very successful racing cars and won second, fourth and fifth place
in the 1922 Tourist Trophy, behind an 8 litre Sunbeam. In 1923 one of the 3 litre
Bentleys finished fourth in the 24-hour Le Mans race. However sales were not
very good, so the company was struggling along.
Bentley introduced the “100 MPH” with a top speed of 100 miles/hour and the
Speed Six luxury models with the 6.6 litre engine in 1925. A “100 MPH” won the
24-hour Le Mans race in 1927. The Speed Six luxury model had a top speed of
145km/h and was also able to drive in fourth gear at 12 km/h with the 6.6 litre
Engine. This car also won the 24-hour Le Mans race in 1929.
Due to ongoing financial problems WO Bentley had to sell his company in 1931
when arch-rival Rolls Royce was the highest bidder. WO Bentley continued to
work for the company until 1935, when he joined Lagonda. The Rolls Royce
built Bentleys were known as “Derby Bentleys” because they were built in Derby.
When Rolls Royce went bankrupt in 1998, Volkswagen of Germany bought the
Company. They are very successful today in the modernised Crewe factory, with
more than double their workforce and dramatically increased sales, with their
main market in China.
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