<< Prev Page 2 of 2 The Speed Six distinguished itself from the 6 1/2 Litre model by employing an additional carburettor. This brought the maximum horsepower up to a formidable 180 bhp. For the 1929 racing season, W.O. Bentley commissioned a competition version of the Speed Six, which featured a 200 bhp version of the engine. It had a false start at Brooklands when a dynamo coupling failure put it out of the first ever 24 Hour race at the British track. That was quickly forgotten when 'Bentley Boys' Woolf Barnato and Tim Birkin drove 'Old No. 1' to victory at Le Mans the following month.
Despite his 1929 victory in the naturally aspirated Speed Six, Birkin believed supercharging would be the future. For the following season he developed a blown version of the latest 4 1/2 Liter Bentley. He received outside funding for this project but to homologate the 'Blower Bentley' for Le Mans at least 50 examples had to be built. W.O. Bentley never believed the supercharged car could be run reliably for 24 hours but he had all but lost the control over the company and Birkin got the green light to enter the Blower Bentley at Le Mans.
There was only one place where W.O. could prove his point and that was on the track. He had two more Speed Six Team Cars built for 1930, which would dominate all the major events that season. Barnato and Frank Clement scored a win in the Brooklands 'Double 12' in the new 'Old No. 2' ahead of Sammy Davis and Clive Dunfee in 'Old No. 3'. At Le Mans the supercharged opposition from the 'Birkin' Bentleys and the sole Mercedes-Benz ss proved W.O. right by retiring with reliability issues. Barnato and Glen Kidston took a commanding victory in 'Old No. 1' well ahead of the second placed 'Old No. 2'.
Unfortunately Bentley Motors ltd. did not return the following year as difficult economic times had forced W.O. to sell his company to arch-rival Rolls-Royce. Despite overshadowed at times by the more powerful but also more fragile Blower, the Speed Six was without a doubt the finest and certainly the most successful Bentley produced in the W.O. era. Fortunately many of the 182 examples, including the three Team Cars, still exist. Often equipped with spectacular coachwork, they are the most sought after of all Bentleys. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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Speed Six Works Team Car
The Speed Six distinguished itself from the 6 1/2 Litre model by employing an additional carburettor. This brought the maximum horsepower up to a formidable 180 bhp. For the 1929 racing season, W.O. Bentley commissioned a competition version of the Speed Six, which featured a 200 bhp version of the engine. It had a false start at Brooklands when a dynamo coupling failure put it out of the first ever 24 Hour race at the British track. That was quickly forgotten when 'Bentley Boys' Woolf Barnato and Tim Birkin drove 'Old No. 1' to victory at Le Mans the following month.