Bentley Motor Cars Now and Then, A Brief Guide

The Bentley Motor Car company based in Crewe in the county of Cheshire seems to be bucking the trend for world wide sales. As in the past couple of years the Bentley Motor Car company has seen the demand for its cars rise in emerging markets such as Asia and India.

With countries like China, India and Indonesia enjoying significant growth in areas of the world wide economy, which was once enjoyed by the west and its European neighbours. So much so, that in countries like China and India Bentley has seen the demand for its premium luxury motor car’s being increased throughout this year. Even though the company has been owned by the Volkswagen Group since 1998, the prestigious car marque has remained true to its roots and quest for excellence in luxury motoring.

The prestige brand of Bentley is now a far cry from its humble beginning as a company. The Bentley name comes from its founder “Walter Owen Bentley” or W.O. Bentley as he was often referred to in the early years of the “Bentley Motor Company”. Walter Bentley founded his motor company in early 1919, just after World War 1, before this time Walter was known for his “Rotary Aero-Engines” which were being using in aircraft during War. The most notably named engine was the Bentley “BR1” that was used in aeroplanes such as the famous biplane, the Sopwith Camel.

Other Walter Bentley started production in the early twenties, he entered his cars into various races and hill climbs to show the full potential of his new Bentley motor car. Around this period of time Walter Bentley entered the Bentley race car’s into the prestigious world renowned “24 hours of Le Mans race”. During the 1920’s and up until 1930, the Bentley Motor Car company raced and won at Le Mans 24 hours notching up no less than five outright wins, with four of them being consecutive victories, which was a marvellous achievement considering the company had only been created eleven years before.

Bentley as a company has always aimed to react to the times, whilst pushing the boundaries of motoring. In the present day Bentley have set a new world speed record on Ice, achieving a speed of 330.7kmh (205.48mph), broking their own previous world record, with the expert help of the four-times World Rally Champion “Juha Kankkunen”.

The twist in the story was; that it wasn’t some custom built model he was driving, but the bio-ethanol-powered Bentley “Continental Supersports” convertible, that is essentially the same model you can buy from your local Bentley dealer, if you have a spare £160,000 in your bank account.