The world's largest collection of historic British cars
The world's largest collection of historic British cars
A higher performance version of the 6½ Litre, the Speed Six became the most successful racing Bentley, winning Le Mans in 1929 and 1930 at the hands of Woolf Barnato, Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin and Glen Kidston, all members of the wealthy “Bentley Boys” who famously raced Bentleys in the 1920s.
The 6½ Litre succeeded Bentley’s 4½ Litre with the engine redesigned to increase capacity rather than adding a supercharger. To create the Speed Six the engine was modified to liberate even more power, with twin SU carburettors, a higher compression ratio and a high-performance camshaft.
A Speed Six, driven by Woolf Barnato who was also the Chairman of Bentley at the time, famously raced against the luxury express Blue Train in March 1930 from the French Riveria. Barnato reached London before the train was due in the station at Calais!
This car joined the Bentley Heritage Collection in 2021, completing Bentley’s roster of pre-war models. It was fully restored in 2005, at which point it was converted to the Team Car specification, matching the Speed Sixes that successfully raced at Le Mans.
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