The regular Bentley Litre and the high-performance Bentley Speed Six were rolling chassis in production from 1926 to 1930. The Speed Six, introduced in 1928, would become the most successful racing Bentley. Two Bentley Speed Sixes became known as the Blue Train Bentleys after their owner Woolf Barnato's involvement in the Blue Train Races of 1930.
To be offered at auction at RM Sotheby's Amelia Island event, March 14, 2015. To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmauctions.com/Amelia.
Estimate:
$550,000 - $650,000
180 bhp, 5,675 cc Bentley B80 inline eight-cylinder engine with four SU carburetors, synchronized four-speed manual transmission, independent front suspension with upgraded coil springs, rigid rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs, and hydraulic front drum and mechanical rear drum brakes. Wheelbase: 140.5 in.
Recreation of the legendary Blue Train Speed Six
Built by a respected UK coachbuilder
Based on a 1950 Bentley Mark VI chassis
Recently completed and only test mileage since
Legends cling to many famous cars, but perhaps the most fabled of them all is the story of the Blue Train Bentley.
Once upon a time, March 12, 1930, to be exact, a wager was made amongst a group of early motoring enthusiasts at a dinner party at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, France. A high-spirited discussion was prompted by the Rover motor car's advertisement, claiming that its Light Six was faster than the famous express train Le Train Bleu. One person in the group was Captain Joel Woolf Babe Barnato, a well-known playboy millionaire, the heir to a South African diamond and gold mine, an international sportsman, and one of the original Bentley Boys, as well as the chairman of Bentley Motors and the winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1928 and 1929. He boasted that he would have no difficulty outrunning Le Train Bleu in his Bentley Speed Six. He bet £100 on his claim.
Picture the scene in the Bentley camp at Le Mans in 1929. Winners of the two most recent editions of the race in 1927 and 1928, the appetite for a hat-trick victory must have been contagious. The Bentley Boys were undoubtedly the most dashing group of drivers the La Sarthe paddock had ever seen. The new 6.5 litre Speed Six was strong, powerful and ready to prove itself at the world’s toughest race. Place all this within an era – the Roaring Twenties – known for its excesses, glamour and sophistication and the stage is set. Team Bentley was on a veritable roll.
1929 turned out to be one of the most attrition-filled editions in the race’s history. Despite this, Captain Woolf ‘Babe’ Barnato and the legendary silk-scarfed and extremely rapid Sir Tim Birkin piloted a Speed Six – later to be known as ‘Old Number One’ - to outright victory, followed by a trio of 4.5 litre Bentleys claiming second, third and fourth places respectively. Huge celebrations commenced, including a huge party held by Barnato at his country pile in Surrey where the drive was turned into a racetrack and the bars were fashioned as pitstops! ‘Old Number One’ was brought out for another victory at Le Mans in 1930, with Barnato still in the saddle, joined by a new driver in the form of Bentley Boy, Glen Kidston. So proud was W.O. Bentley of the Speed Six that he declared it his favourite car.
The current owner acquired BA2580 in 2013 and set about completing a painstaking three-year restoration with revered restorer, Neil Davies. Realising the significant place that ‘Old Number One’ held in British motoring history - a car that ceased to exist in its 1930 Le Mans-winning guise - BA2580 offered the possibility to truly reincarnate the legendary Le Mans winner, whilst maintaining all its original matching number parts. As a tribute to ‘Old Number One’, the body and fittings are an accurate reincarnation, including the wire mesh fold-down screen with the twin aero screens behind and Zeiss headlamps with a stoneguard fitted to the offside only, as these cut down the light considerably in racing conditions. The owners of the two surviving original team cars allowed every detail of their Bentleys to be scruntinised and reinterpreted. Copies of Bentley and Draper hydraulic shock absorbers are fitted front and back, a racing petrol tank, sized for Le Mans, has been added, a Racing D gearbox and the instrument panel and layout is copied from a photograph of ‘Old Number One’.
With a continuous, matching numbers history, this Speed Six is accompanied by a rich file of period correspondence and photography, from its time in Malta to the proud role it played in Lord Doune’s collection. Since restoration was completed late last year, the Speed Six has been enjoyed on the Royal Concours tour and has been beautifully settled in. It offers, without doubt, the ultimate in vintage Bentley motoring and it drives as well, if not even better, than it looks!
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