Bentley (The Cricklewood Years) - The Earliest Bentley Cars

Cricklewood Era Bentley Cars

1919 - 1931

Bentley Motors was born in January 1919 and was the idea of Walter Owen Bentley (known as ‘W.O"), a well known aeronautical engine designer, amateur racer and car importer. W.O had developed the BR1 and BR2 aluminum-piston rotary aero engines before founding Bentley. In October 1919, Bentley Motors’ first-ever engine, the 3-litre (with aluminum pistons), burst into life in New Street Mews, London. Soon after production began in 1921, in a new factory in Cricklewood, in north London.

Full Model List / Models In-Depth / Image Gallery

Bentley Models from 1919 - 1931

The first 3-litre production car, the first car ever named after its cylinder capacity, was delivered in September that year. Like many founders of the time, W.O believed racing was the best way to promote the new company and embarked on an ambitious program of motor sport, with Bentley winning its first event in May 1921 and the 3-litre competed at Le Mans five times and won twice. Great cars followed the 3-litre. Deliveries of the six-cylinder 6 1/2-litre began in 1926, while the 4 1/2-litre, launched in 1927, had a modular four-cylinder version of the 6 1/2-litre’s motor and is probably the most fondly remembered of all the Cricklewood cars: it won Le Mans in 1928. The Speed Six, W.O Bentley’s own favorite, used a modified 6 1/2-litre engine and won Le Mans twice (1929 and 1930). There was also the legendary ‘Blower Bentley’ – a supercharged 4 1/2-litre and the amazing 8-litre. Thanks to the Great Depression, Bentley decided to switch gears and produced a more economical 4-litre version. It didn't work and Bentley went through more turmoil before ending up being owners by Rolls-Royce. Future Bentleys would be made, at least for the remainder of the ’30s, at Rolls-Royce’s home in Derby.

Bentley 3-litre (1921 - 1929)
Bentley 4½-litre & "Blower" (1926 - 1930)

Bentley 6½-litre (1926 - 1930)
Bentley 6½-litre Speed Six (1928 - 1930)

Bentley 8-litre (1930 - 1931)
Bentley 4-litre (1931)

Cricklewood Era Bentleys: In-Depth Guides

We dive into the details to learn more about some of the earliest Bentley cars ever made.

1930 Bentley Speed Six – Up for the Challenge

1930 Bentley Speed Six A bloke couldn’t think of anything more dissimilar if he tried. From a Boeing 737, to a modern Korean buzzbox, to a 1930 Bentley Speed Six. While both the jet and the Hyundai with its automatic transmission and power this-and-that were purely means of transport, the...

1930 Bentley Demonstrator Blower

Bentley Demonstrator Blower GH 6951 was one of just fifty road-going ‘Blower’ Bentleys built between 1929 and 1931 and was used as a demonstrator at the company’s offices in Cork Street. It was tested by The Autocar in September 1930, which ran with the subheading: ‘The Appeal of Immense Power,...

1930 Bentley 8 Litre

1930→1932 Bentley 8 Litre After Bentley had won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and retired from racing, they released their largest model called simply the 8 Litre. Around 100 examples were made and they all featured custom coachwork, mainly from the firms in England. In the 1920s it was...

1930 Bentley 8 Litre

Bentley 8 Litre The 8 Litre is considered W.O. Bentley’s masterpiece; yet it also marked the end of a chapter for the first Bentley Motors. GK 706 was W.O’s personal ‘company car’, in which he enjoyed many fast, non-stop runs down to the South of France with his wife. He...

1929 Bentley Speed Six

Bentley Speed Six The Bentley Speed Six is one of the marque’s most iconic pre-war vehicles. A high-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...

1929 Bentley Speed 6 Works Racing Car

1929 – 1930 Bentley Speed 6 Works Racing Car Factory-raced Speed 6s contributed more to the Bentley story than any other model. These specially-prepared models won the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as the famed Brooklands Double 12. Three of the factory ‘works’ cars, known as Old Number...

1929 Bentley Speed 6

1929→1930 Bentley Speed 6 Following the 6½ Litre released in 1926, Bentley thoroughly updated the design with a more powerful engine. This flagship model was bodied by the best British coachbuilders and also raced with great success alongside the 4½ Litre. It was Walter Owen Bentley’s favorite model and became...

1929 Bentley Blower – Birkin’s Baby

1929 Bentley Blower This Profile may be forced to veer somewhat from our usual format since the chance to have a close encounter with a very historic Bentley in the same place where it made its name and on the much heralded occasion of Team Bentley’s return to the Sarthe,...

1929 Bentley 4½ Litre Supercharged Team Car #2

Bentley 4½ Litre Supercharged Team Car #2 No pre-war Bentley had an impact like the 4½ Litre ‘Blower’ Bentley. Its thunderous performance thrilled thousands – including author Ian Fleming, who later gave fictional hero James Bond a supercharged 4½ Litre Bentley. UU 5872 was driven by Bentley Boy Henry (Tim)...

1929 Bentley 4½ Litre Blower

1929→1931 Bentley 4½ Litre Blower With it’s front mounted supercharger, the 4½ became one of Walter Owen Bentley’s quintessential British sportscars. It was the vision and product of Sir Henry Ralph Stanley ‘Tim’ Birkin who persuaded Bentley to produce 50 examples of the model. The company Birkin & Couper Ltd....

1929 Bentley 4½ Litre Blower

1929 Bentley 4½ Litre

1929 Bentley 4½ Litre In late 1927, Bentley enlarged their 3 Litre model to 4.5 litres and it subsequently dominated endurance racing. Financier and racing driver Woolf Barnato piloted a 4½ Litre to victory at the 1928 24 Hours of Le Mans with co-driver Bernard Rubin. The 4½ Litre was...

1926 Bentley 6½ Litre

1926→1928 Bentley 6½ Litre Often confused with the Speed 6, the 6½ Litre was Bentley’s first large-displacement, six-cylinder car. The new engine was necessary to bolster the image of Bentley beyond rivals of Rolls-Royce and Mercedes-Benz. Furthermore, the six-cylinder unit ran much smoother than the 6½. The new engine was...

1924 Bentley 3-Liter

DM Historics, the British heritage motorsport specialist is offering a 1924 Bentley 3-Liter, a great example of British motoring excellence, giving the new owner a chance to own a vehicle inducted into the historic racing hall of fame. The iconic Bentley 3-Liter is one of the most celebrated historic race cars to have raced...

1924 – 1929 Bentley 3 Litre Speed

Bentley 3 Litre Speed The 3 Litre Speed was the first performance-focused Bentley, and started a nameplate still in use today to signify the most performance-focused members of Bentley’s model range. The Bentley 3 Litre The 3 Litre represents W.O. Bentley’s original vision of ‘a fast car, a good car,...

1921 Bentley 3 Litre

Bentley 3 Litre (1921→1929) Overview Fitted with Vanden Plas bodywork, the Bentley 3 Litre was the quintessential British sports car. It won Le Mans in 1924 and again in 1927 with Super Sports trim. The model was first seen at the 1919 London Motor Show where its advanced engine took center...

1919 Bentley EXP2 3 Litre

Bentley EXP2 3 Litre EXP2 is the oldest surviving Bentley, the second ever made and the first to win a race. EXP (for ‘experimental’) is the prefix given by Bentley to all pre-production models, and EXP2 had a long and varied life as a test bed for the 1921 Bentley...