The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2023 - Issue 34

Final Word In its heyday, the supercharged 4 ½-litre Bentley Blower counted James Bond author Ian Fleming amongst its fans who decided his famous fictional secret agent would drive one, with the often-associated rival British sports car merely named the MI6 ‘pool car’. Sir Tim Birkin’s philosophy on the Bentley Blower was to extract more speed by increasing the brake horsepower in race tune. At the same time, Bentley founderW.O. Bentley focused profusely on increasing engine capacity. Out of the 55 production models made, five were allocated for competition. The UU 5872 from Bent- ley’s heritage fleet is the second of the four ‘Team’ cars developed at Birkin & Co’s workshops in Welwyn Garden City. Of the twelve races the cars competed in, the most famous was Team Car No 2’s adventure at the 1930 Le Mans 24 Hours. It was sympathetically restored in the 1960s, preserving much of its original patina. Bentley Motors has owned it since 2000, obtain- ing minor cosmetic maintenance. The legendary Team Car No 2 has competed in the modern Mille Miglia five times, driven to Le Mans on several occasions and appeared at the Goodwood Fes- tival of Speed and Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It made its world debut in front of 100 VIPs at the Monte- rey Car Week last August, one of the most anticipated annual automobile events in Monterey County, Califor- nia, USA, ahead of its schedule of appearances across the weekend. It has also inspired a highly exclusive edition of twelve Continuation Cars, each an exact re-creation handcrafted in the Mulliner Classic workshops using traditional techniques. The first Continuation Series is in the final stages, and the second series of 12 Bentley Speed Six models is currently in development. The Bentley Blower Junior production is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2024 with the 99 First Edition models. www.bentleyblowerjnr.com bitecars