Bentley Promotes Its “Blue Train Special” Speed Six Special

This year marks the 85th anniversary of the Cannes to London “Blue Train” race won by a Bentley Speed Six.

The car that keeps the legend alive just got awarded multiple trophies at the Schloss Bensberg Classics event in Germany and we wanted to share its story.

It all began 85 years ago, when Captain Woolf Barnato – Chairman of Bentley Motors – was staying in Cannes and accepted a wager which stated that not only he could beat the Calais-Mediterranée Express (known as the Blue Train) back to Calais, but that he could be at his club in London before the train even reached the English Channel.

The car in question used for the race was believed to be this coachbuilt Gurney Nutting two-door Sportsman coupe, but recent evidence suggest that a Mulliner saloon-bodied Speed Six was in fact the variant which beat the famous train.

Does that mean the Gurney Nutting fastback Bentley wrongfully earned the “Blue Train” nickname? Well, no, because after Barnato took delivery of this this beautiful, rare automobile, he named it the “Blue Train Special” in memory of his record race.

Mind you, after 85 years of story-telling, many confused the two cars and the latter became forever known as the main protagonist and the car which drove Barnato all the way to London. The interesting part is that both these pristine automobile – including the actual Bentley that won the race, yes – are owned by Mr. Bruce McCaw.

Just so you know, in 1930, a Bentley Speed Six had a 6.5-litre inline-6 which developed around 180 horses. Pretty neat… for a lorry. It seems that Ettore Bugatti was right; Bentley models were the world’s fastest trucks back in those days – considering a Speed Six came in at 4700 lbs (2131.884 kg)

Bentley is currently honoring the race with the introduction of the new Mulsanne Blue Train.