Back in the day, the Bentley boys were a group of British motorists who drove Bentley sports cars to victory and kept the marque’s reputation for high performance alive.
That was happening approximately 96 years ago, in the 1920s, as the newly-founded car company was bought by famous entrepreneur Woolf “Babe” Barnato – the guy who won the illustrious Blue Train races.
Among captain Barnato, there were names like Dudley “Benjy” Benjafield and Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin, a doctor of medicine specialized in bacteriology that was so good at racing his Bentley 3-litre that W.O. Bentley offered him a spot as an official Bentley racing driver, and a Royal Flying Corps, World War I lieutenant turned racing driver that fitting a supercharger to the 4½-litre Bentley, thus coming up with the iconic “blower Bentley” (although his version, based on the Brooklands racer, was much more hardcore).
Unfortunately, the Bentley Boys disbanded once Bentley was sold to Rolls Royce in 1931, but their legacy lives on even today, thanks to a new generation of Bentley Boys – the ones who take care and still race the magnificent pre-war beasts.
Like William Medcalf, a man who drove his classic Bentley from Ulaanbataar to Biysk, in Russia. On its own, unsupported, across the Gobi Desert. If you think that’s outstanding, wait till you hear the rest of his story.