In the 1920s, Sir Tim Birkin built 4 Bentley 4.5-liter Blowers. Now, one of the those cars will serve as the blueprint for a continuation series limited to 12 cars, one for each race entered by the original.
The automaker’s Mulliner division has been tasked with making what they claim to be “the world’s first pre-war race car continuation series”. The entire process will take approximately two years, with pricing to be announced.
Bentley’s engineers will disassemble chassis #HB3403 to individual parts, cataloging and scanning them in 3D to create a digital model, but the manufacturing process will be made using the era’s molds and tooling jigs, as well as traditional hand tools.
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All 12 cars will be identical to the original, bar a few changes dictated by modern safety concerns. Thus, they will retain the pressed steel frame with half-elliptic leaf spring suspension, as well as exact recreations of the dampers and mechanical drum brakes. The 4,398 cc supercharged engine will develop 240 brake horsepower at 4,200 rpm.
“The 12 new Blowers will not only be an homage to our heritage, they will be a celebration of the outstanding skills of our Mulliner craftspeople”, said Chairman and CEO Adrian Hallmark. “This is a new challenge for Bentley, but with the incredible success of the recent restoration of our 1939 one-of-one Corniche, we wanted to go one step further and make something even more special. Twelve lucky customers will soon be able to own a unique tribute to Bentley’s history.”
Bentley’s new project follows in the footsteps of the sold-out Continental GT Number 9 Edition, which premiered at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show and paid tribute to the Blower.