Bentley is going to revive the legendary 'Blower' of 1929, driven by Sir Tim Birkin, for a 12-off run of Continuation cars. Birkin, one of antiquity's Bentley Boys, had four 4.5-litre Blowers built in the 1920s, which competed in three European races - perhaps most famously at Le Mans, paving the way for Bentley's factory victory in 1930 with the Speed Six. So, four times three equals 12, hence why Bentley has chosen this number for the new project. Mulliner, its coachbuilding and bespokery department, will carry out the hand-building work in a two-year process, and to get the blueprints right Bentley has made a daring decision: it's going to dismantle its own example of an original Blower. Yes, there were only ever four in existence and Bentley has chassis number 3403, which is still regularly used - it has been to California, the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Mille Miglia this year. However, Mulliner will carefully disassemble No.3403 and then 3D-scan and catalogue every part, to build up a digital model of the componentry. Once it has those, 12 sets of parts will be created using the original 1920s moulds and tooling jigs, and then Mulliner will start building the 12 Continuations... as well as putting 3403 back together and restoring it in the process. Bentley says the Continuations will be 'mechanically, aesthetically and spiritually identical' to the originals, with only a few hidden changes to meet modern-day safety regs. For fans of the Blower, each continuation car will have the correct 4,398cc four-cylinder, 16-valve engine with an exact-replica Amherst Villiers MkIV Roots-type blower, leading to roughly 245hp at 4,200rpm. The body will be a pressed steel frame, with half-elliptic leaf-spring suspension and copies of Bentley & Draper dampers. Bentley-Perrot 17.75-inch mechanical drum brakes will be recreated, while the steering is a worm-and-sector set-up. The price for each of these Continuation Blowers? Well, it's 'on application', which means you probably can't afford it...
Matt Robinson - 9 Sep 2019