One for the Boys; 1930 BLOWER BENTLEY.(Escape Roads)

Byline: NICK KURCZEWSKI

The 4.5-liter supercharged Bentley, also known as the "Blower'' Bentley, typified the derring-do attitude of the British manufacturer during its glory days at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Bentley race cars won that grueling test of endurance and speed in 1924 and then won consecutively from 1926 to 1929. The Blower Bentley was arguably the most famous model to emerge from these years of Le Mans domination. Much like the renowned Bentley Boys-those young, adventurous and often very wealthy racing drivers who achieved so much success on the track-the Blower Bentley exuded charisma and bravado.

Ironically, a Blower Bentley never won at Le Mans. In fact, Blower Bentleys achieved very little real racing success. They were extraordinarily fast-top speed was more than 100 mph, and one example achieved more than 137 mph in 1932-but they were also fragile and extremely thirsty. Whereas a nonsupercharged 4.5-liter managed 15 mpg, Blower Bentleys guzzled fuel at a rate of 3 mpg. These flaws, and the absence of racing glory, justified W.O. Bentley's lack of enthusiasm for the car. It was Sir Henry Birkin, the most famous Bentley Boy, who originally insisted on supercharging the 4.5-liter.

While W.O. could not be swayed, Birkin did convince Bentley's chairman, Woolf Barnato, of the merits of building a supercharged car. Le Mans rules dictated that 50 examples had to be built to homologate the car for entry into the race. Five team cars were built for Birkin, and the rest were sold to the public.

This example is the 17th of 50 road-going Blower Bentleys. ...