Pebble Beach prepares for a British Invasion

Bentley Will Rule the Competition Field This Year

In its centennial year, Bentley takes center stage at the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, as one glance at the concours poster makes clear. Painted by renowned modern impressionist Alfredo De la Maria of Argentina, the poster features a 1931 Bentley 8 Litre making its way past the crowd on Concours Sunday.

Bentleys will constitute about a quarter of this year’s concours competitors, filling six complete classes that include several special groupings. Offerings will range from the earliest surviving 3 Litre to a multitude of racing greats and several superlative postwar cars.

The car featured on the concours poster is probably the most coveted 8 Litre in the world. Ordered by pioneering Welsh aviator and Brooklands racer Captain Vivian Hewitt, it was the ultimate sporting machine, pairing a short chassis with a lightweight body, massive power (witness the enormous side exhaust) and large Le Mans–style fuel tank and gauges. Hewitt drove this Bentley just under 7,000 miles in the 1930s, then parked it in a barn, where it slumbered for 26 years. Now owned by Daniel Sielecki, it remains an unrestored original. 

The Blue Train: A Mystery Solved?

Throughout its history a flamboyant Gurney Nutting Grand Touring three-seater has been referred to as "The Blue Train" because people believed it to be the car that famously raced the Blue Train from Cannes to London at the hands of Woolf Barnato back in 1930.

A Timeline of Bentley Cars, People & Events

Walter Owen Bentley – though he preferred to be called W.O. – founded the company that carries his name on July 10, 1919. Now, almost 100 years later, his name is known across the globe for creating cars with an unrivaled blend of performance and the finest craftsmanship and materials.

Bentley Celebrates Its 100 Years

On July 10, 2019, Bentley will reach its Centenary, an achievement most definitely worth celebrating. From the very first prototype created in a London mews to the phenomenally powerful and exquisitely crafted cars driven across the world today, Bentley has transformed the face of motoring.

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