Bentley Boys

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1929 "Blower" Bentley from the Ralph Lauren collection.

The Bentley Boys were a group of gentlemen racers who drove Bentley sports cars to victory in the 1920s. In 1925, as the marque foundered, Bentley Boy Woolf Barnato bought the company, leading to the creation of the famous supercharged Bentley Blower car.

The Bentley Boys included:

Woolf "Babe" Barnato, heir to Kimberley diamond magnate Barney Barnato
Dr. J. Dudley "Benjy" Benjafield
Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin
Dale Bourne
Frank Clement
S. C. H. "Sammy" Davis, automotive journalist
John Duff
George Duller, steeplechaser
Clive Dunfee
Jack Dunfee
Baron d’Erlanger, playboy
Glen Kidston, aviator
Bertie Kensington Moir
Bernard Rubin, pearl fishery magnate

At one point, on a bet, Barnato raced Le Train Bleu from Cannes to Calais, then by ferry to Dover and finally London, travelling on public highways with normal traffic, and won; the special-bodied 6.5 L car became known as the Blue Train Bentley.

Thanks to the dedication of this group to serious racing, the company, located at Cricklewood, north London, was noted for its four consecutive victories at the 24 hours of Le Mans from 1927-1930. Their greatest competitor at the time, Ettore Bugatti, whose lightweight, elegant, but fragile creations contrasted with the Bentley's rugged reliability and durability, referred to them as "the world's fastest lorries".

A great deal of Barnato's fortune went to keeping Bentley afloat after he became chairman in 1925; but the Great Depression destroyed demand for the company's expensive products, and it was finally sold off to Rolls-Royce in 1931.

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