Shall we designate it as a tragic hero or a braggart? Hardly the latter because it has brought Bentley incredible many fans. Of course, not quite rightly, because, although it is associates with racing by the company itself (photos above), it has hardly shared at the Le Mans and other GP-successes of Bentley.

Its emergence is owed the ongoing financial failure of the company, absorbed by the South African diamond millionaire Woolf Barnato from 1926 to 1931. He commissioned the independent engineering Amherst Villiers, to lend a helping hand to the aged 4.5L engine (by a Roots blower).

The founder W.O. Bentley on the contrary believes in increasing the displacement and operates more successfully with the 6,5L Speed Six for example at Le Mans in 1930. However, after a myth cherished by Bentley the faster 'Blower' rushes the Mercedes SSK driven by Caracciola so that the slower Speed Six wins when both fail, the Blower more than 50 laps after the Mercedes.

Whether the third success in Le Mans 1929 is the reason for the only significant surplus in only one year, or the Great Depression despite renewed victories at Le Mans then clouded the situation in the following two years? Anyway, the Blower cannot avert the fate of the company, although 1930 It comes with a 2nd place in the French Grand Prix after all, to a moderate success, but in 1931 Rolls-Royce takes over.. 07/16