Bentley 4½ Litre Blower

The Bentley 4½ Litre is a landmark British sports car, reminiscent of a time when prestigious road cars won races. The Bentley legend of the 1920s was created by wealthy aristocrats who were united by "a love of carelessness, elegant tailoring, and a thirst for speed."

These gentlemen, known as the "Bentley Boys", provided excellent publicity for Bentley's expensive products. Bentley himself was well aware that his company existed at the expense of competition, and when developing new models, he adhered to the proven principle that "there’s no replacement for displacement."

This meant that Bentley believed that the main way to increase engine power was to increase its volume. As a result, the Bentley 4½ Litre became even larger and heavier than its predecessor, for which Ettore Bugatti ironically called it "the fastest truck in the world."

Photo: "1928 Bentley 4 1/2 litre Vanden Plas Le Mans Tourer 'Birkin Blower 2'" by | El Caganer - Over 8.5 Million views!

It's ironic but true that the Bentley 4½ Litre "Blower" became famous as one of the best racing cars of all time without winning a single race. In addition, Walter Owen Bentley himself always opposed superchargers, preferring to increase power due to the volume of the cylinders.

Tim Birkin's Idea

The idea for the Blower came from racing driver Tim Birkin, who proposed installing a compressor on a Bentley 4½ Litre to make it more powerful than the huge Speed Six. With the financial resources of millionaire Dorothy Paget, Birkin managed to implement the project and convince Bentley to build 55 of these cars to obtain homologation at Le Mans.

The first "Blower" was created in 1929. There was no room under the hood of the production 4-liter Roots supercharger, so it was installed directly in front of the grille. A compressor with two rotating blades was driven by the crankshaft and forced the fuel mixture through the carburetors into the intake manifold.

Photo: "1928 Bentley 4 1/2 litre Vanden Plas Le Mans Tourer 'Birkin Blower 4'" by | El Caganer - Over 8.5 Million views!

Power increased to 175 hp in the road version and 242 hp in the racing version, but the Blower consumed 4 liters of gasoline per minute at full speed. The engine, supercharger, and fuel tank were protected by a metal mesh to prevent stones from entering (in 1925, at Le Mans, Frank Clement and John Duff in a Bentley 3 Litre went off track due to a broken gas tank).

Racing Results

The list of Bentley's racing achievements is very short: 2nd place in the 1929 RAC Tourist Trophy, 2nd place in the 1930 French Grand Prix, and a speed record at Brooklands of 138 mph (222 kph).

Photo: "Bentley Blower" by boybentley

The model competed at Le Mans only in 1930, but both crews did not reach the finish line. Thus, Bentley "Blower" did not provide the team with a single victory, and due to its unreliability, it brought the company notoriety.

However, today, the Blower is one of the most valuable pre-war racing cars, with examples fetching more than $1,000,000 at auction. Ian Fleming was impressed by the performance of these Bentleys at Brooklands, so in three of his novels (Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, and Moonraker), James Bond drives a 1930 "Blower" Bentley.