Inside the Bentley Heritage Collection

Bentley’s Heritage collection is a remarkable fleet of vehicles showcasing the British manufacturer’s evolution. Every significant model from over a century of producing cars is represented. The three featured cars illustrate important milestones in Bentley’s history.
The 1919 Bentley EXP2 holds two important distinctions. It is the oldest surviving Bentley and the first to win a race. Captain Walter Owen Bentley launched his eponymous car company the year the EXP2 was built. It gets its name from being the second Experimental Prototype Captain Bentley produced. Long before the company moved to its current headquarters in Crewe, it was building cars in London, and this car came together in Bentley’s first home in Cricklewood. Captain Bentley was an engineer keen to introduce new techniques to improve performance, such as the aluminium pistons in this car’s engine. He aimed to produce a vehicle that was “a true racing car with touring accessories” as The Autocar described it at the time. His aim of producing cars with sporting prowess was realised not long after, as the EXP2 took victory at Brooklands in 1921, becoming the first ‘works’ Bentley to win a race. On the road, its top speed of almost 80mph sounds modest by today’s standards and, seen through contemporary eyes, this car looks quaint. Yet in 1919, when it could still share the road with a trotting horse, the EXP2 would be the equivalent of a modern-day hypercar.
The Mark V Corniche is as much an example of the skill and craftsmanship of the modern Mulliner workshop (Bentley’s bespoke commission department) as it is an illustration of the elegance of 1930s Bentleys. The original car was lost to the Second World War and has been created in exacting detail by the current-day artisans in Bentley’s Crewe plant. The result is a perfectly rendered object of streamlined design, created when the importance of aerodynamics was just being understood. Not that the function detracts from the form — this is a beautiful car from all angles. It represents the link from those upright, tall grilled cars with exposed wheels to the exquisite Bentleys that would follow, such as the S1 Continental from the Fifties. The Mark V Corniche was created to wow the 1939 London Motor Show visitors. Unfortunately, that event was cancelled due to the outbreak of war, and it never made production, as the original prototype body was destroyed in a bombing raid. Finished in period-correct Imperial Maroon with a sumptuous interior finished in Connolly Vaumol hide, the Bentley Mulliner department has thankfully brought the car back to life so we can enjoy it in all its glory.
Modern Bentleys represent power and presence on the roads, and they were no different in 1929. The ‘Blower’ moniker on this car references the Bentley racer Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin’s modification to these large capacity engined vehicles. Feeling that the 4.5-litre engine did not have enough power for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he decided to fit a supercharger to the front of the car, which blows air into the engine, increasing power, hence “Blower”. The hedonistic lifestyle Birkin and his colleagues enjoyed off track would earn them the “Bentley Boys” label. Birkin took this Team Car No.2 to battle against the fearsome 7-litre Mercedes of the time, enjoying some tremendous on-track tussles. Alas, Birkin’s car failed to finish. It didn’t matter; heroic failure is often an attractive British trait, and despite a non-supercharged Bentley winning the race, it is the “Blower Bentleys” that have passed into folklore, and the Team Car No.2 is the most famous of them all, estimated to be worth around £25 million pounds today. James Bond is forever associated with Aston Martins in film, yet Ian Fleming placed Bond in a Blower Bentley in three of his books, and it’s not surprising given the stature of these mighty cars.