Description
The Bentley 'Blower', an icon when it comes to pre-war cars and unsurpassed in its time when it comes to performance. Nowadays, the original Bentley 'Blower' is the inspiration for many remakes, but it is of course best if it concerns a real Bentley. The car we offer here is one that started its life as a Bentley 4 ½ Liter and has a wonderful history.
A man of standing, that Leonard Courtney, you have to if you can buy a new Bentley in 1929. And so he signed the contract for his Bentley 4 ½ Liter Saloon with Morgan body, built according to the Weyman principle. This means that the body consists of a wooden frame that is covered. He was able to collect the car that year from Roots Ltd., Piccadilly W1, London. One of the most prestigious dealers, in one of the most luxurious areas of London at the time.
There is no lack of history and documentation about this Bentley. For example, the car is included in the famous book 'The Vintage Years', by Clare Hay.
There are handwritten documents from the first decades in which purchase and intermediate sale, maintenance and modifications are described.
About 73 years ago, when the Bentley is 21 years old, the then owner decided to replace the bodywork with the current one, an Open Tourer, from Vanden Plas. The necessary decades pass when the Roots Supercharger is installed in 1989. Please note: this is all documented.
The current owner decides that there is even more potential in the Bentley and has it completely body-off restored in 2003, including a complete restoration of the chassis. The body, interior and technology are all restored and overhauled according to the 'no expense spared' principle, after which the car is fully built up Le Mans Spec. In every detail, all features, parts and specifications were made the same as the Le Mans Bentleys. The Blower has also been enlarged to Le Mans specifications and documentation of this is almost self-evident.
To put the last dots on the i, an overhaul was done in 2007 on 'crown and pinion', differential, cardan, so basically everything from the engine 'to the back'.
After that complete restoration, the Bentley has only been driven minimally, only a few thousand fantastic miles have been undertaken with the 'Blower'. The result is that we can offer an exceptionally beautiful Bentley 4 ½ Liter in a formidable condition and with a beautiful, well-documented history. A car like we will not soon encounter a second one.
