The original Bentley Motors Limited existed for only twelve years, from 1919 until 1931. The period combined a fast-paced whirl of racing success and financial problems. The company was formed by Walter O Bentley who was the engineering genius, racing driver, and irascible head of the firm and his brother Henry who quietly handled the business management.
The Bentley brothers got started in 1912 with a sales concession for three cars: Buchet, La Licorne, and the D.F.P. which stood for Doriot, Flandrin and Parant. The D.F.P. was a racing car for which Walter Bentley designed new aluminium alloy pistons. His success with the D.F.P. led to the adoption of the pistons by Rolls-Royce and Sunbeam, and to the design of an aircraft engine.
In 1924 Bentley won the Le Mans trophy but despite this racing success the company was in financial straits. Bentleys were expensive, and people were afraid to drive them, the Bentleys reputation for speed had created the impression that handling was difficult. Things looked bleak for Bentley until 1926, when Woolf Barnato, millionaire and racing driver, saved the firm by buying most of the stock and becoming its managing director. Bentley went on to win Le Mans in 1928 through to 1930 after which it retired from racing. However a Bentley did return and win Le Mans in 2003 some seventy three years later.
In 1931 Bentley Motors closed its books. Rolls-Royce bought up the assets and began to produce Bentleys. They turned out many elegant motor cars which reflected the Rolls-Royce luxury, but slowly the Bentley became a copy of the Rolls-Royce. Today it is an exact duplicate, retaining only its own radiator grill as a memory of the fierce green cars of the Twenties.
To view the Bentley cars for sale on I Want That One, click on the underlined Bentley models above.
>Bentley - Click the models underlined to view the available cars.
