Blower Bentley - Bentley 4.5 litre Supercharged

The story of the Birkin / Paget Blower Bentleys is one of the most potent in British Motor Racing history. The driving force behind these great cars was Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin, a restless, fearless man who found motor-racing a suitable outlet for his fierce, competitive instincts. Frustrated by a lack of speed from his 4.5 litre Bentley, and impressed by the new technology of supercharging, Birkin employed a talented young engineer – Charles Amherst Villiers – to supercharge the 4.5 litre Bentley. Opposed by W.O. Bentley, but supported by Bentley Motors’ immensely rich chairman, Woolf Barnato, Birkin got his way. The new blower cars showed considerable promise in their first races in late 1929, and the young Dorothy Paget, just 24 but already exceptionally wealthy, was so taken by Birkin’s two seater racing blower at the 1929 Brooklands 500 mile race that she agreed to sponsor Birkin. In 1930 the single-seater blower raised the Brooklands lap record to over 135 mph, but racing success was thin on the ground. Following a frustrating series of failures, the blower cars failed to win a single major event. By the end of the 1930 season, Dorothy Paget had lost interest and the team was disbanded. Birkin continued to race the single-seater, raising the lap record at Brooklands to nearly 138 mph in March 1932, but his business ventures were unsuccessful and he was short of money. Barely a year later he was dead aged just 36; the cause of death following incidents at the Tripoli Grand Prix less than crystal clear. This is the full story of Birkin, of Paget, and the blower team, of Villiers; and of the 50 production cars manufactured by Bentley Motors to enable Birkin to enter Le Mans.