Bentley’s Speed Six Continuation Series Are Brand-New 92-Year-Old Cars

If you had the chance, would you invest in a Bentley Velocity Six when it was new? To these who sense they skipped out, very good news: You could have a shot at a manufacturer-new and authentically built Pace 6 just like those originals from the late 1920s and early 1930s by Bentley Mulliner, which was the identical in-house customization outfit guiding the 12-car-operate Bentley Blower Continuation Sequence. For this confined Continuation series run, the team will recreate the 1929 and 1930 Bentley Speed Sixes that received each and every of the same year’s Le Mans races. There’s only 1 catch.

The splendor of the Continuation Collection from Bentley Mulliner is that these 12 autos will be constructed specifically as they were being in 1929 and 1930. It’s going to be like you went again in time, bought them from Bentley, and then pulled them back again by means of that quantum tunnel in that purchase. Indeed, these autos will even include things like newly crafted 6.5-liter I-6 engines that make roughly 200 hp, just more than enough electrical power to push these classics to 125 mph on the Mulsanne Straight. Back when it was new, Bentley only constructed 182 Velocity Sixes in Cricklewood, North London with different chassis lengths, dependent on the system fashion and needs of the person purchaser.

The Speed Six is regarded an vital race car in Bentley’s background, as it not only proved the brand name was able of racing with other proven helps make, but also that the Grand Tourer was a possible design and style. Prior to then, if you required pace, you sacrificed comfort or vice versa. Vehicles like the Speed 6 proved that this didn’t have to be the circumstance and lead the way for long run production GTs.

An advancement above the 1926 Bentley 6 1/2 Liter, the Velocity Six developed additional electrical power and offered shorter, sportier chassis choices. The racing versions, nevertheless, ran the shortest 132-inch chassis and the most impressive, 200-hp edition of the large six engine. It was a dominant vehicle, top the 1929 Le Mans from commence to complete and placing a new lap document of 7:21 with Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin powering the wheel and Woolf Barnato as his co-driver. It also drove with an ordinary velocity of 83 mph—blistering for its time—and a full race distance of 1,767 miles, a feat unmatched for almost 30 a long time. Bentley and the Velocity 6 adopted it up with a further earn in 1930.

The fashionable-day builds of the 1929 and 1930 Speed Sixes, even though faithful in just about each way to originals, do see some modern instruments used in their construction. Mulliner created a complete 3D laptop or computer aided style (CAD) of the cars employing the two primary blueprints and two unique cars for reference. A single of the originals used was “Outdated Variety A few,” the 1930 Le Mans surviving Pace 6 that is not only nevertheless road authorized, but continue to raced by its present-day owner these days. The other reference auto was a Velocity 6 that is owned by Bentley and its Heritage Selection, a 1929 highway motor vehicle with a four-seat “Vanden Plas” human body. It was largely employed as a benchmark for general performance and dealing with for the continuation vehicles, like the details on the engine electricity for the new 6.5-liter I-6s to match or superior its efficiency.

It is been 92 decades considering that the very last new Bentley Pace Six was created, making the dozen new Speed Sixes remaining manufacturing facility crafted afterwards this calendar year as portion of this new Continuation Collection incredible and way beyond any replicas out there. The 2022 Speed 6 “Zero” will be a part of Blower “Zero” at Bentley’s headquarters. The relaxation will be despatched home to new proprietors seeking freshly developed, but classically remastered automobiles, for $1,838,873 a pop. Oh, the capture we pointed out at the starting of this story? All 12 cars and trucks are spoken for. You may want to begin looking into that time equipment to get your possess new Pace Six, either someday this year or back in the ’30s.