page_title: Bentley
section_title: Cricklewood Bentleys
hierarchical_section_title: Bentley / Cricklewood (1919–1931) / Cricklewood Bentleys
caption_attribution_description: 2013 Classic Days Schloss Dyck - Jüchen Bentley 8-litre 4-light sports saloon Weymann fabric by H J Mulliner 1930 This is the first production 8-litre Chassis YF5001 13' (156") wheelbase Engine YF5001 Reg GK 672 delivered October 1930 to star of stage and screen Jack Buchanan Source of data—Vintage Bentleys
context_page_description: Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs—and a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group since 1998.
  Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley in 1919 in Cricklewood, North London—and became widely known for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930.
  Prominent models extend from the historic sports-racing Bentley 4½ Litre and Bentley Speed Six; the more recent Bentley R Type Continental, Bentley Turbo R, and Bentley Arnage; to its current model line, including the Flying Spur, Continental GT, Bentayga and the Mulsanne—which are marketed worldwide, with China as its largest market as of November 2012.
  Today most Bentley models are assembled at the company's Crewe factory, with a small number assembled at Volkswagen's Dresden factory, Germany, and with bodies for the Continental manufactured in Zwickau and for the Bentayga manufactured at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant.
  The joining and eventual separation of Bentley and Rolls-Royce followed a series of mergers and acquisitions, beginning with the 1931 purchase by Rolls-Royce of Bentley, then in receivership.
context_section_description: 1921–1929 3-litre
  1926–1930 4½-litre & "Blower Bentley"
  1926–1930 6½-litre
  1928–1930 6½-litre Speed Six
  1930–1931 8-litre
  1931 4-litre
  The original model was the three-litre, but as customers put heavier bodies on the chassis, a larger 4½-litre model followed. Perhaps the most iconic model of the period is the 4½-litre "Blower Bentley", with its distinctive supercharger projecting forward from the bottom of the grille. Uncharacteristically fragile for a Bentley it was not the racing workhorse the 6½-litre was, though in 1930 Birkin remarkably finished second in the French Grand Prix at Pau in a stripped-down racing version of the Blower Bentley, behind Philippe Etancelin in a Bugatti Type 35.
  The 4½-litre model later became famous in popular media as the vehicle of choice of James Bond in the original novels, but this has been seen only briefly in the films. John Steed in the television series The Avengers also drove a Bentley.
  The new eight-litre was such a success that when Barnato's money seemed to run out in 1931 and Napier was planning to buy Bentley's business, Rolls-Royce purchased Bentley Motors to prevent it from competing with their most expensive model, the Phantom II.
caption: Bentley 8 Litre 4-door sports saloon
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