Otto Explains — Iconic Cars
10 Iconic Cars From Bentley
Short Answer
Otto’s ten iconic Bentleys each stand for one specific achievement. In date order they are the 4½ Litre ‘Blower’, the Speed Six, the 8 Litre, the R-Type Continental (1952), the S1 Continental Flying Spur (1957), the Continental R (1991), the Arnage (1998), the Continental Flying Spur (2005), the Mulsanne (2010) and the coachbuilt Batur (2022). The cars that changed the company itself have their own article.
How did Otto choose these ten cars?
This is Otto’s selection, not a ranking by Bentley. Each car is remembered for one documented thing: a racing result, a record, an engineering choice or a body style. Together they run from Tim Birkin’s supercharged Blower of 1929 to the Batur of 2022. Cars that changed the direction of the company, such as the 3 Litre, the Mark VI, the Continental GT and the Bentayga, are left to Otto’s article on the legendary cars that defined Bentley, so they are not repeated here.
Why is the Blower Bentley so famous?
For its spectacle rather than its results. Developed from 1929 as Tim Birkin’s project and funded by Dorothy Paget, it added an Amherst Villiers supercharger to the 4½ Litre, raising power from about 110 bhp to 175 bhp, although W.O. Bentley opposed the idea. It did not succeed at Le Mans, but Birkin finished second in the 1930 French Grand Prix and set a Brooklands lap record of 137.96 mph in March 1932.
What made the Speed Six special?
Two Le Mans wins and a famous dare. Introduced in 1928 as a more sporting 6½ Litre, it had 180 bhp, or 200 bhp in racing form, and 182 were built. Speed Sixes won Le Mans in 1929, with Woolf Barnato and Tim Birkin ahead from the first lap, and in 1930. In March 1930 Barnato drove one from Cannes and reached London before the Blue Train express reached Calais.
Why does the 8 Litre matter?
It was W.O. Bentley’s last design for his own company. Launched in 1930, it was the largest and most luxurious Bentley of its day, and W.O. called it a “dead silent 100 mph car”. Only 100 were built, between 1930 and 1932.
What is the R-Type Continental remembered for?
Speed with four seats. When production began in May 1952 it was the fastest four-seat car in the world and the first Bentley to carry the Continental name; its prototype had averaged 118.75 mph over five laps at Montlhéry. Only 208 were built by 1955, and H.J. Mulliner bodied 193 of them.
Where does the Flying Spur name come from?
From the S1 Continental Flying Spur of 1957, H.J. Mulliner’s four-door body on the Continental chassis. The coachbuilder’s managing director, Arthur Talbot Johnstone, named it after the heraldic device of his family, the Johnstones.
Why is the Continental R on the list?
Because it gave Bentley its own shape again. Launched at Geneva in 1991, it was the first Bentley with a body of its own since the R-Type Continental of 1952, powered by a turbocharged 6.75-litre V8. It stayed in production until 2003, and 1,548 were built.
What made the Arnage different?
It spanned two owners. Named after a corner at Le Mans, it was launched in April 1998 under Vickers with a BMW-derived twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8. After Volkswagen took over, Bentley added the Arnage Red Label with its own turbocharged 6.75-litre V8, and the 4.4-litre version, renamed Green Label, ended in 2001.
What was the Continental Flying Spur of 2005?
The first four-door Bentley of the Volkswagen era. It combined a 6.0-litre W12 with all-wheel drive, and Bentley calls it the first 200 mph Bentley sedan.
Why is the Mulsanne of 2010 remembered?
As the flagship that kept the old V8 going. Revealed in 2009 for Bentley’s 90th anniversary, it used a twin-turbocharged 6.75-litre V8 with variable cam phasing and cylinder deactivation, driving the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic. It was built from 2010 to 2020, and 8,188 were made.
What is the Batur?
A coachbuilt coupé from Mulliner, limited to 18 cars and named after Lake Batur in Bali. It received the final and most powerful version of the W12, with 750 PS and 1,000 Nm, and its styling previews Bentley’s future electric cars. Otto explains the W layout in how engine designs differ.
Common Questions
- Why isn’t the Continental GT on Otto’s list? Because it changed the company rather than simply standing out. Launched in 2003 as the first model Bentley developed from scratch under Volkswagen, it is covered with the legendary cars that defined Bentley.
- How many R-Type Continentals were built? 208, between 1952 and 1955. H.J. Mulliner built the bodies for 193 of them.
- Were any Blowers or Speed Sixes built recently? Yes. Mulliner has built 12 Blower Continuation Series cars and 12 Speed Six Continuation Series cars, the first new Speed Sixes in more than 90 years.
- How many Bacalars were made? 12. The Bacalar of 2020 was a roofless barchetta built by Mulliner, and it marked Bentley’s return to bespoke coachbuilding before the Batur.
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