The 1929 Bentley 4½ Litre is a legendary British sports car that epitomises the pre-war era of motor racing. From the streets of Birmingham to Le Mans, it’s a car that had it all.
With its distinctive front-mounted supercharger, this model became one of the quintessential British sports cars of its time, and of today, a car you need to drive at least once in your lifetime.
1929 Bentley / Bentley
Table of Contents
The Vision of Sir Henry Birkin
The Bentley 4½ Litre was the brainchild of Sir Henry Ralph Stanley ‘Tim’ Birkin. Birkin was a prominent figure in British motor racing and played a crucial role in persuading Bentley to produce this supercharged version of their standard 4½ Litre model. Despite initial resistance from the company’s founder, W.O Bentley, Birkin & Couper Ltd. was established to supercharge Bentley’s four-cylinder cars.
Bentley was skeptical about supercharging, fearing that it would compromise the engine’s integrity and performance. He expressed his concerns, stating, “They would lack in their preparation all the experience we had built up in (our own) racing department over 10 years. I feared the worst and looked forward to their first appearance with anxiety.” Despite these concerns, Birkin’s determination led to the creation of the Blower Bentley.
Sir Henry Birkin with the 1929 Bentley / Bentley
1929 Bentley Specs
Engine and Performance
The standard 4½ Litre engine without the supercharger produced 110 horsepower. With the addition of a Roots-type supercharger, the engine’s power output was increased to 240 bhp. This significant boost in power was necessary to propel the massive and heavy car, which was equipped with huge brakes, a large chassis, and a bulky rear axle.
- Engine Type: Inline-4
- Aspiration: Amherst Villiers Roots-Type Supercharger
- Displacement: 4398 cc
- Power: 175 bhp @ 3500 rpm (standard), 240 bhp (racing version)
- Top Speed: Approximately 130 mph
Design and Construction
The vintage motor car had a tall and heavy design with the driver sitting with their head 63 inches above the ground due to the large engine engine. To manage the high centre of gravity and weight, Bentley used stiff and heavily damped springs. The car’s construction included a fabric body over a steel ladder-type chassis, making it one of the heaviest cars to compete in racing at the time.
- Wheelbase: 130 inches
- Length: 172 inches
- Width: 68.5 inches
- Height: 63 inches
- Curb Weight: 4250 lbs
Interior, original and engine of the 1929 Bentley / Bentley
Racing History
The first single-seat prototype of the Bentley 4½ Litre was built in 1929 with racer Mike Couper. The car quickly gained recognition by setting the Brooklands Outer Circuit Lap Record in 1930. Making its debut at the Brooklands 6-Hour race on June 29, 1929, the Bentley Blower showed promise, however struggled with reliability issues, meaning it never won a race.
Despite its lack of success in races, Wolf Barnato, another key figure in Bentley’s history, allowed Birkin to test the Blower Bentleys at Le Mans. Unfortunately, none of the cars finished the race, highlighting the ongoing mechanical challenges. Nonetheless, Bentley was committed to producing 50 road-going examples of the model.
1929 4.5 Litre Bentley / Bentley
Big Screen Impact
James Bonds Bentley
Before James Bond became the dashing and debonair secret agent on the silver screen, he was the tormented and brooding assassin of Ian Fleming’s novels. In those books, he drove a Bentley and in Fleming’s first 007 novel, Casino Royale, published in 1953, Bond tooled around in a 1931 4.5 Litre Blower. It wasn’t as sleek or sexy as the Astons that Bond would come to be known for, but it was among the finest cars of its day and just the thing for getting around in all due haste with style.
In Casino Royale, Bond is portrayed as something of a car nut, and his beloved Bentley was “his only personal hobby.” He bought it in 1933 and kept it in storage while serving in World War II. “Bond drove it hard and well and with an almost sensual pleasure.”
1929 Blower Bentley as featured in the “James Bond” Novels / Bentley
A Collectors Dream
Today, the 1929 Bentley 4½ Litre is a highly coveted collector’s item. Original models from the pre-war period can sell for around €200,000, while the rare Blower Bentleys can fetch over €1.5 million. Despite its lack of racing success, the car remains an iconic symbol of pre-war British engineering and motor racing.