W.O. Bentley: Aluminum Pistons, Le Mans and a Secret Rolls-Royce Buyout
pplpod18 Okt

W.O. Bentley: Aluminum Pistons, Le Mans and a Secret Rolls-Royce Buyout

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Before World War I, W.O. Bentley and his brother Horace sold French DFP cars in Cricklewood, North London. In 1913 an aluminum paperweight gave W.O. the idea for aluminum pistons, lighter than cast iron, and during the war his pistons went into engines of the Sopwith Camel. Convinced engines must never fail, he founded Bentley Motors in January 1919, the same day the Paris Peace Conference opened, and built a 3-liter engine with an overhead camshaft. His cars ran the 1922 Indianapolis 500, finishing 13th, then the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924.

By 1926 the company was broke, and diamond and gold heir Woolf Barnato took control, ushering in the Bentley Boys era. Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin built supercharged Blower Bentleys over W.O.'s objection; they were fast but never won a major race. After the 1929 crash, W.O.'s near-silent 8-liter car alarmed Rolls-Royce. When Bentley entered receivership in 1931, the British Central Equitable Trust outbid Napier with £125,000 and turned out to be a front for Rolls-Royce, which took on W.O. under contract.

  • Barnato won a £100 bet by driving from a bar in Cannes to his London club before the Blue Train reached Calais.
  • W.O. said supercharging his engine would "pervert its design and corrupt its performance."
  • The Blower Bentley later became James Bond's car in Ian Fleming's novels.
  • W.O. left Rolls-Royce when his contract ended in 1935 and joined Lagonda.
  • He later called the 1933 3.5-liter model built under Rolls-Royce the finest car to carry his name.

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