The history of Bentley – Part one
Bentley hire is one of the most luxurious and stylish ways you can travel to your special event. The prestige associated with travelling in a Bentley results largely from their illustrious history as well as their perfectionist workmanship.
In a series of blogs we will document the tumultuous history of arguably Britain’s greatest producer of high performance cars
Bentley Motors was officially born on 18th January 1919, in the wake of the First World War by Walter Owen Bentley. Yet Bentley already had a distinguished history within the transport industry prior to this with a successful and innovative range of rotary-aero engines which were employed on the battlefields of The Great War – the most triumphant being the Bentley BR1.
The new company produced a chassis complete with a prototype engine in October 1919 with their first orders being received for the following June. Yet, the fledging business hit some technical problems and their release was to be delayed by three months. This was hardly the start Bentley would have dreamt of, although he had the confidence and conviction in his ideas to persevere.
Technical frustrations were to be superseded by financial hardship however and during the mid 1920’s it was unclear whether these may have proved to be the end of Bentley Motors.
Thankfully however, a saviour was found in the form of Woolf Barnato – a millionaire who invested much of his wealth in the company such was his belief in their ultimate success.
Yet with the onset of the Great Depression during the late 1920s the demand for luxury items such as cars began to dwindle. As Britain tightened their belts and their wallets, Bentley faced yet another financial crisis.
They were saved by been taken over by Rolls Royce in 1931 which marked a new era in the development of Bentley Motor Cars.
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