Bentley could also be recognized firstly for crafting the world’s most interesting bespoke luxurious vehicles in-house at their house base in Goodwood, however in addition they have a protracted historical past of teaming up with different auto and tech outfits to create some really mind-blowing collector’s items.
For his or her most up-to-date undertaking, Bentley has joined forces with The Little Automobile Firm to make one thing really distinctive: the electrical Bentley Blower Junior, which is now formally obtainable for People to buy.
A Transient Historical past of the Authentic Bentley Blower
Earlier than we get into the Bentley Blower Jnr’s specs, let’s make a journey down reminiscence lane to totally admire the legendary automotive that serves because the inspiration—while you image the well-known race vehicles of the pre-war period, the Blower is probably going what you’re pondering of, even should you don’t understand it.
The classic “Blower” Bentley was a 4.5-liter supercharged affair, developed with the intention of taking first place at historic occasions like Le Mans and the French Grand Prix. Despite its now-iconic standing throughout the world of racing, its creation was fraught with battle.
Across the mid-to-late ‘20s, Bentley was producing among the largest vehicles in all of racing. To offset the load drawback and to maintain up with the competitors, W. O. Bentley and his group sought to create a much bigger motor, which resulted in a 6.5-liter Pace Six mannequin. Nevertheless, famed driver and “Bentley Boy” Sir Tim Birkin had different concepts. Reasonably than upping the displacement and making the automotive even greater, Birkin felt that slapping a supercharger on the present mannequin was the proper course to victory—the supercharger used on the time was referred to as a “blower,” which is the place the identify comes from. The founding father of Bentley Motors himself vehemently opposed the concept of supercharging his autos, claiming it will compromise the integrity of the design. Birkin, nonetheless, was decided, and after a protracted battle, the “Blower” Bentley was accredited to race at Le Mans.
Due to their supercharged efficiency and decreased weight, the Bentley Blower fashions have been certainly sooner out of the gate than the Bentley Pace Six, in addition to most each different automotive it got here up towards. Sadly, the supercharger additionally meant that it burned gasoline at a a lot sooner charge, and it was nonetheless far heavier than most of its opponents. The Bentley Blower carried out admirably in a lot of races, together with incomes second place on the 1930 French Grand Prix, however it by no means ended up incomes a gold medal in an endurance race. Regardless, with Birkin’s expert driving and the Blower’s imposing, one-of-a-kind profile, the supercharged Bentley racer firmly cemented itself within the hearts and minds of race followers for many years to come back.
Every part You Have to Know Concerning the Bentley Blower Jnr
When the Blower Jnr was unveiled to an unique viewers at Monterey Automobile Week final August, information shortly unfold, and it despatched basic Bentley aficionados right into a fervor.
The Bentley Blower Jnr is a trustworthy 85% scale recreation of the unique ‘29 Bentley Blower, which to today is acknowledged as one of many quickest and strongest racers of its time. After designing and constructing an especially unique run of Blower Continuation Collection fashions in 2020, Bentley sought to reimagine the Blower for the fashionable period and enlisted the assistance of The Little Automobile Firm to deliver their imaginative and prescient to life.
The Little Car Company has fairly the curriculum vitae in its personal proper, having labored with different luxurious manufacturers like Bugatti, Ferrari, and Aston Martin to craft small-scale electrical replicas of legacy fashions. The Blower Jnr is constructed to exacting Bentley requirements, and it marks the primary time that LCC has produced a very street authorized metropolis automotive.
Followers of Bentley’s Crew Automobile No. 2 will instantly acknowledge the engineering and design cues of the Blower Jnr. Nice care was taken to make sure that the manufacturing Blower Jnr resembled the unique as carefully as doable. It encompasses a two-person cockpit with a side-by-side format, and has many period-correct elements—the whole lot from the dashboard format to the nickel-plated radiator housing harkens again to Bentleys of outdated. It’s additionally acquired many tasteful modern-day updates, together with carbon fiber physique supplies, Brembo entrance disc brakes, and drive mode selector instead of the old-school gasoline stress pump.
It’s powered by a 48-volt electrical powerplant and a 15-kilowatt electrical motor, and has a complete vary of round 65 miles. Due to its meant use as a avenue authorized city prowler, it’s designed to achieve a high pace of 45 miles per hour. However, should you stay in America and plan to purchase one, there is a catch: below U.S. laws, the Blower Jnr is assessed as a low-speed car (LSV), and as such, fashions delivered to the U.S. are capped at 25 miles per hour.
Regardless of native legal guidelines raining on the parade a bit, the Blower Jnr is an undeniably cool collector’s merchandise, and a possible must-have for true Bentley fans. Pricing for the Bentley Blower Jnr is at present round $115,000 bucks.
The Way forward for Electrical at Bentley Miami
The Blower Jnr isn’t the one electrical car adorned with a Bentley brand—a brand new choice of electrical Bentley fashions is true across the nook, with the primary anticipated by the top of 2025. However, should you simply can’t wait, fear not, as a result of Bentley Miami has tons of hybrid Bentleys in inventory, together with the Bentayga Hybrid. Name us at (786) 577-5218 to find out about leasing a hybrid Bentley in South Florida at the moment.
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