BENTLEY celebrates its 100th birthday

Categories: Expo
Date: 04/05/2019 to 16/06/2019
Time: 10 h 00 - 18 h 00
Location: Autoworld Museum Brussels
Links: iCal - Google Calendar

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This year Bentley is celebrating its 100th birthday. For this occasion Autoworld would like to present you some of the brand’s finest pieces.

During the months of May and June, about 15 classic- and modern Bentley’s will be presented in the temporary exhibition areas on the ground floor.

On the first podium there will be a number of pre-war Bentley’s: a 4,5L ‘Blower’, a 3LSpeed Model and a 8L Berline. A couple of coupé’s and convertibles, a S1 berline and a Mulsanne will represent the post-war models. With the support of Bentley Belgium we can also show you the latest masterpieces of the brand. Discover theSUV Bentayga, the brand new GTC and many more.

As always the scale models will be the icing on the cake.

Bentley in a nutshell

Walter Owen Bentley wanted to built “a fast car, the best of its class”. He has endlessly repeated these words, before he found the brand of the ‘Flying B’ in 1919.
Right from the very beginning Bentley cars enjoyed an enormous success, with demand exceeding any production possibilities. The halo of prestige that the make’s drivers – the Bentley Boys – encircled was enough to create a mythical image, similar to the one we would come across later with such names as Bugatti, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari.

The 3-litre machines were victorious at Le Mans in 1924 and 1927, with a further success in 1928 for the 4.5-litre. According to rival Ettore Bugatti it was “the fastest truck in the world”.

In 1931 the company, which was facing a chronic capital shortage, was acquired by its arch rival Rolls Royce. It was the period of the Derby Bentley, so-called because they were built in the Rolls Royce factory of Derby. The Mark VI was the first post-war model, produced in the new factory based in Crewe. The Bentley cars of this period can be considered to be sportier versions of the Rolls.

Since its acquisition by the Volkswagen Group in 1998, the make has developed into a classy and sporty marque, notably with the GTC.