Before World War I in Cricklewood near London, Walter Owen Bentley had been in partnership with his brother Horace Millner Bentley selling French DFP cars, but he had always wanted to design and build his own range of cars bearing his name. In August 1919, Bentley Motors Ltd. was registered, and a chassis with dummy engine was exhibited at the London Motor Show in October of that year. An innovative 4 valves per cylinder engine designed by ex–Royal Flying Corps officer Clive Gallop was built and running by December, and orders were taken for deliveries starting in June 1920; however, development took longer than estimated, and the first cars were not ready until September 1921. Their durability earned widespread acclaim. Appearances were made in hill climbs and at Brooklands.
Bentley has launched the new Flying Spur luxury sedan for the Indian market, at an event held in New Delhi at Exclusive Motors, the official dealers of Bentley in India. The car is launched at a base price of Rs. 3.10 cr ex showroom New Delhi. Bentley claims the Flying Spur to be the fastest road-going luxury four door sedan in the world, powered by a 6.0-litre, twin turbo W12 engine. It develops 625 PS and an earth churning 800 Nm of torque, sprinting from 0-100 kph in just 4.6 seconds and on to a top whack of 322kph. All that power is channeled through the transmission to all the four wheels via the all-wheel drive system. With a standard torque split of 60 per cent to the rear wheels and 40 per cent to the front, the Flying Spur has the ability to vary this division up to 85 per cent to the rear axle or 65 per cent to the front depending on available traction. The Bentley also has an independent computer-controlled air suspension which helps absorb almost every bump on the road.
Building on a record sales year in 2013, Bentley is planning to woo its largest market with the introduction of more powerful Continental GTs in the USA. The Continental GT V8 S and GTC V8 S (Coupe and Convertible) will dish out more power from their 4-litre twin-turbo V8 engines. That’s 528PS of power at 6,000 rpm and 680Nm of torque at 1,700 rpm, 21 PS of power and 20Nm of torque more than the ‘standard’ V8. The S models also sit lower and have uprated suspension.
The S coupe can accelerate to 100kph from zero in 4.5 seconds and has a top speed of 309Kmph. It sits in between the Continental range with the standard V8 models on one side and the range topping 625PS W12 6.0-litre Continental GT Speed on the others. The Continental is mated to ZF’s 8-speed automatic transmission.
Bentley Drivers Club
Bentleys are built to be driven. So it’s hardly surprising to learn that the largest and most famous group of Bentley enthusiasts is The Bentley Drivers Club. Appropriately enough, the first members were Bentley drivers attending a race at the legendary Brooklands track in Surrey in 1936, canvassed by a note placed under their windscreens by one G.K. Pelmore. The first meeting was over-subscribed; a bigger venue had to be found at the last minute. Since then the Bentley Drivers Club has gone from strength to strength, with branches from Dallas to Tokyo and from Cape Town to Canberra. The Club organises a number of social and competitive events, and provides specialist services for owners of Cricklewood-, Derby- and Crewe-built Bentleys. The BDC is now the focus of a world-wide Federation of Bentley Clubs and welcomes new members.
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