W. O. Bentley and his brother, Horace Millner Bentley, sold French DFP cars before the First World War. W. O. Bentley founded Bentley Motors Limited on January 18, 1919. The company registered Bentley Motors Ltd. in August 1919 and exhibited a car chassis at the London Motor Show in October. Ex–Royal Flying Corps officer Clive Gallop designed an innovative four-valves-per-cylinder engine for the chassis. The first Bentley aluminium pistons were fitted to Sopwith Camel aero engines during the First World War.
Bentley's first major event was the 1922 Indianapolis 500. Works driver Douglas Hawkes, accompanied by riding mechanic H. S. "Bertie" Browning, drove a modified road car and finished 13th. The team then competed in the 1922 RAC Tourist Trophy. Bentley had a dominant presence at the 24 Hours of Le Mans during the 1920s and early 1930s, achieving multiple victories. These included wins in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, and 1930. The company also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2003. Bentley withdrew from motor racing after the 1930 Le Mans race.
The original model was the three-litre, followed by the 4½-litre model. The 4½-litre "Blower Bentley", with its distinctive supercharger, is perhaps the most iconic model of the period. In 1930, Birkin finished second in the French Grand Prix at Pau in a stripped-down racing version of the Blower Bentley. The 4½-litre model later became famous in popular media as the vehicle of choice of James Bond in the original novels. John Steed in the television series The Avengers also drove a Bentley.
The Bentley Boys were a group of British motoring enthusiasts who favored Bentley cars. This group included Woolf Barnato, Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin, steeple chaser George Duller, aviator Glen Kidston, automotive journalist S.C.H. "Sammy" Davis, and Dudley Benjafield. They kept the marque's reputation for high performance alive. Birkin developed the 4½-litre, lightweight Blower Bentley in 1929. During the March 1930 Blue Train Races, Barnato raced and beat Le Train Bleu with his 6½-litre Bentley Speed Six.
Bentley Motors Limited was founded in 1919 in Cricklewood, North London. Woolf Barnato acquired control of the company in 1924, financing the business. In 1931, Rolls-Royce purchased Bentley Motors. Production stopped for two years before resuming at the Rolls-Royce works in Derby. W. O. Bentley left to join Lagonda in 1935. All Bentleys produced from 1931 to 2004 used inherited or shared Rolls-Royce chassis and adapted Rolls-Royce engines. The Crewe factory began producing cars in 1946. The Bentley Mark VI was the first steel-bodied model produced there. The Bentley Continental was aimed at the UK market.
Rolls-Royce Motors Limited was bought by Vickers plc in August 1980. Under Vickers, Bentley sales began to rise. In 1998, Vickers sold Rolls-Royce to Volkswagen AG, including Bentley. Bentley has been a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group since 1998. Since 2022, it has been consolidated under VW's premium brand arm, Audi. Most Bentley models are assembled at the company's Crewe factory. Some are assembled at Volkswagen's Dresden factory, Germany. Bodies for the Continental are manufactured in Zwickau, and for the Bentayga at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant. China was its largest market as of November 2012.
Volkswagen invested £500 million to modernise the Crewe factory and increase production capacity after acquiring the business. Bentley presented Queen Elizabeth II with an official State Limousine in 2002. The Bentley Continental GT was introduced in 2003. A convertible version, the Continental GTC, was presented in autumn 2005. The Continental Supersports, combining power with FlexFuel technology, was introduced at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. In 2007, Bentley broke the 10,000 cars-per-year threshold with sales of 10,014. In 2020, Bentley announced it would halt production due to the COVID-19 pandemic and cut approximately 1,000 job places in the UK. On November 3, 2020, Bentley announced that all new cars sold will be electric by 2030.
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