W. O. Bentley founded Bentley Motors Limited on January 18, 1919. Before the First World War, W. O. Bentley and his brother, Horace Millner Bentley, sold French Doriot, Flandrin & Parant (DFP) cars in Cricklewood. W. O. Bentley wanted to design and build his own cars, noticing in 1913 that aluminum might replace cast iron for lighter pistons. The first Bentley aluminum pistons were fitted to Sopwith Camel aero engines during the First World War.
In October 1919, a car chassis with a dummy engine was exhibited at the London Motor Show. Ex–Royal Flying Corps officer Clive Gallop designed an innovative four-valves-per-cylinder engine for the chassis. The engine was built and running by December. The durability of the first Bentley cars earned widespread acclaim, and they competed in hill climbs and raced at Brooklands.
Bentley's first major event was the 1922 Indianapolis 500. They entered a modified road car driven by works driver Douglas Hawkes, accompanied by riding mechanic H. S. "Bertie" Browning. Hawkes finished 13th, completing the full 500 miles. The team then competed in the 1922 RAC Tourist Trophy.
The Bentley enterprise was underfunded until Woolf Barnato financed the business after the 1924 Le Mans win by John Duff and Frank Clement. Barnato had inherited South African gold and diamond mines. He invested over £100,000, saving the business and its workforce, and became chairman.
The Bentley Boys were a group of British motoring enthusiasts including Barnato, Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin, and S.C.H. "Sammy" Davis. They favored Bentley cars and kept the marque's reputation for high performance alive. Bentley was noted for its four consecutive victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, from 1927 to 1930.
Birkin developed the 4½-litre, lightweight Blower Bentley in 1929, producing five racing specials. During the March 1930 Blue Train Races, Barnato raced and beat Le Train Bleu with his 6½-litre Bentley Speed Six on a bet of £100. He drove against the train from Cannes to Calais, then by ferry to Dover, and finally London, and won.
Bentley had a dominant presence at the 24 Hours of Le Mans during the 1920s and early 1930s, achieving multiple victories with its 3-litre and 4½-litre cars, including the legendary Speed Six. Bentley withdrew from motor racing after the 1930 Le Mans, stating they had “learned enough about speed and reliability.”
Prominent models include the historic sports-racing Bentley 4½ Litre and Bentley Speed Six. More recent models include the Bentley S Type Continental, Bentley Turbo R, and Bentley Arnage. Current models include the Flying Spur, Continental GT, and Bentayga.
The Wall Street crash of 1929 and the resulting Great Depression throttled demand for Bentley's expensive motor cars. In July 1931, a receiver was appointed. Rolls-Royce purchased Bentley Motors in 1931 to prevent it from competing with their most expensive model, the Phantom II. Rolls-Royce took over the assets of Bentley Motors (1919) Ltd and formed a subsidiary, Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd.
Bentley has been a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group since 1998 and has been consolidated under VW's premium brand arm, Audi, since 2022. Most Bentley models are assembled at the company's Crewe factory. Some are assembled at Volkswagen's Dresden factory, Germany, with bodies for the Continental manufactured in Zwickau and for the Bentayga manufactured at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.