W. O. Bentley and his brother Horace Millner Bentley had previously sold French DFP cars in Cricklewood before W. O. Bentley resolved to design his own. He registered Bentley Motors Ltd. in August 1919 and exhibited a chassis at the London Motor Show that October. The first cars, built around a four-valves-per-cylinder engine designed by ex-Royal Flying Corps officer Clive Gallop, were delivered from September 1921. Bentley's first major competitive outing was the 1922 Indianapolis 500, where works driver Douglas Hawkes completed the full 500 miles and finished 13th after starting 19th.
The company was always underfunded. Following the inspiring 1924 Le Mans win by John Duff and Frank Clement, Woolf Barnato — who had inherited his father's South African gold and diamond mines — invested in excess of £100,000, saved the workforce, and became chairman. With Barnato's financial backing, W. O. Bentley designed a new generation of cars that dominated Le Mans through to 1930.
The Bentley Boys were a loose grouping of wealthy British motoring enthusiasts who campaigned Bentley cars in competition. Members included Barnato himself, Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin, aviator Glen Kidston, automotive journalist S.C.H. "Sammy" Davis, and Dudley Benjafield. Bentley achieved four consecutive Le Mans victories from 1927 to 1930:
1924: 1st (3-Litre, works entry)
1927: 1st, 15th, 17th (3-Litre)
1928: 1st, 5th (4½-Litre)
1929: 1st (Speed Six); 2nd, 3rd, 4th (4½-Litre)
1930: 1st, 2nd (Speed Six)
Birkin developed a supercharged lightweight 4½-litre "Blower Bentley" at Welwyn Garden City in 1929. The car was fragile and unreliable, though Birkin finished second in the 1930 French Grand Prix at Pau in a stripped-down racing version, behind Philippe Etancelin in a Bugatti. Barnato's legendary Blue Train Races — in which he bet £100 that he could beat the famous French express by road from Cannes to London — were run in a 6½-litre Speed Six.
Bentley withdrew from racing after 1930, stating they had "learned enough about speed and reliability." The Wall Street crash and Great Depression had throttled demand for expensive cars; the company entered receivership in July 1931. Rolls-Royce purchased the assets through an intermediary, British Central Equitable Trust, for £125,000.
Under Rolls-Royce, Bentley cars were produced first in Derby and then at the Crewe factory opened in 1938, initially for wartime Merlin aero-engine production. All Bentleys made between 1931 and 2004 shared Rolls-Royce chassis and adapted engines. When Rolls-Royce itself went into receivership in 1971, the automotive division was separated as Rolls-Royce Motors Limited, which Vickers plc purchased in 1980. During the 1970s and early 1980s the Bentley badge appeared on fewer than 5% of combined Rolls-Royce/Bentley output, but the revival of the marque's sporting image — typified by the 1980 Mulsanne — restored its profile. By 1991 the Bentley-to-Rolls-Royce sales ratio had reached parity.
In 1997 Vickers decided to sell Rolls-Royce Motors. Despite BMW making a final offer of £340 million, Volkswagen AG won the auction at £430 million. VW acquired the vehicle designs, factory, and trademarks but not the rights to use the Rolls-Royce name, which BMW separately licensed. Under Volkswagen, the company invested approximately US$2 billion in modernising the Crewe factory and expanding capacity.
On track, Bentley returned to Le Mans endurance racing for the first time since 1930. A works Bentley Speed 8 won the 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans outright, completing a 73-year gap between victories for the marque. Volkswagen then invested further in the continental GT road car range, and the Bentley Continental GT3 — entered by the M-Sport factory team — won the Silverstone round of the 2014 Blancpain Endurance Series, Bentley's first official British race entry since the 1930 RAC Tourist Trophy.
Bentley has been consolidated under Volkswagen Group's premium brand arm, Audi, since 2022. In November 2020 the company announced that all new Bentley cars would be fully electric by 2030. Current production models include the Bentayga, Continental GT, and Flying Spur, assembled primarily at Crewe. In March 2026 the company reported an operating profit of £186 million on revenue of £2.25 billion.
Gallery · 1 related image
