Looking Back: The Bentley Boys (between 1923 and 1933)

[JohnBM01]

During the first 10 years of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one marque has won the classic race five times in ten years- the Bentley Boys. How far back are we talking about? We're talking about sometime between the 1922 to 1932, or 1923 to 1933. Many of our grandparents were probably born around this time. But this was an era in which cars didn't have technological advancements and 200+ mph/300+ kph top speeds. Bentley is a highly-established make better known for quality luxury cars you can't afford. And even before Bentley won the 24 Hours of Le Mans again back in 2003, there is more than 70 or 80 years when Bentley first won it all at Le Mans.

For this Looking Back, I'm going to do something different. The Le Mans race track had this configuration back around the time Bentley was succeeding at Le Mans. Since I am focusing on the first ten years of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, I will show a variety of configurations between the years represented. So here are some of the configurations:

http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/Europe/lemans21.html (Le Mans, 1921 - 1928)
http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/Europe/lemans29.html (Le Mans, 1929 - 1931)
http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/Europe/lemans32.html (Le Mans, 1932 - 1967)

Pit stops had to be long, dragging nightmares compared to today's racing. Your racing suit? You're perfectly fine in your career wear, just throw on maybe some goggles or a bicycle-like helmet. Top speeds weren't amazing. But this is all because the race is about endurance and skill. Can you and your team last for 24 hours? Can you win the race? Well, Bentley won five times in the first ten years of the event. Here is a picture of the Bentley boys back in 1924: { http://www.maisonblanche.co.uk/bntlyboy.html }. Bentley would go on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924, and then win four years straight between 1927 and 1930. You can see the five Bentley wins notched up here:

So who are they in general? The Bentley Boys in this thread are the ones who outclassed their opposition including W.O. Bentley, Tim Birkin, John Duff, WO Bentley, all among many others. I believe the Bentley Boys have no longer been with us for quite some time. But I wonder what they would say when Bentley would return to Le Mans nearly 70 years later, all to win again in 2003?

MORE WEBSITES TO VISIT:
http://www.autointell-news.com/euro...royce-bentley/bentley-leman/bentley-leman.htm
http://www.motorsportsetc.com/champs/le_mans.htm (all Le Mans winners starting with 1922)


Care to continue looking back on one of the most successful marques at Le Mans? You can, starting as soon as you finish reading this sentence you are currently reading.

 

[Mulsanne]

Thanks for posting that. 👍 👍 I often wish I could go back and attend those early Le Mans races. And some of the things they did (ran out of gas and borrowed a bike to pedal to the pits to pick up more fuel, or winning with a car that had been wrecked in the first few hours) are amazing.

One good site to read race summaries from 1923 up to a few years ago is http://www.bigmoneyracing.com/bigmoney/lemans/lemans.html They are written by Chuck Dressing, one of the senior editors at Racer Magazine and a member of the Radio Le Mans crew. A very interesting read.

 

[JohnBM01]

Thanks for that link you posted, Mulsanne. Moments like this sort of give you better appreciation of motorsport. It also helps you appreciate how far motorsport has come. I guess a key reason why I included this discussion is to show that Bentley is an established auto make. It's like when I do Gran Turismo discussions and people just completely discout names like Mercedes-Benz, Bentley, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Lotus, Aston Martin... countless other established makes. And all for people to say "I'd rather have Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini." Well, many of the companies I've mentioned have been winning races and making a name for themselves well before Lam Por Ferra had their fame. If you're going to be a real car fan and really appreciate motorsport, you have to look back in time and look at companies who were tough to beat in their day and still make quality products today. That includes many of the different companies I've mentioned in this post.

I really wonder what the Bentley Boys would say about Bentley's 2003 Le Mans victory. Oh, and we're all reminded of Le Mans 1955 { http://www.bigmoneyracing.com/bigmoney/lemans/lemans55.shtml }. It was an absolutely horrible moment, and I'm sure the Bentley Boys would agree that this is a reminder of how far things have come since the early years of the Le Mans endurance.

 

[Mulsanne]

About the link, no problem. It's one of my favorite sites to go back and read the history of the greatest race on the planet.

I think for the most part people do appreciate that the marques you mentioned are in GT4. I think it's just a case of "Okay, I like what we have now, but adding this would make it better." I'm that way about the circuits. I love the fact that Le Mans, the Nordschliefe, Laguna Seca, Suzuka, Monaco, etc. are in the game. I just want to also see circuits like Sebring, Road America, Bathurst, Spa-Francorchamps, etc. With the exception of the 12-year-olds who have little reference of cars outside of Ferrari and whatever Japanese tuner car they've seen in a movie, people appreciate that we can drive a Mercedes, Jaguar, Bentley, etc.

As for the Bentley Boys, I think they would have wondered what the hell all those Germans were doing in BRG uniforms at Le Mans 2003.

Le Mans 1955: I don't think many people appreciate how close the sport of automobile racing was to being banned. The Pope called for a ban on motor racing and IIRC, President Eisenhower made some kind of similar statement.