Bentley is commemorating the historic ‘Blue Train’ race won by the Bentley Speed Six in 1930 with a Mulliner Limited Edition – the Mulsanne Speed ‘Blue Train’.
Debuting this week at the Techno-Classica show in Essen, Germany, just four examples will be built by Bentley’s bespoke coachbuilding division, Mulliner.
85 years ago, Captain Woolf Barnato, chairman of Bentley and pioneering ‘Bentley Boy’, was staying in Cannes at the Carlton Hotel. He accepted a wager that not only could he beat the Calais-Mediterranée Express or ‘Blue Train’ back to Calais, but that he could be at his club in London before the train even reached the English Channel.
“The Blue Train is one of the most famous and celebrated cars in the world, and it perfectly embodies the racing spirit of the Bentley. Woolf Barnato was a three-time Le Mans victor, but winning the Blue Train race captured the public’s imagination, and fuelled the legend of the Bentley Boys. By beating the Calais-Mediterranée Express he forever guaranteed the Speed Six’s place in automotive history,” said Richard Charlesworth, head of the Bentley Heritage Collection.
Source: Bentley