Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) NOT Bentley "Old Number One"

A dealer in Belgium selling a recreation of Bentley "Old Number One"

1948 BEAUTIFUL BENTLEY OLD N01 SPECIAL FOR SALE



It looks from the pictures like a good job and if your pockets are deep enough £280,000 is a significant discount on the real thing!

However, what caught my eye was the description "The legendary Bentley Blower N01 was a racing car developed from the Bentley 4 1/ 2 litre by Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin to win the Le Mans twenty-four-hour race." Yes, it was, but that's NOT this car! The dealer's own photographs show a 6-cylinder engine and no blower! This is a recreation of the far more legendary "Old Number One" Speed Six Le Mans winner of 1929 and 1930. It looks like someone has Googled "Old Number One" and copied word for word the description from the first thing to appear, a Wikipedia article on the Birkin 4 1/2 litre blower.

Extraordinary that a dealer can be selling such a valuable car with so little idea of what it is!

Agreed & I don't like the colour so no sale.

It's a nice looking thing alright, I'd rather have an Aeromax though and be left with enough left over to keep it on the road with it's specialist foibles, alas all a dream on the pensions though..

I'd take it off his hands for 100k though without a backward glance, it looks good in Fergie grey

The engine shown has 4 SU carburettors, so I suspect it could be a 8 cylinder engine , 4 carbs on a 6 doesn't make any sense at all.

Not even in the slightest bit interested, it will no doubt be purchased by someone with loads of money, and little knowledge of the car, but to each their own.

Quote from the website "It is built on a MKVI chassis (B370CF) with an ash and tubular steel frame and aluminium coachwork and powered by a B81 8-inline Bentley engine. The cosmetics (dashboard intruments) have been aged to give the car an appearance in line with the original car from the 1920s. ".

From Aston through Cobras and Jag to Chevron .... am I the only only one wishing they'd stop doing this .... they're not the real thing (even when they're built by the original factory) .... money making exercise that cheapens the heritage .... give it up!!

Ok, I'll go back to my nap now 🙂

K

Fair comment but isn't that exactly what MMC are doing with the reinvented ex Bristol V8 Aero chassis Figures of 200k are being spoken of by people that should know, I find it a cynical move at best..

I would be more than a tad annoyed if I were the owner of one of these "final" 50 limited run out editions in celebration of 50 years of production.....

Old Number One and the high court ruling on whether of not the "Bentley" purported to be Old Number One at the time, had the right to be identified as so. I mentioned that particular case case many years ago on eMog and in the more recent past on here. As one who ever put a degree of value in originality history and heritage when assessing an old vehicle, the case in question helped adjust datums for ME.

Along the lines of Richards post, it was a Vintage Bentley like others that really impressed me and caused me to look for a reasonably affordable alternative, and which had me arrive at ownership of my +8. As if to underline the good sense in my decision making, there have been quite a number of vids created involving driving Bugatti, Alfa, Bentley and other vintage vehicles as their gearboxes and axles whine panels rattle and much else... None of which would be off putting on my usual scoots around local(ish) roads, though I suspect might be more limiting if taking on a European tour, though having typed that I remember waving to a large seemingly UK registered open top vintage RR as we were driving out of Chinchon near Madrid while on a trip down to Andalusia in the Morgan.. Happy days...!

Well this is a bit different being built on an original Bentley Mk6 chassis. Seems a bit expensive all the same.

Mk6 Specials were quite common a few years ago - an interesting way of recycling a rotten Mk6 saloon that had little value.

I even had one myself.

Here’s a local company .........
http://www.vintageracinggreen.com/racing_green/
We had a visit there a while back organised by Ray. Superb !

I remember a Bentley restorer based in Biscester too.