History

The history of Bentley Motors is shaped by innovation, perfect technology, and a passion for motorsports – and this can still be felt in each of the brand’s models today.

Bentley Motors was founded on July 10, 1919, by engineer Walter Owen Bentley, who began his career in the railway at 16. From an early age, he was fascinated by the emergence of motorsports. In 1912, he founded an import company for French race cars from Courbevoie near Paris. During a visit to the site in 1913, a paperweight made of aluminum caught Bentley’s attention. According to Bentley’s idea, this light metal could be used to produce pistons instead of heavy cast iron, which was usual at the time. The idea became a reality – the Bentley piston was born. It was initially installed in World War I aircraft, and straight after the end of the war, in Bentley’s first vehicle, the Experimental Bentley No. 1. At the presentation in 1919, its creator said: “I wanted to build a fast car, a good car, the best in its class.”

In the 1920s, Bentley’s 85-horsepower three-liter engines from the brand’s first factory in Cricklewood reached speeds of up to 80 miles per hour, around 129 km/h. They broke various speed and endurance records and became regular protagonists in the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, and 1930, the Bentley Boys won the trophy – and in 1929, they took all four first places.

Rescued by the competition and a new start

But then the global economic crisis and the harbingers of the next war soon almost drove the company into ruin. Rival Rolls-Royce took over Bentley in 1931 and moved production from Cricklewood to Derby. The factory in Crewe, Bentley’s main site to this day, was built in 1938. Before the war, it manufactured aircraft engines, but in 1946, the first car left the assembly hangar: the Mark V1. The R-Type Continental debuted in 1952, making it the world’s fastest four-seater at the time, with a top speed of 120 miles per hour (approx. 193 km/h).

The year 1957 witnessed the arrival of the four-door Continental Flying Spur, and 1959 saw the launch of the S2 with its groundbreaking 6.2-liter V8 aluminum engine.

100 years young and focused on the future

The partnership with Rolls-Royce lasted almost seven decades before the Volkswagen Group took over Bentley in 1998 and invested more than £1 billion in the Crewe production facilities. In 2020, shortly after Bentley’s 100th birthday, the Beyond100 strategy was unveiled. Bentley set out the goal of becoming the world’s leading sustainable luxury car brand. Something that fits with the sustainability strategy of another major brand and marks the start of the latest chapter in the company’s history: from March 1, 2021, Audi assumed management responsibility for Bentley, and since January 2022, Bentley has been a part of the Brand Group Progressive.