Blower Continuation Series ‘Car Zero’ was the prototype vehicle for the world’s first pre-war continuation series, with Mulliner going on to create a run of 12 customer cars based on the 1929 4½ ‘Blower’ Bentley – the most iconic car in Bentley’s history

The Blower

As racing speeds increased in the late 1920s, W.O. Bentley’s answer was to increase engine capacity. But Sir Tim Birkin was impressed by engineer Amherst Villiers and his new supercharger. He persuaded Bentley Chairman Woolf Barnato to approve the production of four supercharged 4½ Litre Bentleys for competition, with an additional 50 homologation cars for the road. Whenever it raced, the thunderous (if unreliable) performance of the 4½ Litre ‘Blower’ Bentley thrilled crowds – which included author Ian Fleming, who later gave fictional hero James Bond a supercharged Bentley. 

The Blower Continuation Series

Between 2021 and 2023, a highly exclusive run of 12 continuation cars were crafted for customers from the design drawings and tooling jigs used for the original four Blowers built and raced by Sir Tim Birkin in the late 1920s. Specifically, Bentley’s own Team Car (Chassis HB 3403, registration UU 5872) provided the master model for the Continuation Series, with every single component laser-scanned as part of a wheels-up, sympathetic restoration. From there, in a manner befitting such a project, a team of artisan specialists from around the country were recruited to start manufacturing the components using traditional techniques passed down through generations. Every component was created from scratch, using authentic materials and processes as per the original 1929 design.

Blower ‘Car Zero’

Blower Car Zero was the first new Bentley Blower in 90 years when it was finished in 2020. A gruelling test and development programme clocked up more than 10,000 km on the new, old car – proving individual designs and the assembly as a whole, and permitting the start of production of the 12 customer cars. On completion of its development duties, Blower Car Zero delivered a six-hour endurance test at the Goodwood circuit, before competing in the Le Mans Classic in 2023 – becoming the first works-entered Bentley at a race at Le Mans since the Speed 8’s victory in 2003. As such, it is now officially a Bentley race car, and resides in the Motorsport section of Bentley’s Heritage Collection as a ready-to-run racer.