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The Bentley Boys Era to Highlight 2001 Monterey Historic Automobile Races

20 October 2000

The Bentley Boys Era to Highlight 2001 Monterey Historic Automobile Races

         Bentley Celebrates Golden Years of Racing as Featured Marque

                             August 17 - 19, 2001

    SAN DIEGO, Oct. 20 Seventy-nine years ago, the first
Bentley rolled off the assembly line and onto Britain's roadways in relative
obscurity.  A brief period later, racing fans worldwide began hearing about
Bentley Motors, as its 3 litre began competing in and winning prestigious
races.  In fact, Bentley won the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times.  Adding to
the company's mystique was the glamorous team of drivers who were referred to
as the Bentley Boys.
    Today, at the opening of the second annual Vintage Auto Expo USA, General
Racing Ltd. announced that Bentley will be the featured marque of the
2001 Monterey Historic Automobile Races, where the exciting tales of Bentley's
remarkable automotive journey will unfold.  Now in its 28th year, the Monterey
Historics is considered the world's premier vintage car race and the anchor to
what has become simply known as "The Monterey Weekend."  More than
350 historic race and sports cars from every era will arrive to challenge the
famed corkscrew at Laguna Seca Raceway on August 17, 18 and 19.
    "We are delighted that Bentley has been chosen to be honored at the
Monterey Historics in 2001," says Alasdair Stewart, president of Rolls Royce
and Bentley Motor Cars, Inc.  "Bentley is entering a new era, and at a time
when we're poised to develop a new range of motor cars, it is entirely fitting
that we should focus on Bentley's fantastic racing achievements."
    Bentley produced a string of cars that competed in the world's most
grueling races.  The Bentley Speed Six, for example, that was built between
1929 and 1930 was a technologically advanced car capable of reaching speeds
over 100 mph.  Its success, however, was limited due to the stock market crash
of 1929.  It has been said that founder Walter Owen Bentley believed the Speed
Six, of which only 182 were built, was a Bentley masterpiece.
    Bentley was the honored marque at the 1979 Monterey Historics and featured
Phil Hill driving his ex-Charles Amherst-Villiers 1931 Blower Bentley to a
tire-smoking win.  The racing so delighted Mrs. W.O. Bentley, that she
remarked it was probably the first international win for the Blower Bentley.
The Blower Bentley was a 41/2 liter that Bentley Boy Tim Birkin supercharged,
and of which only 50 were built.  It produced 175 horsepower, which was about
45 more than the base engine.
    "The Bentley Boys represented an exciting and glamorous era of motor
racing," explains Steven Earle, president of General Racing Ltd. and organizer
of the Monterey Historic Automobile Races.  "The '20s and '30s were a time
when race and road cars still resembled each other, and competition was a way
for motor car companies to showcase their abilities, with Bentley right at the
top by winning Le Mans so many times.  We're working with Bentley Motors
toward recreating that energetic atmosphere for August in Monterey."