Bentley Blower No.1

Bentley Blower No.1 is a racing car that Sir Henry Tim Birkin developed from the Bentley 4½ Litre in order to win the Le Mans 24 Hours, and it was brought to its present form for racing at Brooklands. When Bentley Motors refused to build a supercharged car, Birkin set up his own works at Welwyn Garden City with money from Dorothy Paget and technical help from Clive Gallop and the supercharger specialist Amherst Villiers. A large Roots-type supercharger, the blower, sat in front of the radiator and was driven from the crankshaft, which gave the car its unmistakable profile. The car was presented at the 1929 British International Motor Show at Olympia, first raced at Brooklands in June 1929 and sold by Bonhams for 5,042,000 pounds in June 2012.