The “Blower” Bentley is the supercharged Bentley 4½ Litre of 1929–1931, famous for its huge supercharger mounted in front of the radiator. It was championed by Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin, one of the Bentley Boys, as a way to beat the powerful Mercedes-Benz SSK — even though company founder W.O. Bentley disapproved of supercharging. The Blower never won Le Mans, but it became one of the most iconic racing cars of the era, and Bentley built a series of new “continuation” Blowers in the 2020s.

Blower at a glance
Model Bentley 4½ Litre Supercharged
Years 1929–1931
Champion Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin
Supercharger Designed by Amherst Villiers
Production About 50 road cars for homologation, plus team race cars

Why a supercharger?

By the late 1920s, larger and more powerful cars from Mercedes were threatening Bentley’s dominance at Le Mans. W.O. Bentley’s answer was more displacement — he developed the 6½ Litre and the Speed Six. Birkin preferred forced induction: a Roots-type supercharger designed by Amherst Villiers, which forced more air into the 4½-litre engine and raised output substantially.

W.O. objected

W.O. Bentley famously disliked the idea, believing superchargers hurt reliability. But Birkin had backing from the wealthy Dorothy Paget, who financed his team. To race at Le Mans, the car had to be a production model, so Bentley agreed to build around 50 road-going Blowers.

Racing record

The Blowers were fast but fragile. At Le Mans in 1930, Birkin drove his Blower hard to push the Mercedes into breaking down — a tactic that helped the Speed Six of fellow Bentley Boys win, even though the Blowers themselves retired. Birkin also set lap records at Brooklands. Read the Bentley Boys at Le Mans.

The continuation series

Around 2020, Bentley’s Mulliner division began building 12 new Blowers, using Birkin’s own team car as the reference, which was painstakingly scanned and disassembled. Each continuation car was hand-built with the same materials and techniques as the originals — a remarkable exercise in automotive archaeology.

Legacy

The Blower symbolizes the romantic, daring side of Bentley’s early history — privately funded, fast and slightly reckless. Modern Bentleys still borrow its styling cues, such as the mesh grille. Read the history of Bentley.