Last year, Bentley revealed it would be building 12 ‘recreations’ of possibly the most famous car in its history, the 1929 4.5-liter Blower race car. And even amid the factory shutdown, its engineers working remotely have finally finished digitally scanning every part, making it ready for production.
The car used for these scans is one of four Blowers originally built for Sir Tim Birkin, who raced it at Le Mans and other major events. Chassis number HB 3403 was completely dismantled and every part was laser scanned and/or hand measured for a CAD model that has 630 components across 70 assemblies. It took two CAD engineers from Bentley Mulliner’s Classic division more than 1,200 man hours to complete.
With that done, production of the first of the recreations should begin soon. Customers will be able to request any color scheme they prefer to distinguish their cars from the originals. Oh, and don’t worry; the original Blower will be put back together as well.
But before you call up the factory for an order, don’t bother. All 12 had already been sold last year before the project even started in earnest.
It appears, however, that not everyone is happy about Bentley recreating the Blower, even in such limited numbers. As reported by Autocar in the UK, a collection of high-profile classic car enthusiasts, including Ralph Lauren and Simon Kidston, a classic specialist and nephew of 1920s ‘Bentley Boy’ Glen Kidston, co-signed a letter sent to Adrian Hallmark, Bentley’s CEO, decrying the move. The letter states the new cars would “dilute that special admiration and awe that can only come from viewing and embracing the genuine article”.
*Images courtesy of Bentley
