Heritage Collection: Bentley At The 79th Goodwood Members Meeting

A nostalgic weekend at the 79th Goodwood Members Meeting, Bentley exhibited ten iconic masterpieces spanning 90 years of its history from 1929 to 2019.

Expanding its Heritage Collection, which now totals 35 examples, four of six new additions to the fleet were featured along with the ten cars.

Bentley’s head of Heritage Collection, Mike Sayer, expressed, “Bentley is undergoing the biggest and fastest transformation in its 102-year history, as part of the Beyond100 strategy. As the brand defines its new direction, it’s vital to be able to chart our journey to date and where the Bentley of today came from. The expanding Heritage Collection will play a key part in that process, providing driveable examples of every chapter of the company’s long history. We’re really looking forward to sharing the new cars with colleagues, customers, visitors and the media over the coming months.”

Six New Additions

1929 Speed Six, Completing Bentley’s Pre-War Collection:

The Bentley Speed Six is one of the marque’s most iconic pre-war vehicles that sports a high-performance version of the 6½-litre.

This GU 409 was originally built for a W.F. Watson. It was fitted with a Weymann saloon body by Victor Broom, and was delivered in September 1929. 

It became the most successful racing Bentley, winning Le Mans in 1929 and 1930 at the hands of Woolf Barnato, Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin and Glen Kidston.

1949 Mark VI, The First Bentley Built In Crewe:

Notably, this is the first new production model from Crewe after the war, which was unveiled in May 1946 and named the Mark VI. 

Using independent front suspension and the existing 4½-litre straight-six engine, the Mark VI quickly became the highest selling Bentley with 5,000 cars produced between 1946 and 1952. 

73 years later the Mark VI or the AGO 2, returned to Crewe and was fitted with an H.J. Mulliner body resplendent in two-tone green over black.

AGO 2 is a key design link between the famous Embiricos Bentley and Mk V Corniche of the 1930s, and the iconic R-Type Continental of 1952.

1963 S3 Standard Saloon, The Most Exquisite Four-Door Of The Period:

In 1955, the R-Type was superseded by the S-Type. It is essentially an updated and improved version, with a separate chassis, straight-six engine and factory produced body. 

At the time, the standard factory-bodied S-Type saloon tags at GBP 3,295 (RM 18,077), which is equivalent to ten times of today’s annual income. 

There were three iterations of the S-Type from 1955 to 1965. The 2nd generation S2 model introduced a new V8, power steering as standard and the end of a manual transmission. 

While the final generation was very similar to the S2, with the most-visible exterior difference being a four-headlamp layout. 

For the car joining the heritage fleet, it is a 1963 S3 Standard Saloon often regarded as the prettiest of the saloon body styles. Finished in Garnet paintwork, and registered as 176 FGH. 

1984 Continental, A Drophead Formerly Used By The Chairman:

Significantly, the Bentley Continental in 1984 was heavily adopted on the T-Series that was introduced in the 1960’s.

Named as A455 YGJ, it represents one of Bentley’s most challenging times, with sales volumes at the lowest point of the company’s history. 

Regardless, the car is still true to Bentley’s values, and this particular example was driven by the chairman at the time as his company car. 

Said situation improved after some time, which included the adoption of forced induction to Bentley’s 6¾-litre V8 unveiled in the shape of the Turbo R at the 1985 Geneva Motor Show. 

1991 Turbo R, Started The Rebirth Of Bentley’s Sporting Brand:

Remarkably, in the early nineties, Bentley’s popularity had grown significantly, mainly due to the success of the Mulsanne Turbo.

Turbocharging had returned the performance edge to Bentley’s products, making it now the fastest, most comfortable and most luxurious sedans in the world. 

Be it built on the success of the Mulsanne Turbo with more power and a stiffer chassis, it does not compromise the luxury or quality whatsoever. 

‘R’ in the Turbo R is for road-holding, and this 1991 Turbo R or J101 PKL is a fine example of the car that set Bentley back on a path of success.

2001 Arnage Red Label, Return Of The 6¾ V8 To Bentley Sedans:

When Bentley was bought by the Volkswagen Group in 1998, the first thing done was to replace the 4.4-litre V8 of the Bentley Arnage with the leviathan 6¾-litre V8 from the two-door Continentals. 

Doing so created the Arnage Red Label, which debuted at the 1999 Frankfurt Motor Show offering a level of torque unmatched by any other sedan at 835 Nm. 

Overall, it had a redesigned front suspension and bigger brakes to accompany the engine, along with a stiffer body shell and finished in Fireglow red.

Finished in Fireglow red, this example named as Y662 SEO marks one of the turning points in the company’s history.

Heritage Collection

All in all, the new additions signify that the heritage fleet now includes cars from every decade and examples of every significant model.

Across production in Cricklewood, Derby and Crewe, the 35-strong fleet now perfectly articulates Bentley’s history.