New car designs are flashy and shiny, and automakers are showcasing their futuristic ideas in the form of concept cars and next-generation technology. Bentley is no exception. In recent years, the British luxury brand has introduced a high-tech thermal imaging system, seats that know sooner that you are going to sweat, and a spicy V8 hybrid.
At the same time, Bentley has been working on a time machine, faithfully and meticulously recreating the iconic 1930 Speed Six. It’s called a continuation, not a replica, which means that Bentley used the same original design drawings, used the same materials and used the same materials. techniques to build it as the car manufacturer did almost a century earlier.
This car has a history. Woolf Barnato (then chairman of Bentley and three-time winner of the Le Mans race) had even bet that he could beat the Blue Train from Cannes to Calais in his own Speed Six. Traveling with co-driver Dale Bourne over a distance of 910 kilometers, Bernato rode the train to Calais so smoothly that he loaded his Speed Six onto a ferry and crossed the English Channel, still arriving four minutes before the train arrived in Calais. arrived in London. French police later fined the Bentley director for racing on public roads; he averaged a blistering 70 kilometers per hour.
Unapologetically old-fashioned
Bentley says its classic Speed Six is one of the most important models in its history, as it was the winning car in the iconic Le Mans races in 1929 and 1930. The heart of the car is a 6.5-litre six-cylinder in-line engine, designed by WO Bentley himself in the 1920s and recreated exactly to the original specifications, says Bentley’s Mike Sayer, head of product communications.
I took a ride in the Speed Six Car Zero with Sayer at the wheel; he is currently the only person allowed to drive it in the United States. That’s partly because driving one is about as different from a modern car as taking a photo with an old Kodak No. 2 Brownie versus taking a quick photo on your iPhone. Car Zero is the technical test and development car for a series of twelve, says Sayer, and has completed more than 8,000 test kilometers. The mule car also passed a six-hour racing simulation and a top speed test of up to 185 miles per hour, also in accordance with period specifications.


“The engine generates around 205bhp, which doesn’t sound like much for a six-and-a-half-litre engine, but in the 1920s that was supercar performance level,” says Sayer. “And most importantly, considering this was a Le Mans design, it was incredibly reliable.”
Building the follow-on car was a multi-stage process, with six months spent solely on the research and development of the chassis and crossmembers.
A $2 million work of art
A minuscule portion of car collectors will own the Speed Six, a $2 million hand-built machine. Considering how much work goes into each model, it’s no surprise. Each Speed Six has already been claimed, with a build time of around ten months each, and Bentley will keep Car Zero for its archives.
Eighty percent of the original drawings were provided by the WO Bentley Memorial Foundation, accompanied by mechanic’s notes detailing changes made between the 1929 and 1930 races. However, the attention to detail extends far beyond the mechanical heart of the car. Bentley’s bespoke Mulliner team delved into the car’s history to discover five authentic exterior paints from the era, including the Parsons Napier Green finish on Car Zero.
The bodywork itself is made in traditional style from ash wood by Lomax Coachbuilders and covered with period-correct fabric stretched over the frame. A father and son team from Vintage Headlamp Restoration International makes the round headlights, and the Vintage Car Radiator Company produces the radiator and gas tank.
The precise attention given to the development of the Speed Six Continuation is more art than machine and results in an exceptionally rare car. The dials are hand-painted and even the leather seats are filled with horsehair, just as they were in 1930. Additionally, each customer orders a Speed Six to their own specifications (as you would expect from a $2 million vehicle).
Initial construction will begin in October and all twelve are expected to be completed by the end of 2025; each car takes 10 months to complete.
