1930 Bentley Speed Six Blue Train Tourer

On March 12th of 1930, a wager was made amongst a group of early motoring enthusiasts at a dinner party at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, France. The discussion was prompted by the Rover motor car's advertisement, claiming that its Light Six was faster than the famous express train Le Train Bleu. One of the individuals in this discussion was Captain Joel Woolf 'Babe' Barnato, one of the original 'Bentley Boys', as well as the chairman of Bentley Motors and the winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1928 and 1929. Mr. Barnato said he could outrun Le Train Bleu in his Bentley Speed Six.

The following day, at 5:45 pm, Le Train Bleu left Cannes, heading to London's Victoria Station, while Barnato and his relief driver left the Carlton Hotel in his Speed Six. They battled heavy rain and fog, delays from searching for fuel, a punctured tire and having to use their only spare, and a choppy ferry ride across the English Channel. They arrived at the St. James Street Conservative Club four minutes before Le Train Bleu even reached the ferry at Calais, France. Captain Barnato had won his bet. The French authorities were quick to deliver him a fine that far exceeded his winnings for racing on public roads. Bentley Motors was also excluded from the 1930 Paris Salon for conducting an unauthorized race.

Barnato owned ten 6.5-liter cars, with seven being standard chassis and three being Speed Six chassis. The 'Blue Train Bentley', as described in newspapers and magazines, was a streamlined 'fastback' coupe, which had been bodied by Gurney Nutting and wore chassis number HM2855. However, the car he actually drove that day, was an unassuming black, fabric-covered saloon that had been built by H.J. Mulliner on a 1929 Bentley Speed Six chassis, number BA2592. The car had been owned by Captain Barnato for a year before the event, while his Gurney Nutting Coupe was still being built.

Seventy-five years after the event occurred, in October 2005, Bentley Motors celebrated it with a limited-edition version of the current series Bentley, a 6.75-liter four-door saloon named the Arnage Blue Train Series.

This particular example is a Blue Train Recreation that was modeled after the Gurney Nutting Coupe and built to exacting standards by a coach-building firm in the UK. Each of these recreations built takes three to five years to complete. This example, built on a 1950 Bentley Mark VI chassis, was completed in October of 2014. After completion, it was imported into the United States. It has covered only delivery miles since new.

Power is from a Bentley B80 inline eight-cylinder engine that has been fitted with four SU carburetors, offering 180 horsepower. There is a synchronized four-speed transmission, with hydraulic front drum and mechanical rear drum brakes. There is a full tool kit in a fold-down tray, matching liquor cabinets, with each containing a decanter and a set of crystal glasses that have been engraved with the Bentley 'B.' The cabinets are finished in highly polished walnut, as is the dash cowl and the tops of the doors. The interior is trimmed in red leather, along with matching red carpeting. A Webasto sliding sunroof is fitted, as are twin side-mounted spare wheels. The exterior of the car is finished in black vinyl-and-leather-covered body.

By Daniel Vaughan | May 2015