100 Years After The First Bentley Raced At Le Mans It Sells For Over £3m

100 Years After The First Bentley Raced At Le Mans It Sells For Over £3m

In 1923, now 100 years ago, the first ever Bentley, a 3 Litre raced at the Le Mans 24 Hours race, has been sold for over £3 million.

Not only the first Bentley to race it was at the beginning of the famous French endurance race now in its centenary in 2023.

This first international entry too was piloted by teammates of Canadian WW1 veteran John Duff and Bentley test driver Frank Clement. They achieved a respectable 4th place overall in spite of some of the challenges despite encountering challenges which included a fuel tank punctured by stones from the then unpaved track.

JBP - Kidston Bentley TS

The sale brokered by Kidston SA, a company founded by Simon Kidston, the nephew of Glen Kidston, who won the 1930 Le Mans 24 Hours at the wheel of a Bentley. 

This car is historically significant as it represents the beginning of the Bentley legend, and the establishing of the tradition of ‘The Bentley Boys’. The likes of Kidston, Clement, Duff and others like Sir Tim Birkin, Dr Dudley Benjafield or one-time Bentley Chairman Woolf Barnato became known as The Bentley Boys for their hard-charging racing lifestyle.

Company founder W.O Bentley said of this group’s antics:

“The public liked to imagine them living in Mayfair flats. Drinking Champagne in nightclubs, playing the horses and the Stock Exchange, and beating furiously around the racing tracks at the weekend. Of several of them, this was not such an inaccurate picture.”

 

JBP - Kidston Bentley TS

Chassis 141 was entered and driven by Canadian WW1 veteran, adventurer and Bentley dealer John Duff at the Double 12 Hour Record at Brooklands. Interestingly 24-hour racing was banned so locals could sleep, and he covering 2,082 miles at 86.79mph setting 38 international records in the process.

He then approached W.O Bentley to prepare his competitive car for a new 24-hour race to be held at a new venue at a city called Le Mans, in France.

W.O Bentley initially thought it mad, but he agreed and sent factory test driver Frank Clement to co-drive. After 24 hours at the wheel – where they set the lap record of 66.69mph, in a car which only had rear brakes, and finished joint 4th. They even ran out of fuel due to the aforementioned punctured fuel tank.

141 near the conclusion of the race_ CREDIT Graeme Cocks - Clare Hay

The Bentley Boys would return to Le Mans for the next 24-hour race and this time they would win. From 1927 to 1930, Bentley were victorious four times in succession at the Le Mans 24 Hours, making it one of the most dominant runs in the history of the race.

This assault on the international endurance racing scene is all due to Chassis 141 and the ability of John Duff to convince W.O Bentley to prepare his car and prove it reliable in the 24 hours, but also that they could even win it.

W.O himself said that he owned a great deal to John Duff and Chassis 141. In the following two years of Le Mans 24 Hours races, 1923 and 1924, Bentley sold 700 vehicles. Quite remarkable for a new manufacturer that only delivered their first car in 1921. The entire success of Bentley could be traced back to those early achievements on the race track and by the Bentley Boys.

Duff tending to the engine on day two Graeme Cocks - Clare Hay

Soon after the racing career of Chassis 141 was over it was put to much more pedestrian uses. It was used as a tow vehicle and later had the rear bodywork altered to convert it into a shooting brake.

By the late 1940s it was used by the lady owner to transport her St, Bernard dogs to shows. Then it seemed to be forgotten, only to reappear during the early 1980s when the owner of the Donnington Car Museum, Tom Wheatcroft, got a call from a 97 year old lady offering him the two cars in her barn. A Voisin and a Bentley.

Luckily, he bought the both of them without any idea of the Bentley’s history. It sat awaiting attention until some motoring journalist correctly identified it as the long-lost first Bentley Le Mans racer. 

Australian collector Peter Briggs negotiated a deal who had his Brabham Formula 1 car on loan to the Donnington Museum. The Brabham stayed and the Bentley made its way to Australia where it was restored and became the centrepiece of Briggs’ York Motor Museum near Perth.

Bentley 141 when found

Having returned to Britain and completing the sale Simon Kidston said:

“This week the most famous motor race in the world celebrates its 100th birthday and its pioneering early competitors remain as intriguing as ever. This Bentley isn’t just an old car, it’s a turning point in motor racing history and a cornerstone of the Bentley legend. And personally, having inherited a family passion for cars which was accelerated by my ‘Bentley Boy’ uncle, helping to bring this Bentley home feels really satisfying. It won’t be leading a quiet life: it’ll be lining up on the grid of the Le Mans 100th anniversary race for vintage cars next month. I hope its original drivers will be looking down and smiling.”

Bentley 141 with Simon Kidston 2

That brings 2023 to a close with a double centenary of one of the most significant races and one of its most significant cars to ever compete.

Happy New Year.

Thanks to Kidston SA, Motorsport Images, Graeme Cocks & Clare Hay for the images.

Simon

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