Gary Horrocks paid a visit to the ‘World of Speed museum close to his home recently and saw, displayed prominently, this fine 1920s racing automobile, on loan from private collector.
It was one of those moments when you read the accompanying display material and take a deep breath, a truly ‘WOW’ moment.
For this car is none other than the fabled 1929 Bentley ‘Old Number One’
Fabled? Well there are only a few legendary cars that have taken an overall victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and a tiny handful that that have won it twice!
This magnificent beast was the very first to manage that feat.
The car was constructed as a 6.5 litre Speed Six with two bodies available, a four seater touring body and a Vanden Plas built race shell.
After winning at Le Mans in 1929 in the hands of Woolf Barnato and Tim Birkin the car went on to another win,, this time over 6 hours, at Brooklands with Barnato and Jack Dunfee. A second place finish in the Irish Grand Prix (Glen Kinston) and another second at Brooklands in an October 500 mile race (Clive Dunfee and Sammy Davis) before the end of the year.
1930 saw the car race just once, and it produced a back to back Le Mans winning performance, this time with Barnato and Kidston as driver crew.
It’s final race win came in 1931 with more success at Brooklands over 500 miles, Clive Dunfee and Cyril Paul winning. It took third place in the 1932 Brooklands 500 mile race too before the car was fitted with a new 8 litre engine for a run at a hat-trick of Brooklands 500 mile race wins.
Tragically it was not to be as Clive Dunfee, after lapping the course at some 127 mph had a huge accident, the Bentley leaving the circuit over the top of the banking in an accident that saw the driver killed and the car severely damaged.
Barnato though, by now the car’s owner, had the car rebuilt as a road going coupe and used it for his North American honeymoon, some 10,000 miles.
Highly appropriately the car led Woolf Banato’s funeral procession in 1948, a duty it performed again for Barnato’s daughter Diana Barnato Walker’s funeral in 2008 (she was the first British woman to break the sound barrier!)
GH/ GG
