Prewar Days

Photos & Words Dirk Bogaerts

Golden lanterns, golden lanterns ... and even more golden lanterns. On Saturday December 10th 2022, Carburettor Magazine paid a visit to the Prewar Days expo at Kortrijk XPO center, Belgium. The above photo reportage gives you a good overview why you should put this event in capitals in your calendar. As prewar cars are pretty rare, you can find quite some jewels gathered here. 

Historic Competition Services (HCS)
The first exhibitor that caught our eye was located at the far end of the hall, right across from the entrance. Quite a setup with some of the rarest and most expensive cars. Let's have a closer look at their 1910 Buick and 1930 Bentley Blower.

1910 Buick Model 10 : 112 year old, splendid car powered by a 4-cylinder inline 2700 cc engine that produces somewhere between 20 and 30 hp, that features era-style open valves and is coupled to a 3-speed manual synchromesh transmission. According to its vintage advertisement : “The only car that will give you continuous satisfaction. No other car in its class made such a record in speed and endurance”. A bold statement to test by its future owner.

The description on the HCS website couldn't be more lyric : “ The appealing gold-colored headlights, gold lantern styled side and taillight, side steps, slightly crackled button tuffed seats, patinated black paint with lovely white pin-striping, which striping also returns in the wooden wheels wrapped in bias ply tires, and gold accent trim. The chassis in contrast to the body is in white paint with black pin-striping, a daring choice for that time. Under the rear seat is a sizeable trunk which holds the battery, right side drive placement, woodgrain dash with clock and oil-return drip bowl. ”
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1930 Bentley Blower : the one that can’t miss on a stand like HCS. In my opinion the most iconic prewar sportscar.

Its history as explained on the official Bentley website :
" ​No other pre-war Bentley is as famous as the supercharged 4½-litre that came to be known as the ‘Blower’.

It emerged during Bentley’s racing heyday in the 1920s. W.O. Bentley was convinced that the most effective way to increase power was to build bigger engines. But one of his drivers, Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin, had seen the effect of superchargers on other cars and wanted to do the same to a Bentley.

When W.O. refused, Birkin used a Roots-type supercharger developed by British engineer Amherst Villiers to increase the Bentley 4½’ Litre’s power from 130 bhp to 240 bhp in race tune. He persuaded Bentley Chairman Woolf Barnato to sanction production of 55 supercharged 4½-litre Bentleys, with financial support from Bentley Girl Dorothy Paget.

While reliability issues meant it never won an endurance race, the Blower was the fastest racing car of its day. It counted amongst its fans the author Ian Fleming, who decided that his fictional secret agent, James Bond, would drive a supercharged 4½-litre Bentley. The car he is more often associated with was merely the MI6 ‘pool car’ in the books. "

​The Blower at Le Mans
The duel between Mercedes-Benz driver Rudolf Caracciola and Sir Tim Birkin at the 1930 Le Mans 24 Hour race has passed into legend. As with many legends it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. For the race, Bentley fielded three team Speed Sixes as well as Birkin’s independent team of supercharged 4 ½ Litre Bentleys. From the start Birkin and Caracciola ran neck and neck, Birkin famously passing the SSK Mercedes on the Hunaudières straight with two wheels on the grass. Neither car lasted the distance, leaving Barnato to take victory with Glen Kidston in a Speed Six, ‘Old Number One’.

The Blower at Le Mans
The duel between Mercedes-Benz driver Rudolf Caracciola and Sir Tim Birkin at the 1930 Le Mans 24 Hour race has passed into legend. As with many legends it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. For the race, Bentley fielded three team Speed Sixes as well as Birkin’s independent team of supercharged 4 ½ Litre Bentleys. From the start Birkin and Caracciola ran neck and neck, Birkin famously passing the SSK Mercedes on the Hunaudières straight with two wheels on the grass. Neither car lasted the distance, leaving Barnato to take victory with Glen Kidston in a Speed Six, ‘Old Number One’.

​Later Bentley encouraged the myth that Birkin had deliberately overextended the Mercedes with a ‘tortoise and hare’ strategy in the ‘Blower’, leaving the team Speed Sixes to take the win. It’s more likely that Birkin was aiming for the win and only knew one way to drive – flat out. The reason for the Blower’s failure in endurance racing was perfectly summed up by Nobby Clarke, Bentley’s Racing Manager; “The Blower eats plugs like a donkey eats hay”.

​Heroic drives
The Blower’s finest hour arrived in the 1930 French Grand Prix at Pau; amid a field of Bugatti Grand Prix cars, Birkin wrestled the huge Bentley to a heroic 2nd place. At a startline weight of over 2 tonnes, Birkin’s Blower was almost certainly the heaviest car ever entered in a grand prix, a roadgoing tourer among purpose-built racing cars.

Another of Birkin’s Blower Bentleys, registration UU 5871, was converted to a single seater with faired-in radiator for racing on the banked circuit at Brooklands. With the engine now delivering 240bhp, Birkin recorded a lap record at Brooklands of 137.96mph in March 1932, his car often airborne due to the poor quality of the concrete banking.
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In the words of engineer and automotive historian Laurence Pomeroy, “the spectacular feats of driving by Birkin, and the magnificent and imposing appearance of these cars, have contributed to give them a heroic and legendary fame.”

Source : ​https://www.bentleymotors.com/en/world-of-bentley/the-bentley-story/history-and-heritage/heritage-cars/the-blower-bentley.html

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