The ongoing celebration of the centenary of Bentley Motors has featured many special events. Now, a quite spectacular 100-year concourse is planned for the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which will be held on July 4th to 7th, 2019, which will see an iconic line-up of Bentley’s that show the very best of this most prestigious of marques.
Cars featured in the 30-strong display will include past and present machinery. One of the rarest of all Bentleys, the ‘Embiricos’ special, will be displayed alongside the current Flying Spur, while other cars in this amazing collection include W.0. Bentley’s personal 8.0 litre 1930 car, a Gurney-Nutting Speed Six, and many more cars that hark back to the glory days of Bentley’s sporting past.
Further to the Bentley Centenary display, the traditional Goodwood Concours d’Elegance will feature no fewer than 6 Bentley Continental R models, the design of which – with its stylish and unique swooping rear end – inspired the current Continental GT.
On the Hill
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is all about cars through the ages – both for the road and, especially, from the racetrack. This year, four cars curated by the team at Goodwood will take to the famous hill, and they are a select bunch.
EXP2 is the oldest Bentley in the world today, hailing from 1921 and was the second prototype built by W.O. Bentley, and intended for racing. This is the first time it has been seen on the hill. The ‘Birkin Blower’, the 1930 Le Mans car built for the legendary Tim Birkin, will be driven up the hill in style by Katarina Kyvalova, a founding member of the ‘Bentley Belles’ who are a team of lady drivers campaigning historic Bentleys at circuits across the world.
Bentley’s latest success in the Le Mans 24hrs will be celebrated by the presence on the hill of the 2003 Speed 8, the No. 7 car that won the race that year. It will be driven by Guy Smith, who was at the wheel when it crossed the line that day. Finally, the marque brings us up to date with modern Bentley motorsport, as Steven Kane – race winner in the Paul Ricard 1000km Blancpain GT Series event – will take the 2018 Continental GT 3 up the hill.
This is an event not to be missed, and a worthy celebration of one of the world’s oldest and most enduring motoring brands, Bentley.
Images Copyright of: Bentley.
