Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs.

Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North London, and became widely known for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930 and 2003.

Delivery of the first cars was scheduled for June 1920, but development took longer than estimated so the date was extended to September 1921.

[19] The durability of the first Bentley cars earned widespread acclaim, and they competed in hill climbs and raced at Brooklands.

They entered a modified road car driven by works driver Douglas Hawkes, accompanied by riding mechanic H. S. "Bertie" Browning.

The Bentley Boys were a group of British motoring enthusiasts that included Barnato, Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin, steeple chaser George Duller, aviator Glen Kidston, automotive journalist S.C.H.

They kept the marque's reputation for high performance alive; Bentley was noted for its four consecutive victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, from 1927 to 1930.

He drove against the train from Cannes to Calais, then by ferry to Dover, and finally London, travelling on public highways, and won.

Perhaps the most iconic model of the period is the 4½-litre "Blower Bentley", with its distinctive supercharger projecting forward from the bottom of the grille.

The 4½-litre model later became famous in popular media as the vehicle of choice of James Bond in the original novels, but this has been seen only briefly in the films.

Bentley withdrew from motor racing just after winning at Le Mans in 1930, claiming that they had learned enough about speed and reliability.

[26] The Wall Street crash of 1929 and the resulting Great Depression throttled the demand for Bentley's expensive motor cars.

Unhappy with his role at Rolls-Royce, when his contract expired at the end of April 1935 W. O. Bentley left to join Lagonda.

[32] In preparation for war, Rolls-Royce and the British Government searched for a location for a shadow factory to ensure production of aero-engines.

[33][34] Crewe, with its excellent road and rail links, as well as being located in the northwest away from the aerial bombing starting in mainland Europe, was a logical choice.

Construction of the factory started on a 60-acre area on the potato fields of Merrill's Farm in July 1938, with the first Rolls-Royce Merlin aero-engine rolling off the production line five months later.

[33] Until some time after World War II, most high-end motorcar manufacturers like Bentley and Rolls-Royce did not supply complete cars.

The biggest specialist car dealerships had coachbuilders build standard designs for them which were held in stock awaiting potential buyers.

The first steel-bodied model produced was the Bentley Mark VI: these started to emerge from the newly reconfigured Crewe factory early in 1946.

Chassis remained available to coachbuilders until the end of production of the Bentley S3, which was replaced for October 1965 by the chassis-less monocoque construction T series.

[37] After July 1954 the car was fitted with an engine, having now a larger bore of 94.62 mm (3.7 in) with a total displacement of 4,887 cc (4.9 L; 298.2 cu in).

The problems of Bentley's owner with Rolls-Royce aero engine development, the RB211, brought about the financial collapse of its business in 1970.

The motorcar division was made a separate business, Rolls-Royce Motors Limited, which remained independent until bought by Vickers plc in August 1980.

Consequently, part of the production of the new Flying Spur, a four-door version of the Continental GT, was assigned to the Transparent Factory (Germany), where the Volkswagen Phaeton luxury car was also assembled.

Bentley presented Queen Elizabeth II with an official State Limousine in 2002 to celebrate her Golden Jubilee.

It was replaced by a large luxury coupé powered by a W12 engine built in Crewe and named Bentley Continental GT.

It was confirmed in April 2005 a four-seat convertible Azure derived from the Arnage Drophead Coupé prototype would begin at Crewe in 2006.

This new Bentley is a supercar combining extreme power with environmentally friendly FlexFuel technology, capable of using petrol (gasoline) and biofuel (E85 ethanol).

[44] In Autumn 2010, workers at Crewe staged a series of protests over proposal of compulsory work on Fridays and mandatory overtime during the week.

[52] Sources Volkswagen AG Annual Reports Grand tourer Ultra-luxury car Limousine Official state car A Bentley Continental GT3 entered by the M-Sport factory team won the Silverstone round of the 2014 Blancpain Endurance Series.