The only race winning Blower Bentley

Together with fellow racing driver Mike Couper, Birkin set up Birkin and Couper Ltd to develop the Blower Bentleys. Funding was supplied by the eccentric and wealthy Honourable Dorothy Paget. Of the cars to emerge from the Welwyn workshop, it’s the single-seater that was alone in claiming race wins. Initially built as a 1.5-seater with a fabric body, for 1930 Birkin decided to take circuit racing seriously and it become a true single-seater with new aluminium bodywork.

The alterations paid off: the single-seater won its second race, the four-lap Kent Long Handicap at Brooklands. It achieved an average of 119.13mph and a fastest lap of 126.73mph. It was, therefore, proven as one of the fastest cars of its era. At the end of the season, Paget ceased to fund Blower Bentley competition with the exception of the single-seater, which she continued to support. She even kept the car after Birkin’s death in 1933, although it remained unused in her ownership until 1939.

The car made an appearance at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard. Paul Griffin was the man in the driver’s seat having never been up the Hill before and with only a brief drive on the road the familiarise himself with the car. That said, he does have a Blower Bentley of his own, and has been to the Goodwood Revival before, so it was almost a home from home.

Paul told us: “It’s a Blower Bentley with the single-seat body on it, so it does drive like a Blower Bentley. It’s quite quite forgiving. It’s clearly a very powerful engine, but the blower isn’t on/off.” We’re sure that progressive power delivery was most welcome on the damp early morning run on Thursday, especially as the car is running on slick-looking tyres. “Happily, the hill is not as long as it might be,” said Paul.

Aside from all the power going through narrow tyres, the Bentley gives its driver plenty else to think about. One thing is the absence of front brakes, the other is the throttle being in the middle. Oh, and the fuel pump needs be primed manually throughout the drive. That’s a challenge on a demonstration run here at Goodwood; it’s unimaginable to think of it flat out at Brooklands in Birkin’s day, the surface by then heavily worn. It’s said that Birkin was once airborne for 77 feet on the banking.

All the same, it’s a pleasure to see one of the most significant Blower Bentleys here at the Festival of Speed.

Photography by Toby Whales.