Bentley 4½ Litre Vanden Plas Le Mans

'The fastest trucks in the world' is what Ettore Bugatti calls the hefty Bentley racing cars that make life difficult for his sleek racers in the 1920s.

Walter Owen Bentley, known simply as W.O., is also a newcomer: only a few years after building his first prototype in 1919, the 3 Litre, Bentley is already making his mark on the racetracks. Not just to gain publicity, but also to test his cars to the absolute limit. In 1922 a Bentley finishes the 500 Miles of Indianapolis, proving its reliability. A year later, in the first 24 hour race at Le Mans, a Bentley takes fourth place and breaks the lap record three times. This lays the foundation of a legend: in 1924 a 3 Litre scores the first of a total of five Le Mans victories for the marque. A Bentley 4 1/2 Litre, fitted with a light, leather covered sports body by Vanden Plas, wins Le Mans in 1928. Of this four cylinder model, introduced in 1927, more than 700 examples are built in just three years. Among them are several factory built replicas of the Le Mans racers for the private market, such as this example.