2000 Bentley Arnage Red Label on 2040-cars

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What it's like to drive a brand-new, 92-year-old Bentley Blower

“Vivid” doesnÂ’t even begin to describe this; neither does “damn cold.” The throttle is pinned to the firewall, the needles behind the glass in the dashboardÂ’s 10 dials are twitching and dancing, the supercharger boost gauge is nailed to the lock stop, and the dark-green scuttle is shuddering with the ripples of the concrete banking. Think World War II airplane over the storm-tossed North Atlantic – I even slid a picture of my wife into my breast pocket this morning Â… IÂ’d be grinning, but the freezing blast over the leather-strapped bonnet gives me a rictus grimace. ThereÂ’s a lot to do in this 92-year-old supercharged Bentley as its fish-tail exhaust blares seal-honk indifference at a shoal of insignificant super cars fluttering in its wake; at 100 mph this is motoring at its zenith. They donÂ’t make ‘em like they used to and I used to think that was indubitably true of this car: Sir Henry ‘TimÂ’ BirkinÂ’s Blower Bentley. This was his favorite out of the five Blowers built at the Welwyn factory between 1929 and 1930. It was bankrolled by Dorothy Paget, the Whitney family heiress, and serial race-horse owner and gambler. How famous? This car, known as Number Two, was entered in the 1930 Le Mans 24-hour race. Birkin drove it like a bat out of hell in the initial stages of the race with the tacit approval of the Bentley factory, which had entered a team of "6 1/2 litre" naturally aspirated cars and was looking for its fourth-consecutive Le Mans victory and the marqueÂ’s fifth overall. They used Birkin and this lovely old machine as “the hare,” testing the potential and reliability of the astonishing Mercedes-Benz works supercharged, 7-liter SSK driven by Rudolf ‘RudiÂ’ Caracciola (ironically Paget also owned one of these rare and exotic beasts). The fast and courageous Birkin was sent out to poke a stick at the German ace – it was like poking a waspsÂ’ nest. Twice Birkin overtook Caracciola at over 120 mph at the end of the Mulsanne/Hunaudieres straight, with one wheel on the grass and the rear tire down to its canvas. By all accounts Caracciola was so startled simply because he couldnÂ’t believe that anyone would be actually overtaking him. Legend has it that in pursuing Birkin, Rudi Caracciola damaged the engine by over using the supercharger, which could be clutched in and out, but the truth is more nuanced. Birkin drove his car so hard he twice lost a tireÂ’s tread and had to pit early.

Weekly Recap: Geneva's splendor reflects growing demand for ultra-luxury cars

Geneva is one of the most glittering auto shows in the world, but the list of high-powered and bespoke luxury cars was decadent this year even by the rich standards of the Swiss exhibition. It's great for enthusiasts to revel in the flame-throwing Aston Martin Vulcan, the racing-inspired elegance of the Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 concept and the insane performance of the Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce, but there's a reason for all of this opulence: the luxury market is big business. And it's growing. IHS Automotive forecasts that so-called ultra-premium sales will nearly triple this decade from 123,000 to 353,000 units around the world. The estimate includes brands like Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari and Rolls-Royce, but doesn't count BMW, Mercedes and Audi, which offer less expensive models in addition to their high-end flagships. Though IHS includes Porsche and its relatively large volume in the study, the ultra-premium segment is still set grow at about the same rate, even without the German automaker's figures. So what is propelling all of this growth in the most expensive segment of the auto industry? Put simply, there's more rich people. IHS Automotive principal analyst Tim Urquhart pointed to economic expansion in China, market recovery in the United States and a surge in the lucrative technology sector as contributing factors. This dovetails with a research report by UK-based Oxfam, an international relief organization, which found the world's richest one-percent owned 48 percent of global wealth in 2014, and it's expected to increase to more than 50 percent by 2016. View 17 Photos Carmakers are moving quickly to capitalize with new products, expanding their portfolios with low-volume speedsters like the 800-hp V12 Vulcan at Geneva, and plans to enter new segments, like Rolls-Royce's strategy to make an SUV. "Ultra-premium carmakers are looking to explore ways of growing their product offerings, and thus their bottom lines, in this most potentially profitable of segments," Urquhart wrote in a report on the Geneva show. In a nutshell, there are more choices for people with more money. It's a good time to have expensive taste. Other News & Notes 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata production launches It won't be long now. The 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata arrives later this year, and it's officially in production. Mazda announced this week that the roadster began rolling off the assembly line at its Ujina factory in Hiroshima, Japan.

Bentley creates buzz with 'flying bees,' enters honey business

Bentley’s Crewe factory has bees now. Yes, itÂ’s the same Bentley as the one youÂ’re thinking of. TheyÂ’re called “flying bees.” WeÂ’ll hand it to Bentley, thatÂ’s a solid name. This means the British luxury car maker is officially getting into the honey business. We joke, but there will definitely be Bentley-branded honey as a by-product of this nature venture. The bee announcement came in a press release. In total, Bentley is adding 120,000 honey bees to live in two massive (Bentley-branded) hives. Bentley says that amount of bees is capable of producing about 33 pounds of honey per year, which Bentley claims is about 50 jars worth. How much will a jar of Bentley honey cost? Considering how exclusive itÂ’ll be, we imagine itÂ’s more than you can afford, pal. Onwards to the real reason Bentley is doing this. ItÂ’s part of a biodiversity initiative Bentley continues to work toward. “Bee populations are in decline in the U.K., so installing two hives to help boost biodiversity is a great way to make use of the grassland at the edge of the site. Our ‘flying beesÂ’ are honey bees that have been bred by local beekeepers with over 50 yearsÂ’ experience. With their help, weÂ’re checking on them every week and itÂ’s great to see that theyÂ’re already starting to produce the first Bentley honey,” Bentley said in a statement. The hives were installed far from the actual manufacturing facility on site, so you likely wonÂ’t be met with any unexpected guests upon taking delivery of your Bentley. You might remember that Ford hopped on the bee game first a few years back. Even if itÂ’s a small effort, itÂ’s always cool to see anyone trying to save the bees. We donÂ’t want to be caught in a Black Mirror-like situation with mechanical, autonomous bees doing the work for us after all.