Coys Auction - The Spirit of Motor Cars
Ascot Racecourse,
Ascot,
Berkshire SL5 7JX

Saturday 4th October 2008
Motor Cars at 15:00

The ''Blower'' Bentley was the idea of Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin who was perhaps the most accomplished of the legendary ''Bentley Boys''. Birkin was a dashing, romantic figure who established his reputation in a very short time, he did not start to race seriously until 1927 but by 1930 he had his own stable of Bentleys which were financed by the Hon. Dorothy Paget, a great sportswoman who was even better known in horse racing circles. Birkin employed Amherst Villiers to supercharge a 4½ litre car although apparently W.O. Bentley was not wholly enthusiastic. Further, Birkin persuaded Woolf Barnato, who held the purse strings at Bentley, to build fifty examples so they could be homologated for Le Mans.

Before the race Birkin and Barnato agreed that they should join forces and run as a single team, w