Bentley 4½ Litre History
Catalog record
This is a brief catalog introduction with limited source documentation. A licensed, identity-checked lead photograph has not yet been added for this page. Detailed year, configuration and ownership coverage must be identified separately; this page is not a complete vehicle catalog.
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Model history available. Detailed year guides are not published for this model.
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The 4½ Litre arrived in 1927 as a larger-engined development of the 3 Litre, using a 4,398 cc inline-four to keep the heavy Bentley competitive against lighter rivals. Around 720 were built through 1931 — 655 naturally aspirated and 55 supercharged.
The 55 supercharged cars are the legendary 'Blower' Bentleys, championed not by W. O. Bentley (who disapproved of forced induction) but by 'Bentley Boy' Sir Henry 'Tim' Birkin, who persuaded the company to build the 50 road cars needed to homologate the supercharged car for Le Mans. The Blowers were fast and dramatic but never won at La Sarthe; a 4½ Litre did, however, win Le Mans outright in 1928 (Woolf Barnato and Bernard Rubin).
The Blower became a cultural icon — long (incorrectly) associated with Ian Fleming's James Bond — and in recent years Bentley built a run of 12 'Blower Continuation' cars faithfully recreating Birkin's Team Car.
Body styles
- Tourer
- Drophead Coupé
- Sporting Four-Seater
Notable special editions & performance variants
4½ Litre Supercharged ('Blower')
The 55 Amherst-Villiers-supercharged 4½ Litres built at Tim Birkin's instigation to race at Le Mans — among the most famous Bentleys of all.
Related models
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