Vintage Bentleys embark on near 2000-mile epic

| 17 May 2012

Two 4.5-Litre Bentley Blowers were driven more than 900 miles just to take part in 2012’s Mille Miglia 1000-mile event that began yesterday (16 May).

Of the two cars, one is an ex-race car that that was driven by Bentley Boy Tim Birkin, while the other is a road-going demonstrator that was built in 1930.  They have a combined age of over 160 years.

A Bentley-owned 1954 R-type, which – with a top speed of 115mph – was the fastest four-seat luxury saloon in production in 1952, accompanied the vintage cars to Brescia

Rolf Frech, who’ll lead Bentley’s Mille Miglia team, said: “It is a privilege for the team to drive these remarkable cars at the Mille Miglia as they embody so many of the qualities that set Bentley apart from other marques and WO Bentley’s brilliance as an engineer. We look forward to driving another thousand miles and setting a decent pace in the true Bentley tradition.”