Bentley is bringing its Le Mans-winning Speed Six back to life

Bentley announced on Friday that it will be building 12 continuation models of its revered Speed Six that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car endurance race in 1929 and 1930.

Identical recreations of their successful forebears, these new Speed Six models are to be assembled by hand at the British carmaker's famed Mulliner coachworks division. Modern technology will of course be implemented in the building process, with the Mulliner team working off a complete 3D computer-aided design (CAD) model drawn up using original Speed Six blueprints as well as detailed analysis of two surviving cars from 1929 and 1930. 

Supplementing the zeros and ones will be a team of hand-picked artisans from a number of automotive heritage specialists across the UK, delivering recreation parts that are not only physically identical but in many cases are crafted using the same techniques used in the 1920s. This dedication to total authenticity is integral to the success of such a project.

Powering the Speed Six Continuation Series will be a faithfully recreated version of the period Bentley 6½l straight-six racing engine that thanks to a raised compression ratio of 6.1:1 (versus 4.4:1 in the road cars) developed 150kW. Top speed is a claimed 201km/h. 

“It’s vital that we protect, preserve and develop not just this important part of our heritage, but also the knowledge we’ve gained through working with these classic Bentleys,” says the firm's chairman and CEO, Adrian Hallmark.

“The Speed Six is one of the most important Bentleys in our 103-year history, and the 12 cars of the Continuation Series will embody the same values as W.O. Bentley’s originals, crafted by hand with the same meticulous attention both to engineering quality and to fanatical attention to detail. The lucky owners will be able to race their cars around the world, and truly relive the exploits of the original Bentley Boys.”

Each new Bentley Speed Six Continuation Series model will retail for £1.5m (roughly R29,191,299). Even at that price every last one of them has already been spoken for.