Name: "1929 Bentley Blower" - 1930 Le Mans - Birkin & Chassagne - 1:8 scale
Brand: Amalgam Collection
SKU: M5542-BE9
Price: 19945.0 GBP
Availability: InStock

Key Points

Limited to just 199 pieces
As raced by Sir Henry (Tim) Birkin and Jean Chassagne in the 24 Hours of Le Mans at Circuit de la Sarthe on the 21st and 22nd of June 1930
1:8 scale model, over 54 centimetres/21 inches long
Supplied with a certificate of authenticity signed by Amalgam founder Sandy Copeman
Officially licensed 24 Hours of Le Mans product

The Making Of

Technical Information

The Fastest Car of its Day

The ‘Blower’ is born

The Blower engine started life as the naturally aspirated 4 ½ litre engine, designed by WO Bentley himself. Like Bentley’s three litre before it, the 4 ½ litre brought together the latest individual engine technologies of the time – a single overhead camshaft, twin-spark ignition, four valves per cylinder and, of course, Bentley’s now legendary aluminium pistons. The racing version of WO’s 4 ½ litre engine developed approximately 130 bhp, but Birkin wanted more. WO’s focus was always on reliability and refinement ahead of absolute power, so his solution to finding more power was always to increase engine capacity. Birkin had a different plan: to supercharge the 4 ½, an idea that WO thought ‘corrupted’ his design, and he refused to allow any modifications to the engine itself.

With funding from his wealthy financier Dorothy Paget, and the technical skills of Clive Gallop, Birkin commissioned supercharger specialist Amherst Villiers to create a supercharger for the 4 ½ litre. The Roots-type supercharger – colloquially known as a blower – was fitted ahead of the engine and radiator and driven directly from the crankshaft. Internal modifications to the engine included a new, stronger crankshaft, reinforced connecting rods, and a modified oil system.

In racing tune, Birkin’s new supercharged 4 ½ litre engine was mighty, outputting around 240 bhp. The ‘Blower Bentleys’ were therefore extremely fast but, as WO predicted, also somewhat fragile. Over the 12 races that the Blowers contested, a victory was never secured, but the Blowers played their part in Bentley history, including helping to secure victory for a naturally-aspirated Bentley Speed Six at Le Mans in 1930.

Though the cars were ultimately not for winning races, they were ones for breaking records and setting fastest laps, flying round the tracks of England and France. In 1930, the No. 9 Bentley Blower, driven by D.J. Benjafield and Eddie Hall, came 2nd in the BRDC 500 mile event, averaging 112.12 mph, and being awarded the coveted Brooklands 120 mph badge. Tim Birkin also set a lap record at Circuit de la Sarthe driving the No. 9 in 1930.

24 Hours of Le Mans, 21st and 22nd of June 1930

In the hands of Sir “Tim” Birkin and Jean Chassagne, the No. 9 was involved in an epic duel with the Mercedes-Benz SSK piloted by Rudolf Caracciola and Christian Werner. The SSK started strongly in the bright sunshine but, by the fourth lap, Birkin was on Caracciola’s tail at the Pontlieue curves. Accelerating to 195 km/h, he passed the Mercedes as they braked heavily for the Mulsanne corner, continuing on to set a new lap record of 6 minutes 48 seconds. On the next lap, however, the tread came off a rear tyre and forced him to pit for a rapid wheel change. Birkin quickly rejoined the race and caught up with the Mercedes again, but as he passed Caracciola on the Mulsanne Straight, the other tyre failed. Despite dropping two wheels off the road, he completed the pass, only for the tyre to blow at Arnage, prompting another pit stop. By nightfall, after five separate tyre failures, Birkin and Chassagne were running seventh. However, their pressure on the Mercedes soon became clear, the SSK retiring at the halfway point with a flat battery after a wire had come loose on its dynamo. The second half of the race devolved into a routine procession, with early morning mist and rain dampening the excitement. Just before midday, four hours from the end of the race, the Blower broke a conrod and had to retire, leaving the victory to the Bentley works team Speed Six of Woolf Barnato and Glen Kidston. Birkin’s fearless driving, especially his selfless harrying of Caracciola, is still celebrated as the embodiment of the Vintage Racing era, and is often credited as the key to Bentley’s success at the 1930 Le Mans.

In 2019, Bentley revealed that the 1929 supercharged 4 ½ litre “Blower” would become the subject of the world’s first continuation of a pre-war race car, with 12 new models to be built to the exact specifications of the originals, one for each race the original Team Blowers competed in. These cars were individually handcrafted by Bentley’s bespoking and coachwork division Mulliner, blending traditional craftsmanship skills with the latest digital technology. Bentley’s own Blower, chassis number HB 3403, served as the template; it was disassembled and individual components were catalogued and meticulously scanned in 3D to create a complete digital model. Twelve sets of parts were then created using original 1920s moulds and tooling jigs, and an array of traditional hand tools alongside the latest manufacturing technology, before Bentley’s skilled heritage technicians assembled the new Blowers. Identical mechanically, aesthetically and spiritually wherever possible to the original, the cars included minimal hidden modifications to pass modern safety tests. Like the original Blowers, the Continuation Series models were designed for racing and passed a rigorous inspection programme to qualify for an Historic Technical Passport, allowing them to compete at FIA-sanctioned events for historic vehicles. In 2023, Car Zero, the prototype continuation model, participated in the Le Mans Classic, marking the first Blower entry at Circuit de la Sarthe in 21 years.