Speed Six Continuation Series - debuts at Goodwood

2023-07-12

The first new Speed Six in 93 years will makes its global debut at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. The most successful Bentley racing car ever, the Speed Six is regarded as one of the most important Bentleys in history. The newest Speed Six - Car Zero - will be used in a development programme consisting of real-world durability and track based testing, before being retained by Bentley ahead of the build of 12 customer cars – all of which are already sold. So much more than a replica, a continuation car is built to the same designs, using the same processes, as the original car that inspires the series. The Speed Six is the second pre-war Continuation Series by Mulliner, Bentley’s bespoke and coachbuilding division, following the Blower Continuation Series which itself was the first pre-war continuation ever created.

Extensive research has been undertaken to ensure the content of the Speed Six is correct and authentic, with particular focus on the specification and setup of the original cars for the 1930 24 Hours of Le Mans. As many original drawings have been used as possible; with 80% of the originals found via the WO Bentley Memorial Foundation. The drawings have been supplemented by original mechanic’s notes that detailed the changes between the 1929 and 1930 races, alongside data taken from the 1930 Speed Six in the Bentley Heritage Collection and an original 1930 Le Mans racer, known as Old Number 3.

In excess of 600 individual new parts have been required for the creation of the new 6½-litre six-cylinder race spec engine. Initial dyno testing has shown the first engines to develop 205 bhp at their peak, within 5 bhp of that documented for the original race-tuned engines in 1930. Many of the authentic materials used on the Blower Continuation Series have also been utilised for the Speed Six, particularly on a number of the trimmed elements. Mulliner team members revisited the archives at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire in order to offer five authentic period Parsons exterior paints. Speed Six Car Zero is finished in Parsons Napier Green, with an interior in Tan leather.

Speed Six Car Zero has been built over the last ten months by an exceptionally skilled team of Mulliner artisans and specialists. As with the Blower Continuation Series, a major driver of the Speed Six programme is the development and retention of modern and traditional coachbuilding skills, and the build has seen craftspeople with decades of experience working alongside the younger generation so that skills are passed on. The finished car is a work of art, having been built and trimmed entirely in the Mulliner workshop at Bentley’s Dream Factory in Crewe.

Real Life Endurance

Speed Six Car Zero, which will be displayed at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, will show further instrumentation that will not be fitted to customer cars. This has been added to the car to support the validation process and record many different aspects of data during the next six months. With the build of Car Zero now complete, a programme of real-world durability testing will begin. The test programme is designed to achieve the equivalent of 35,000 kilometres of real-world driving across 8,000 kilometres of track driving. Intervals of gradually increasing duration and speed will check functionality and durability under the most challenging conditions; giving confidence in future customer cars.

The first customer car will start build in October of this year, and the series of 12 customer cars is due to be completed by the end of 2025, with each car taking 10 months to complete.