1931 Bentley 4 ½ Litre Birkin Blower Team Car Specification
Developed by Sir Henry (Tim) Birkin under the patronage of the honourable Dorothy Paget, the supercharged Bentley 4.5 remains for many the ultimate-specification vintage sports car. With their Amherst-Villiers superchargers, the Birkin team cars and homologated factory Blowers were the most charismatic and powerful British sports cars to race at Le Mans and Brooklands.
GT8779 was built as a very late-production 1931 4 ½ litre with sports four-seater coachwork by Mayfair Carriage Co., originally delivered through Jack Barclay to Hugh L. Goodson of Brixham, South Devon. By 1955 the Bentley was in South Africa, remaining there until 2003 when brought back to England where the renowned Bentley experts Elmdown Engineering and N.D.R were commissioned to carry out a meticulous and exacting upgrade to Birkin Blower Team Car specification.
The restoration was completed with the utmost attention to detail, retaining the original “matching numbers” chassis, engine and front axle, and then incorporating Blower Team Car No.2 features such as shortened and strengthened chassis, pressurised reserve oil tank, heavy pattern Speed Six type back axle, D-Type gearbox, four-gallon Birkin pattern sump, among others.
In 2019, GT8779 showed its immense performance at Silverstone Classics and Goodwood Revival. The Bentley is offered for sale accompanied by a comprehensive Clare Hay report which notes the considerable degree of time and care applied to produce an extraordinarily accurate representation of a ‘Birkin’ team car.
This powerful and charismatic Birkin Bentley offers its new owner years of pleasure and sport, and perhaps the opportunity to don the distinctive blue and white polka-dot scarf and goggles in honour to the legendary Tim Birkin!
