Bentley Crewe History 1914 - 2006

In 2006, Bentley Motors celebrated 60 years of production at its famous Crewe factory. Today, Crewe is a flourishing, state-of-the-art site, fusing the latest technology with time-honoured craftsmanship and tradition. Its most popular models - the Continental GT and Continental Flying Spur - sell in record numbers across the globe. No Bentley models in history have been so successful, nor enjoyed such international appeal.

The first-ever Crewe-built Bentley appeared in 1946 – just a year after the Second World War ended – as Crewe production shifted from war-winning Merlin aero engines to post-war luxury cars. It, too, was an international success. The Mark VI was significant in many ways, not least that it was the first Bentley clothed in a ‘standard’ body rather than different bodies designed and made by bespoke coachbuilders. (They were still available and built by the likes of Mulliner but represented just 20 percent of total orders.)

Just as important as the construction was the commerce: the Mark VI was then the best-selling car ever to wear a Bentley badge. More than 5,000 were sold in five years, almost as many Bentleys as were made in the entire 20-year pre-war period.

W.O. Bentley builds ‘a good car, a fast car, the best in its class’

The company, of course, goes back much further than 60 years. Bentley Motors was born in January 1919 and its initial staff of three were housed in Conduit Street, London. The company was the brainchild and inspiration of Walter Owen Bentley – invariably known as ‘W.O.’ – a noted aero engine designer, amateur racer, car importer and one-time railway apprentice. W.O.’s main claims to fame, before the incorporation of Bentley Motors, were the BR1 and BR2 aluminium-piston rotary aero engines. Fitted to aircraft such as the Sopwith Camel, they helped win the Great War in the air and – owing to their reliability – helped save the lives of countless pilots.

In October 1919, Bentley Motors’ first-ever engine, the 3-litre, burst into life in New Street Mews, near Baker Street, London. Naturally it used aluminium pistons, a Bentley invention (and now normal in the motor industry). Soon after, EXP-1 – as both the prototype engine and chassis were codenamed – was previewed at the Olympia motor show in London and production began, slowly, in 1921, in a new factory in Cricklewood, north London. The first 3-litre production car, the first car ever named after its cylinder capacity, was delivered in September that year.

W.O. reckoned racing was the best way to promote the new company and embarked on an ambitious programme of motor sport, even before the sale of his first car. A Bentley won its first event in May 1921 and the 3-litre was to compete at Le Mans five times and win it twice. It still holds the record for the biggest winning margin (by 212 miles, in 1927). Bentley went on to win Le Mans five times, between 1924 and 1930. It was to be 73 years before it would win again…

Great cars followed the 3-litre. Deliveries of the six-cylinder 6 1/2-litre began in 1926, while the 4 1/2-litre, launched in 1927, had a modular four-cylinder version of the 6 1/2-litre’s motor and is probably the most fondly remembered of all the Cricklewood cars: it won Le Mans in 1928. The Speed Six, W.O Bentley’s own favourite, used a modified 6 1/2-litre engine and won Le Mans twice (1929 and 1930). No car better summed up W.O’s philosophy that it was possible to produce fast, sporting cars that were also comfortable and civilised. These foundations still hold true today.

There was also the legendary ‘Blower Bentley’ – a supercharged 4 1/2-litre – that was fast and spectacular, but never won a major race. W.O. hated it. The 8-litre, on the other hand, was probably the best Bentley to come from Cricklewood. Alas, it was launched just before the Great Depression. In desperation, Bentley produced a more economical – in every sense – 4-litre version. It was not all bad, but a small engine fitted to the leviathan 8-litre chassis was never going to drive like a true Bentley.

Bentley Motors becomes bankrupt and is bought by Rolls-Royce

Though undoubtedly a great engineer, W.O. was less successful as a businessman. Successive years of financial losses meant that in 1926 W.O. sold a majority stake of the company to the man who would become his most successful driver, Woolf Barnato. W.O. stayed on as managing director, Barnato became chairman. By 1931, the extraordinary Captain Barnato – businessman, Le Mans winner, sportsman and bon vivant – was no longer prepared to spend his own money on an unviable business and called in the receivers on July 10, 1931.

Napier, maker of many fine pre-war cars and cash-rich despite the recession, tabled a generous offer, but just one rubber stamp away from a deal, Rolls-Royce, luxury car and aero engine makers, topped the Napier bid. W.O. stayed on for a while, effectively as glorified test driver, before leaving Bentley for good and joining rival sporting car maker Lagonda.

The era of the Derby Bentley, ‘the Silent Sports Car’

Production at Cricklewood ceased; future Bentleys would be made, at least for the remainder of the ’30s, at Rolls-Royce’s home in Derby. The first Derby Bentley, the 3 1/2-litre – the ‘Silent Sports Car’ – was announced in October 1933 and although it may have lacked the ‘bloody thump’ of W.O.’s better cars, it had a civility and refinement new to Bentleys. W.O. claimed it was the best car ever to bear his name. In 1936, the 3 1/2-litre engine was bored out to 4 1/4 litres.

All Bentleys built at Derby were Bentleys in their own right: they did not share engines or chassis with Rolls-Royces made at the same plant. That changed with the Mark V, development of which began in 1937, but which was effectively still-born (only 17 were built) because of the war. W.A. Robotham, head of car engineering, was a prescient man who saw that the future lay in the American modular method of car building: parts should be as standardised and widely used as possible. The Mark V was step one in the widespread sharing of components between Rolls-Royce and Bentley. It was a philosophy that continued for almost 60 years.

Birth of the Crewe-built Bentleys

In the ’30s, Rolls-Royce employed a fifth of all workers in the aircraft industry. As war seemed inevitable, demand for aeroplane engines soared. Rolls-Royce and the British government looked for other sites. ‘Shadow’ factories were set up to meet demand and to reduce the likelihood of production being wiped out in the event of an enemy strike. Crewe was a railway town, which meant a good transport infrastructure and a ready supply of skilled labour. The site chosen, on the outskirts of Crewe, were potato fields, part of Merrill’s Farm. Construction began in July 1938. Five months later the first Merlin aeroplane engine was built. At its peak in 1943, 10,000 people were employed at the factory.

Car production ceased during the war years. When the war ended, the factory at Derby was committed to building new-era jet engines. Car production moved to Crewe, where employees had to be retrained in unfamiliar techniques necessary for car manufacture, such as painting, anti-corrosion preparation, body mounting and woodwork.

The Bentley Mark VI launched in 1946 was the first new Crewe-built vehicle. It was based on the short-lived Mark V; the major change was the new Pressed Steel body, designed by Ivan Evernden. It was the first-ever ‘complete’ Bentley. Before the Mark VI, Bentley had made only the chassis and engines.

The engine capacity was increased to 4 1/2 litres, up from 4 litres, for the last year of the Mark VI’s life, before it was replaced by the R-Type, the first Bentley to be offered with an automatic transmission. This four-speed auto quickly became the most popular choice: it actually offered a higher top speed than the manual and further increased the civility and refinement of the car.

Magnificent R-Type Continental gives glimpse of the future

The most famous and influential R-Type model, however, was the Continental. This two-door, four-seat vehicle, mechanically based on the R-Type saloon, had a body designed by Bentley chief stylist John Blatchley and built by HJ Mulliner. It was a lovely thing: flowing, extravagant bodywork, pronounced haunches, minimal front overhang. Inspired by the one-off pre-war Embiricos Bentley coupe, it became a seminal piece of post-war design. When Bentley Motors’ current design director Dirk van Braeckel sought inspiration for the new Continental GT, it was to the ‘50s R-Type Continental that – more than any other previous Bentley model – he turned. Just 208 were built from 1952 to 1954. With a top speed of 120mph, it was the fastest four-seat car in the world – just as the Continental GT would become 50 years later.

In 1955, the R-Type was replaced by the S1, the first car to be developed and built at Crewe. There was a Continental coupé version, although it lacked the grace and pace of the R-Type Continental. The S1 was longer and roomier than the R-Type; automatic transmission was standard. It was also the last Bentley fitted with a six-cylinder engine. Its successor, the S2, saw the debut of the all-aluminium 6.25-litre V8 – lighter yet more powerful than the outgoing six – which, in various modified forms, has remained in production.

The S2 was the first Bentley that had power steering as standard. Air conditioning was an option. The S3, distinguished by its four-headlamps in the front wings, followed in 1962.

Although the V8 engine fitted to today’s Arnage shares no components, the lineage is clear. Says director of engineering Dr Ulrich Eichhorn: “Today’s V8 is a descendant of the 1959 engine but massively improved. It now has over100 percent more power, over 100 percent more torque, 40 percent less fuel consumption and produces 99.5 percent fewer emissions.”

The Bentley T-series, the ‘badge engineered’ Rolls-Royce

The T-series, launched in 1965, was Bentley’s first ever car made with a unitary construction, as opposed to a separate chassis. It had independent self-levelling suspension for superior ride comfort and was the first Bentley to use four-wheel disc brakes. Two-door and convertible Continentals were offered. In 1968, engine capacity increased to 6.75 litres, the capacity of the current Arnage.

In 1977, the T2 was launched. It had fully automatic split-level air conditioning, a world first, and power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering.

The T-series belonged to the era of ‘badge engineering’. Although the R-Type and S-Type vehicles were also closely linked to Rolls-Royce models, the T represented the greatest parts sharing. It was identical to the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, apart from its radiator and badging. It even had Rolls-Royce badging on its engine. Nowadays, the Bentley commands the higher price.

Bentley’s renaissance

Managing director of the time, David Plastow, promised members of the Bentley Drivers Club a Bentley resurgence; and so it was to prove. In 1980, Rolls-Royce merged with Vickers. Building up the Bentley marque was a key strategy to improving the company’s performance. The Bentley Mulsanne, launched in 1980, was another badge-engineered car – sharing much with the Silver Spirit – but at least the name, redolent of Bentley’s Le Mans history (named after the corner at the end of the main straight) suggested better things to come.

The renaissance proper began in 1982, when the Mulsanne Turbo was launched. This 140mph Bentley – nicknamed ‘Crewe’s Missile’ – accelerated faster than some Ferraris and yet still had all the refinement and civility one expected from a Bentley. Bentley sales were booming. Soon Bentley, not Rolls-Royce would become the dominant marque at Crewe, The Eight, which followed in 1984, had a chrome mesh radiator, like a racing ’20s Bentley, and used stiffened suspension. The Mulsanne Turbo was replaced by the Turbo R (for Roadholding) in 1985 and was a defining moment in Bentley’s history – it was even faster and more refined but, most significantly, represented a breakthrough in dynamic handling.

When launched in 1991, the Continental R became the first unique-to-Bentley coupé since the S3 Continental of 1965. This in turn spawned the Azure of 1995, the first all-new Bentley convertible for 30 years. A year later saw the launch of the shorter, wider and faster Continental T coupé (derived from the R) with its 6.75-litre engine ultimately to develop 420 bhp and a claimed top speed of 170 mph.

The all-new Arnage saloon was launched in 1998 and initially used a BMW-derived 4.5-litre twin turbo V8, although the Crewe-produced 6.75-litre V8 would remain in production in the Azure and Continental R and T models. For the first time in Bentley’s history, the body for the new Arnage would be made in-house.

Bentley and Rolls-Royce go their own separate ways

At about this time, Vickers announced its intention to sell Bentley and Rolls-Royce. The price of developing new models was becoming prohibitive. BMW expressed an interest, so did Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz. In the end, the two brands – which united in 1931 – were destined to go their own ways. Volkswagen bought the company and the Crewe factory, while BMW acquired the rights to use the Rolls-Royce name and set up a new factory near Goodwood in West Sussex, southern England.

Then began the biggest investment programme in Crewe’s history. Over £500million was spent to rebuild and re-equip the entire Crewe factory, re-engineer and improve the Arnage and develop new models.

The first sign of all this – and the new owner’s understanding of the Bentley marque – was the Arnage Red Label. Launched in 1999, it mated the traditional yet further improved, 6.75-litre V8 to the existing Arnage. Sales of the BMW-powered Arnage – the Green Label – dried up almost overnight; there was no doubt which engine Bentley drivers preferred. The Red Label eventually turned into the Arnage T, R and RL with more money invested in re-engineering the Arnage than was spent on the original Arnage programme.

Continued investment in the Arnage range and the introduction in 2006 of the new Arnage-based Azure convertible clearly demonstrates Bentley’s allegiance to its heritage. The new Azure becomes Bentley’s flagship and reaffirms the company’s position as the prime provider of full four-seater convertibles at the very pinnacle of the market.

The Continental GT and Continental Flying Spur transform Crewe

To recoup the hefty investment in Crewe, production needed to increase substantially. Accordingly, development work soon began on a new ‘Mid-Sized’ Bentley model, as the vehicle was flagged during its development. The car would be designed, engineered and built in Crewe with key components bespoke to Bentley. The engineering department expanded massively and today, there is a 550-strong design and engineering team at Crewe dedicated to the creation of new Bentleys.

The first version of the ‘Mid-Sized Bentley’ would be a coupé; it would be followed by a closely related saloon. Together these vehicles would increase Bentley production from below 1,000 a year to nearer 9,000 cars.

The inspiration for the Continental GT’s styling came from the ’50s R-Type Continental, but in every other way this was a thoroughly modern car. The engine was a twin-turbo 6-litre 552bhp W12. Maximum torque was an enormous 479lb ft at only 1600rpm; the Continental GT had explosive low-rev performance as well as an enormously high top speed, independently verified at over 200mph. Yet, as with all great Bentleys, it was quiet and refined. A proper four-seater, it offered luxury saloon levels of comfort, yet had the performance of a top-end sports car.

The Continental Flying Spur, which followed two years later, in 2005, sought to plug the gap between top-end luxury cars such as the Bentley Arnage and 12-cylinder versions of the top-end, mass-made prestige saloons. It was based on the Continental GT – same powertrain, same basic suspension design. Yet its behaviour was discreetly different. The ride was more comfort biased; it offered much more rear seat room. Every body panel, apart from the bonnet, was new. Yet it was also a true 200mph vehicle, the fastest four-door in the world.

In September 2005, Bentley announced the introduction of the Continental GTC, a new luxury 2+2 convertible that completes the Bentley Continental model range. The GTC goes on sale at the end of 2006.

Crewe in 2006

Although outwardly the original buildings of the Crewe factory have been largely preserved, inside the clean, modern, light environment is virtually unrecognisable from the 1946 plant that emerged from the war. Today, Bentley employs a 3,900-strong workforce at Crewe, an increase of around 70 percent since 1998, and is making a major contribution to the economic development of the North West region of England.

This ultra-modern factory features some of the highest technology seen in the motor industry. Yet this high technology is blended with time-honoured craftsmanship skills. All vehicles are hand assembled. Leather and wood-working skills abound, as precious wood veneers are expertly transformed into exquisite dashboards, door trims, consoles and cabinets. Leather is hand stitched, as the softest and most beautiful hides are transformed into exquisite cabin trim.

Bentley’s Mulliner Division, will personalise a Bentley in just about any way a customer demands, offering a hand-made service that no other car company can match. Located as a separate division within the Crewe factory, Mulliner is an enthusiastic and passionate team of craftsmen and women with world-class craft and technical skills. Mulliner is the direct descendant of the H.J. Mulliner coachbuilding company, founded in 1900, and became part of Bentley in 1959.

A Bentley is still very much a hand-built vehicle. There is now more wood used in a new Bentley than ever before – and every piece is hand-picked, hand-affixed and hand-polished. The leather, too, has never been more beautifully crafted.

A new Bentley is, however, a very modern hand-built car. These cars are true to the vision of W.O. Bentley, whose beliefs still guide the company. But they are delivered with a level of precision and technology that would not only amaze W.O., but would astound anyone who visits 21st century Crewe.