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Having
a natural aptitude for such things the pair were rather successful
as they won the very first event in which they took part. This was
called the London to Edinburgh Trial. Walter (W O) also raced at
other venues around the United Kingdom including such events as
the Isle of Man TT and at a race track called Brooklands, which
was situated near London.
Having developed a passion
for the combustion engine used on his motorbike as opposed to the
steam engine of the trains WO decided to start a car company, his
original business idea (supported and financed by his family)
involved importing a number of sports cars from France, these were
known as DFP's.
After the first world war W O
decided to build a high quality car himself and by the mid 1920's
he had produced an 85 break horse power, 3 litre engine. This was
capable of pushing his cars to speeds up to 80 miles per hour,
with such engineering expertise, the boys from Bentley won races
in Le Mans in '24, '27, '28, '29, and '30. Sadly, in '31 the
company ran into money problems and the Golden Age of Bentley
Motors was at an end. Rolls-Royce then took over Bentley in order
to preserve the name and high quality reputation associated with
it - so here is where the modern era of Bentley Motors began.
Walter Owen (W O) passed away in 1971 but had spent many years as
Patron of the Bentley Motors Drivers Club.
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