Intro: Now owned by the VW Group in a complex buy-out that involved BMW, Bentley remains at its spiritual home of Crewe, Cheshire, while the Rolls-Royce aspect of the company relocates to a brand new greenfield site within the grounds of Goodwood House, near Chichester, West Sussex. Bentley Motors Ltd was once a separate company started by Walter Owen Bentley in 1919. Initially, the business was based in North London and early sales of the prestigious cars were slow. Motor racing was invariably the best place to develop the cars and the company’s reputation grew on the back of successes in such events as the Le Mans 24-Hours. Woolf Barnato stepped in to finance the struggling company in 1926 and became its chairman, but even he was defeated by its continual losses. After a bloody courtroom battle, the assets of Bentley were taken over by Rolls-Royce. Between 1933 and 2002, every Bentley has been a car designed by Rolls-Royce.
The Volkswagen-engineered Continental GT was introduced at the 2003 Geneva Motorshow and it heralds a new era in the history of the company. The Silver Seraph-derived Arnage is also being kept in production with various tweaks.
Bentley is on a roll. By 2005 the Continental GT goes from strength to strength, so the new 4-door Flying Spur is now being assembled at Volkswagen's underutilized Dresden plant.
Two new open-top Bentley models were introduced during Autumn, 2005: the Continental GTC which goes on sale in late 2006 and the Azure, reviving a very popular nameplate from the 1990s. |
