Walter Owen Bentley

Walter Owen Bentley (16 September 1888 – 3 August 1971), better known as W. O. Bentley or simply W. O., founded Bentley Motors.

The ninth child in his family, he attended Clifton College near Bristol from 1902 to 1905, then became an engineering apprentice at the Great North British Railway depot in Doncaster. After working for the National Motor Cab Company, he joined his elder brother Horace Millner Bentley’s Bentley and Bentley in 1912, selling French DFP cars.

Dissatisfied with DFP performance, he developed aluminium pistons and substantially revised the camshaft, reducing engine weight. DFP cars won several Brooklands races in 1913 and 1914. During the First World War, he served as a captain in the Royal armed forces, playing a leading role in modernising and producing Clerget aero engines for the Sopwith Camel and Snipe. These were known as Humber’s BR1, Bentley Rotary 1, and BR2. He received an MBE and an £8,000 award.

In 1920, he founded Bentley Motors Ltd. His 3 Litre combined an advanced four-cylinder engine with a robust chassis. The first car with four valves per cylinder and twin spark plugs, it became renowned for reliability and longevity. It won the 1924 Le Mans 24 Hours, and later models repeated the feat every year from 1927 to 1930. His schoolfriend Richard Sidney Witchell was racing manager. Among Bentley’s many victories, “Bentley Boy” Woolf Barnato uniquely won all three races he entered, achieving an exceptional success rate. Yet racing success could not keep the company afloat, and Bentley sold a controlling stake to raise funds.

The distinctive Bentley Boys circle emerged through the wealth of Woolf Barnato, heir to diamond magnate Barney Barnato, who became its principal shareholder. Bentley continued developing a new generation with a 6.5-litre six-cylinder engine. Against his wishes, Barnato allowed the Blower, an exceptionally powerful version of the 4.5-litre car, but its durability was poor and it failed on the track.

The Wall Street crash hit the business hard, especially as it had just launched an 8-litre luxury car for the extremely wealthy. After an unsuccessful rescue attempt, Barnato and Bentley sold the business in 1931 to the anonymous holding company British Central Equitable Trust. Behind it was Rolls-Royce, concerned about the 8 Litre’s rivalry with its Phantom II. Bentley stayed until 1935, working on 3.5-litre and other models, but left after Rolls-Royce closed the racing design department.

With most of that department’s staff, he joined Lagonda, which Alan Good had bought and saved from bankruptcy. Returning to racing, his Lagonda Rapide MG45 won Le Mans in 1935. His 4,480 cc V12, producing 180 hp or 134 kW, was an engineering masterpiece.

After the Second World War, David Brown bought Lagonda and merged it with Aston Martin, largely to acquire Bentley’s engineering expertise. He immediately installed the 2.6-litre Lagonda straight-six in the DB2. This reliable DOHC engine served Aston Martin until 1959. Bentley remained an engineer there for a time, then joined Armstrong Siddeley, developing a 3-litre twin-overhead-camshaft engine before retirement.

He married three times: his first wife Leonie died in 1919, his second was Poppy, and he married Margaret in 1934. He had no children. He died in 1971 as the respected head of the Bentley Drivers’ Club. Margaret died in 1989.