Bentley is known far and wide as one of the longest-running automotive manufacturers still in existence and operating to this day.
During those 100 years of automobiles, many legends have been born and racing drivers created by the historic marque, but some are more legendary than others.
One of the most famous stories of them all is the Bentley Special “Blue Train” and its driver Woolf Barnato, racing a steam engine across the French countryside in toiling weather conditions. That 1930 car and race inspired a limited line of authentic and exacting recreations almost 80 years later, built by European craftsman Racing Green Engineering. Created to exacting standards to ensure that even the smallest details are correct, the result is the exact recreation of a legendary Bentley that you can own and drive.
The original “Blue Train” was a 6½-Litre Speed Six, delivered to Woolf Barnato, well-known playboy millionaire, heir to a South African diamond and gold mine, and an international sportsman. As one of the original “Bentley Boys,” he became chairman of Bentley Motors and winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both 1928 and 1929. The legend of the Blue Train came from the famous French express train, which Barnato had succeeded in beating from Cannes to London in an earlier Speed Six. Not the feat, but the beauty made the Blue Train immortal; its streamlined fastback styling, carried out by J. Gurney Nutting to Barnato’s suggestions, gave it powerful proportions, and made it arguably the most beautiful Speed Six ever built. While the original “Blue Train” remains extant as part of one of the world’s finest collections, it is most definitely not available for sale, leaving enthusiasts to ponder alternatives.
After restoring and building Bentley Specials in the UK for over 30 years, Racing Green Engineering launched a limited edition of Blue Train recreations in celebration of Barnato’s famous victory over 80 years ago. Racing Green Engineering builds the Blue Trains of a Bentley Mark VI chassis and running gear with coachwork made with a mixture of ash timber framing and hand shaped aluminum panels. Several different engine options are available, the most desirable being the eight-cylinder Bentley engines built to power tanks and other military vehicles in the late 1940s.
Racing Green Engineering completed this Blue Train Recreation in 2018, and it has only been driven test mileage since delivery. The interior is finished with the finest polished walnut and tobacco Connolly leather trim while the exterior is attractively finished in a menacing black livery. Built to the collector owner’s exacting specifications, it was fitted with the powerful Bentley inline eight-cylinder engine also used in the Centurion ARV tank. The interior even has “cubbies” that conceal pressed crystal decanters and glassware, true to the spirit of the original car and its rather colorful owner!
This Blue Train Recreation embodies the spirit and stunning design of the original and with its eight-cylinder engine, it is undoubtedly even more thrilling to drive.
