Heritage at Full Throttle: Mulliner’s Continuation Cars Race Again

Bentley is turning a page of racing history and writing it anew. For the 2025 Le Mans Classic (July 3–6), the marque fields a four-car works entry that mirrors the spirit—and even the famous photograph—of the original Bentley Boys from 1929. Ahead of the event, the team assembled on Mount Street in London to recreate that storied image: four pre-war icons lined up nose-to-nose, with drivers and engineers standing proudly by. It is equal parts tribute and statement of intent.

All four cars are Mulliner Continuation Series machines, built by Bentley’s in-house coachbuilding division using period drawings, original jigs, and modern craftsmanship. Three are the supercharged Blower Continuation models; the fourth is a Speed Six Continuation, the car whose endurance pedigree helped cement Bentley’s legend at La Sarthe. Taken together, they form the largest factory works team to represent Bentley since 1930—an extraordinary echo across nearly a century.

The Continuation project is more than nostalgia. Each car is a painstaking reconstruction designed to deliver the feel, sound, and mechanical theatre of the originals. Hand-formed bodywork, exposed rivets, polished metalwork, and those long, purposeful bonnets speak to a time when endurance racing demanded equal parts bravery and engineering ingenuity. Underneath, meticulously reproduced components—built to period specification—promise the same charismatic performance that once thundered down the Mulsanne Straight.

Le Mans Classic is the perfect stage. It’s where history is not only displayed but driven in anger, lap after lap. Bentley’s quartet will compete with the support of a dedicated engineer and mechanic for each car, echoing the tight-knit pit crews that kept the Bentley Boys in the fight through the night. For spectators, the sensory experience will be unforgettable: the supercharger’s whine, the scent of hot oil, and the sight of British Racing Green carving through dusk.

Recreating the 1929 image isn’t about looking back—it’s about demonstrating continuity. The values that defined Bentley a century ago—endurance, innovation, and a touch of swagger—remain alive in this modern works team. As the four cars roll onto the grid at Le Mans Classic, they carry more than a livery and a number. They carry a legacy—one that still has the power to quicken the pulse.