Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019: Bentley's centenary celebration

Bentley Motors Limited was founded a century ago this year.

Just five years later, one of W. O. Bentley's cars would have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and would go on to become one of Britain's most celebrated marques.

To mark the occasion, Bentley has turned up in force at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, bringing some of the most iconic cars from its past and present to Sussex. Some took on the event's famous hillclimb, while others were on display amongst historical peers. These are just a few of the highlights.

1929 Bentley 'Birkin Single-Seater'

Built in 1929 alongside Bentley’s road-going models, the Birkin Single-Seater is a single-seat track car financed by Dorothy Paget, a successful horse-racing enthusiast. In 1932, it recorded a speed of 137.96, famously spending a good portion of the run in the air.

1936 Bentley 'Pacey Hassan Special'

The Pacey Hassan Special was built by Wally Hassan and made for Bentley Boy racer Bill Pacey, who won the Brooklands Whitsun Gold Star event with it. Its low-slung, streamlined form is a good example of how such race cars dramatically evolved throughout the 1930s.

1933 Bentley 'Barnato Hassan Special'

By 1931 Bentley had been absorbed into Rolls-Royce, but Bentley Boy legend Woolf Barnato continued to race, with his cars looked after by Wally Hassan. The Barnato Hassan Special had an 8-litre engine and a tiny, lightweight cockpit, which meant it wasn’t a struggle to lap Brooklands at 143.11mph in 1938.

Katarina Kyvalova, founding member of the Bentley Belles

Katarina Kyvalova is a founding member of the Bentley Belles, an all-female crew that first competed together in the Benjafield’s 24, making history as the first all-female team to compete in a Bentley. Here she is in a 4.5-litre Bentley Blower, a model largely responsible for Bentley’s long-running affinity with France’s Circuit de la Sarthe.

Bentley R-Type Continental

Today’s crop of super-saloons owe a great deal to the R-Type Continental. When it was built, it was the fastest four-seat production car in the world, with the majority sold in right-hand drive to remain on home turf.

1922 Bentley 3-Litre ‘TT’ recreation

The Bentley 3.0-litre TT is a recreation with a difference; while the original no longer survives, this car sits on a period chassis - which competed at Brooklands - and is a faithful recreation of the car that finished second in the 1922 running of the event.

1919 Bentley EXP 2

Bentley EXP 2 is the oldest surviving Bentley and the second one ever made. It was one of three prototypes built by W O Bentley and shown at the 1919 Olympia motor show, before it raced at Brooklands as the company’s first works competition car.

1930 Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Blower

Bentley’s own 4.5-litre was supercharged by Tim Birkin, worried that rivals from the continent were developing ever-more powerful cars. This car struggled at Le Mans in 1930, but was second in the French Grand Prix.

1930 Bentley 'Old Number Two'

A very recognisable racing Bentley, Old Number Two took home the trophy at its inaugural outing at Brooklands in 1930, and went on to claim a silver at Le Mans. It was one of the last Bentleys to head to Le Mans, as the company was to take a 68-year hiatus from the circuit from 1933 onwards.

2003 Bentley EXP Speed 8

The Speed 8 was Bentley’s weapon of choice for a long-awaited Le Mans comeback in 2001. Underneath, it’s closely related to the Audi R8C racer, but packs an uprated 4.0-litre turbo V8 that was potent enough to claim a 3rd place medal at the company’s first outing since 1933. An evolved version returned in 2003, and gave the Crewe firm the 1-2 finish it had been waiting for.

Guy Smith, Le Mans Winner

Guy Smith was hugely instrumental in Bentley's successful return to top-rung motorsport. Kicking off the 2003 season with a fourth place finish at Sebring, Bentley's first North American race in over 70 years, he was then part of the team that claimed victory at Le Mans that year in the EXP Speed 8. He's semi-retired these days, but often on hand to demonstrate what a race-spec model from Crewe is capable of in the right hands.

Continental GT Chassis no 1

The very first production version of the original Continental GT shows just how far Bentley has come in a generation. The new model is very much an evolution on this design, but with a more dynamic drivetrain that can engage its owners as well as transport them in luxurious comfort.

2018 Bentley Continental GT3 Blancpain

Bentley’s Continental GT3 is powered by a 4.0-litre turbocharged V8 - more than enough for it to lay down a gauntlet at Goodwood this weekend, as it bids to set the Guinness World Record for the longest-ever burnout.

The winged B masthead

Bentley's signature logo can soon be seen taking pride of place on the bonnet of the new Flying Spur saloon, which was revealed in June. The four-door luxury sports saloon aims to be more of a driver's car than previous versions, with much of its chassis shared with the Continental GT.