Automanie.net

Some 75 years since the adventurer and Le Mans winner Woolf Barnato raced and beat the famous Blue Train on its journey across France, Bentley Motors and its coach building division Mulliner are celebrating his achievement with a powerful, distinctive and luxurious grand tourer based on its flagship four-door saloon: the Arnage Blue Train Series.





In specification, the Blue Train Series Arnage features the 450bhp version of Bentley's remarkable 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine, allied to the chassis and suspension set-up of the refined and supple Arnage R. With a 0-60mph acceleration of 5.5 seconds and a top speed of 168mph the Blue Train Series Arnage has the performance to satisfy the most demanding of drivers. A mountainous 645lb ft of torque (875Nm) available at 3250rpm means that the Bentley's performance is instantly accessible.



Externally, the Arnage Blue Train Series is distinguished by its 19” seven-spoke alloy wheels, sunroof, chrome radiator shell, chrome mirror caps and quadruple exhaust tailpipes. Both front and rear bumpers are designed specifically for the Arnage Blue Train Series, with stainless steel matrix mesh to the front bumper cooling ducts.


In homage to the slatted bonnet of the original ‘Blue Train' Bentley Speed Six, Bentley's design team has specified vertical slatted vents, painted in body colour, behind the trailing edge of the front wheel arches.

The Blue Train Arnage will carry the black winged ‘B' inside and out, as the distinguishing mark of the most powerful and performance-focused Bentleys, and will also have Blue Train badging on the front wing and door aperture treadplates. A ‘privacy' rear backlight may also be specified, another feature which echoes the coachwork of Barnato's 1930s Coupé.



The interior is equally distinctive. All instrument and dial faces are black, and the centre console features a subtle Bentley Blue Train badge. Mulliner's meticulous craftsmanship is evident in the veneer waistrails, which feature chrome inlay with winged ‘B' badges, and the ‘Blue Train' embroidered headrests, in a coordinating thread colour. Other special elements of the interior specification are the wood and hide steering wheel, additional wood veneer panels on the doors and contrast piping on the seats.




A limited number of the Blue Train Series will be produced, the majority being intended for the USA, and all orders have already been filled.

“I am delighted with the Arnage Blue Train Series,” said Derek Davies, Brand Director, Arnage and Mulliner, “The engineers and craftsmen of Bentley Mulliner have created an exceptionally desirable car, and a fitting tribute to Woolf Barnato's amazing achievement. In doing so, Bentley Mulliner has created another unique chapter to the Bentley story.”




Earlier this month, the first model in the series joined the original ‘Blue Train' Speed Six, now owned by Bentley enthusiasts Bruce and Jolene McCaw, along with other historically significant Bentley cars in a 75th Anniversary tour from Cannes to London, following Barnato's original route. Participants enjoyed a more leisured approach to the journey than that taken by Woolf Barnato, with attractions such as wine-tasting, overnight stops and gastronomic meals at chateaux en route.





Woolf Barnato versus the Blue Train

Woolf Barnato (1895 - 1948) - heir to a vast fortune from the Kimberley diamond mines in South Africa - was the epitome of a ‘Bentley Boy'. An accomplished sportsman, bon vivant and generous host, he became Chairman of Bentley Motors in 1926 when WO Bentley's original enterprise was struggling for capital. Bentley himself considered Barnato the best of all the team's drivers, and the latter's 100% record at Le Mans - three wins in three starts - confirms the accuracy of WO's judgement.



Woolf Barnato was at a dinner party on board a yacht near Cannes in March 1930 when the subject of racing the famous Blue Train came up, one guest questioning whether it was possible to beat the train by road from St Raphael to Calais. Barnato wagered £200 that at the wheel of his Speed Six, he could not only arrive in Calais before the train but would be in his London club before the train arrived at the French port. The bet was accepted, and the next day, at 5:45pm, as the Blue Train left the main railway station at Cannes, Barnato and his companion, amateur golfer Dale Bourne set off in Barnato's Bentley Speed Six.

During the 185 miles from Cannes to Lyon, the two men encountered heavy rain which slowed their progress. At around 4am, between Lyon and Paris, near Auxerre, the team lost time searching for their pre-arranged refuelling rendezvous. Despite this setback, some dense fog near Paris and a puncture which necessitated the use of their only spare tyre, Barnato and his companion finally reached Calais at 10:30 in the morning, a distance of over 570 miles, having maintained an average speed of 43.43 mph, no mean feat on the dusty and rough roads of the time. After crossing the Channel in a packet steamer and driving hard for almost 700 miles, it was 3:20pm when Woolf Barnato parked his Speed Six outside the Conservative Club in St. James' Street in London. Just four minutes later the Blue Train arrived at the station in Calais.

Barnato had won his bet, although the French Motor Manufacturer's Association attempted to fine Bentley Motors the equivalent of £160 for racing on public roads; Barnato's response being that he had raced as a private individual and not as the Chairman of Bentley!



There is, however, a fascinating postscript to this story. For many years it was believed that the Bentley Speed Six in which Woolf Barnato beat the Blue Train was a two-door Coupé bodied by the coachbuilders Gurney Nutting. Certainly, the Bentley chairman did own such a car; and it was the Gurney Nutting Coupé that contemporary artist Terence Cuneo depicted in his excellent painting of the duel.

But recently, Bruce McCaw, present-day owner of Barnato's Gurney Nutting Speed Six, uncovered evidence that this particular Bentley was not completed until after the date of the dare, which took place in March 1930. It seems that Barnato, who owned a stable of Bentleys, probably raced the Blue Train in his Mulliner-bodied four-door Speed Six saloon, not the Coupé.

Commendably the Seattle-based McCaw traced the chassis and engine of the Mulliner-bodied car, and also discovered the bodywork, albeit on a different Bentley chassis. He reunited the chassis with its original bodywork and showed the restored Mulliner Speed Six alongside his Gurney Nutting Speed Six at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August 2003.

“We were therefore thrilled that Bruce McCaw accompanied his two Blue Train Bentleys on the re-enactment of this great feat,” said Richard Charlesworth, “The cars rose to the challenge famously and took the distances in their stride.”