Saw this today during my lunch break at work

[SirTanon]

A little background - I work in Scottsdale, Arizona, about 1 mile from WestWorld, which is where the annual Barrett Jackson auto auction is held. This was not part of the auction, but it WAS in a rather 'rich' part of Scottsdale. I was on my lunch break, at a place called "Tom's Thumb" which is a gas station with attached detail/wash area and a BBQ restaurant inside.

While I was waiting for my order, this pulls up:

I had the opportunity to talk with the man driving it for a few minutes, and he gave me a little background on the car.

It's a 1929 Bentley which was fully restored in London, and has had 24,000 miles put on it since then. It has the original engine, which has been modified to allow it to run modern gasoline. The driver was telling me that he "has to use oil with a very high zinc content" so he uses Valvoline VR racing 20w-50 oil. Makes sense.

Not sure if you can see from the pics, but it's owned by Hayden Groendyke and John D Groendyke, and is one of a few collector vehicles they own in AZ, along with a 1928 Bentley. Apparently, the rest are in Tennesee, including a 16-cylinder Caddillac.

Anyways, I thought it was very cool. Pretty sure this is just about the rarest car I'll see in a long time, if not ever.

 

[Brybo86]

Did he put that racing fuel in it?

 

[mcrn]

WOW

 

[DoubleWasp]

Beautiful. Way classier than most of the stuff made today.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Thanks!

 

[bvance554]

And it has not one, but two space saving spare tires! Cool car.

 

[oldhp]

Awesome!!!

 

[Pop_Rivit]

It's always nice to see the old vintage iron out being used rather than tucked away in a garage somewhere.

 

[DuckRyder]

http://www.prewarcarparts.com/Vintage_Car_Sale_4.html

Quote:

Rebuilt as a 1930 Le Mans Speed Six Team Car
Registration # GF 778
Chassis # BA 2585
Engine # BA 2578

This Beautiful 6.5 Litre Bentley has an 8 Litre Block so plenty of Power!!


It was Rebuilt between 2006/08 using an Original Chassis, Crankcase, Steering Box, Gearbox and Rear Axle. (Non Matching) It has a shortened chassis and modified to full Le Mans Specification.


Very cool car...

 

[Alex_V]

Heck of a car. Kudos to him for putting some miles on it - that's what they're for!

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted By: Brybo86
Did he put that racing fuel in it?


Good eyes and question...hard for me to imagine a car that age needing high octane, but it was mentioned that the engine is modified.

The first thing I thought of was the old truck from the Beverly Hillbillies...

 

[SirTanon]

Originally Posted By: Brybo86
Did he put that racing fuel in it?


Yes, he put the 100 octane racing fuel in it. Consider that the engine was originally built in 1929 and what fuel was around then. Granted, it has been rebuilt and modified, but it's still the original engine.

Also, it sounded pretty powerful when he started it up.

Also, he said that he's "rally'd it" before.

 

[panther427]

Well Bentley had several blower cars. Aka supercharged models. Could of been that originally. Or had one added. Either way beautiful car

 

[tc1446]

Thanks for posting those pics and info; made my day!

 

[Kira]

I'm too lazy to search....anybody know what it weighs?

 

[RF Overlord]

I'd be scared silly to drive a car like that on the street for fear that some nitwit driver (which is pretty much everyone but the people here

) would hit it. I bet his insurance premiums are as much as my mortgage.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Kira
I'm too lazy to search....anybody know what it weighs?

3,600 lbs -ish?

 

[OneEyeJack]

Anyone have any idea how much $$$ changed hands for the purchase.

This was the car that was called the worlds fastest car but that was soon disputed when a journalist corrected that statement with the comment that no, it was the worlds fastest lorry.

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Anyone have any idea how much $$$ changed hands for the purchase.

This was the car that was called the worlds fastest car but that was soon disputed when a journalist corrected that statement with the comment that no, it was the worlds fastest lorry.


There is some more detail about this car on the link I posted (though not a price) it is a replica lemans car.

FWIW it appears a real LeMans 1930 team car "old number 2" sold for about 6.5 million in 2004 or so.

Still, put me down for "a LOT of money" in answer to your question, though a lot less than #2.

Seem like if you have a million you can probably buy a Bentley speed six, I doubt I will ever need to put much more serious though that that into it....

 

[JustinH]

Very cool car, makes the Ford GT I seen racing out of Austin today look like nothing!