Captain Woolf Barnato’s name is written in the letters of another in the 24 Hours of Le Mans: three starts, three wins. But our story, at least today, is a very different one.
You and I, dear reader, are going to forget about “political correctness”, we are going to sit behind the wheel of a Bentley with which we will escape to more than ninety years ago, in the company of a character from a novel.
Possessor of a considerable fortune from the exploitation of diamond mines in South Africa, famous playboy, and “sportsman”, and with a touch of eccentricity, Woolf “Babe” Barnato was quite a celebrity of the time. And, furthermore, that is why he is our protagonist today, passionate about cars. And this passion did not stop at acquiring the most powerful and fastest, but would go further: it would be one of the famous “Bentley Boys”, which gave three victories to this English firm in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1924, 25 and 26). Actually, he is, until today, the only driver who has achieved three wins in his three participations. In love with the firm, he would come to the aid of his creator, Walter Owen Bentley, in financial difficulties, becoming in 1926 the main shareholder of the prestigious brand.
“Calais-Mediterranee Express”
But let’s go a little further. We are in March 1930, in the heart of the Côte d’Azur, in Cannes. At dinner on his yacht, with his friend the golf player Dale Bourn, Barnato launches a bet: to reach Calais by road faster than the famous “Train Bleu” (“Blue Train”), which linked the south with the north. of France and whose official name was «Calais-Méditerranée Express», widely used between November and April by the blood aristocracy, and the new money aristocracy born after World War I, who escaped the British winter in search of the sun of the French Riviera.
Actually, the idea was not new. Car races against “Le Train Bleu” took place between the late 1920s and early 1930s, involving drivers with cars of their own or sponsored by brands seeking notoriety. Among the latter, former motorcycle racer and motoring advertising pioneer Dudley Noble had the idea of promoting the new Rover Light Six by racing the Blue Train across France, from St. Raphael in the Côte d’Azur to Calais. Noble knew that the average speed of the Blue Train, once all its stops and detours were taken into account, was no more than 40 mph. To beat the train, Noble had to drive virtually nonstop from St. Raphael to Calais. The Rover achieved an average of 61 km/h on its journey of just over 1,200 kilometres, to beat the expected train time of just over 20 hours, giving the Rover team a 20 minute lead. The Blue Train had been defeated for the first time and Noble achieved his goal of making the Rover model famous.
Terence Cuneo’s painting shows the Gurney Nutting coupé in front of the train, but this was not the model used
Barnato’s bet
But Barnato claimed that not only could he beat him to Calais, as Dudley Noble had done, but he could be at his club in London before the train reached its final station.
On race day, he is finishing a drink in the Carlton Hotel bar when he hears that the train had left at 5:54 p.m. And at 18:45 he starts, accompanied by Bourn. And this crazy race between the train and the car begins. At the wheel of his Bentley Speed Six, Barnato puts his foot down on the accelerator (he could reach up to 160 km/h) on lonely roads, with poor soil condition, barely marked, and under heavy rain and fog. He has arranged for gas stations to stay open overnight in Aix-En-Provence and Lyon, as well as to put a tanker in Auxerre: his car had a consumption of over 20 liters per 100 kilometres. It is not hard to think about what the route would be like taking into account the suspensions, brakes and tires of the time…
Around four in the morning, they arrive in Auxerre but can’t find the truck to refuel, and it also has a flat tire near Paris. But Barnato and Bourn do not give up. They change the tire, find gasoline in a private house, and continue their career.
They arrive in Calais at 10:30 am and board a ferry. And at 3:26 p.m. they enter the door of the “Conservative Club” in St James Street, London. Four minutes later, at 3:30 p.m., the train arrived in Calais. The members of the exclusive club raise their glasses in honor of Barnato.
The Mulliner Saloon bodied Bentley was the actual model used in the race.
The record occupied many covers of European newspapers, but curiously there is no photograph. Barnato won the £100 bet, although the Automotive Club de France tried to fine him £200 for an unauthorized race in France.
A historical confusion
The Speed Six evolved in 1929 as a racing version of the 6½-litre, introduced in 1926. The first unit ran as No. 1 at Le Mans in 1929, where it won, and returned as ‘Old No 1’ to win again in 1930. They were built a total of 182 Speed Six between 1929 and 1930 with a variety of styles and body types from various coachbuilders.
The Speed Six chassis No HM 2855 was delivered to Bentley president Woolf Barnato by coachbuilder Gurney Nutting in May 1930. Barnato personally ordered many Bentleys to suit his requirements, all of which were custom built ‘one of a kind’ vehicles. In this case he named his new streamlined Bentley Speed Six “Sportsman Coupe” made by Gurney Nutting the “Blue Train Special” in memory of his career, and it was also commonly known as the “Blue Train Bentley”.
As time passed, the Gurney Nutting bodied car would be misidentified as the one that had competed against the Blue Train. This was reiterated in articles and in Terence Cuneo’s painting of the race, showing the Gurney Nutting coupé just ahead of the train. Even in 2005, Bentley presented the coupé in the company’s communication material to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the race, although the brand itself later specified the theme.
Although this Bentley is called the Blue Train Special, it was not the one used in the race
And it is that in the account of Barnato’s race, published in 1946 in the magazine of the “British Racing Drivers Club”, he refers to “my Speed Six sedan, with gasoline cans in the trunk and with a single spare wheel », while the Sportsman Coupé had no trunk and had two spare tires, one on each side of the hood.
The investigation of the Americans Bruce and Jolene McCaw was key in uncovering this error. They were the ones who, in their search, discovered, among other information, that in the files of coachbuilder Gurney Nutting the coupe in question was still under construction at the time of the race.
The McCraws bought the “Blue Train Special” built by Nutting. And also the original of the HJ Mulliner, used in the race, which they restored reproducing the original bodywork, which had been replaced by another after its triumph against the «Calais-Méditerranée Express», a story from more than ninety years ago.
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