Bentleys with eight liters among themselves
12/02/2016
Bentley touring cars and saloons with eight-litre engines are really rare, especially those that are still drivable. This makes a rally that is only held with such vehicles all the more special.
Franco and Käthi Weibel, the happy owners of one of these rare cars, took it upon themselves to organize a major tour for Bentley eight-litre vehicles, and in June 2016, after much preparation and even more research to find the participants, the time had come. They came from all over, the British of course on the road, the Americans and Australians by plane.
The Bentley 8 Litre was announced in September 1930; it was the last model before the brand was transferred to Rolls-Royce. It was the right car at the wrong (because economically difficult) time; just 100 chassis were built by 1932. Many were given closed bodies, some of which were later converted into tourers. Around 80 of the chassis are said to still exist today.
The tour was designed to last six days, covering 900 km on the beautiful roads of the Black Forest and the Swiss Jura. So there was a lot of driving, but above all camaraderie was cultivated, which was particularly important when one of the cars had problems.
A comprehensive and entertaining rally report ( in English) is available on the Australian club's W.O.Bentley website, illustrated with atmospheric pictures by Wolfgang and Peter Singhof, who also took the six photos shown here.
