The Blower Bentley vs. Bugatti Type 35: The Pre-War Supercar War
The Birth of Extreme Performance
When we think of supercars, we immediately picture the carbon-fiber wedge shapes of the modern era. However, the true philosophical battle of extreme automotive engineering was fought nearly a century ago during the roaring 1920s.
Long before Enzo Ferrari or Bruce McLaren built their first cars, the European motorsport landscape was dominated by two brilliant, deeply stubborn men: Ettore Bugatti in France and Walter Owen (W.O.) Bentley in England. They possessed completely opposite views on how to achieve ultimate speed, creating a rivalry that set the stage for every hypercar battle that followed.
Bugatti Type 35: The Watchmaker’s Approach
Ettore Bugatti viewed automobile manufacturing as a pure art form. He famously demanded that his engine blocks be scraped entirely flat by hand so that gaskets weren’t required, and he safety-wired every bolt with aerospace precision.
His masterpiece was the Bugatti Type 35. Introduced in 1924, it is widely considered the most successful racing car in history, winning over 1,000 races in its prime.
Lightweight Engineering
The Type 35’s philosophy was “add lightness.” It was powered by a jewel-like 2.0-liter inline-eight engine. Instead of relying on massive displacement, Bugatti focused on keeping the car incredibly light and agile. It featured hollow front axles for reduced unsprung weight and revolutionary cast-alloy wheels with integrated brake drums—an innovation that wouldn’t become standard in road cars for another fifty years.
To Ettore Bugatti, the Type 35 was a precision instrument—a scalpel designed to carve corners with absolute finesse.
The “Blower” Bentley: The Fast Lorry
Across the English Channel, W.O. Bentley had a very different philosophy: “There is no replacement for displacement.” Bentley cars were massive, heavy, and built like bank vaults to survive the grueling endurance race of the newly established 24 Hours of Le Mans.
While the standard 4.5-litre Bentleys were highly successful, the legendary “Blower” Bentley was born out of a desire for sheer, unadulterated power. Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin, one of the famous “Bentley Boys” (a wealthy group of British aristocrat racers), convinced the company to bolt a massive Roots-type supercharger to the front of the 4.5-litre engine.
Brutal Power
The result was a terrifyingly fast, incredibly heavy machine that produced 240 horsepower—an astonishing figure for 1929. The Blower Bentley consumed fuel at a staggering rate and required immense physical strength to steer.
When Ettore Bugatti saw the massive, supercharged British machine thundering down the straights, he famously dismissed it, calling it “the world’s fastest lorry [truck].”
The Legacy and Elite Market Value
The rivalry between the elegant Type 35 and the brutal Blower Bentley established the two core engineering paths that still define supercars today: lightweight precision (like a Lotus or McLaren) versus brute-force power (like a Dodge Viper or AMG Mercedes).
Today, these pre-war legends exist in the highest echelon of the collector car market, representing blue-chip automotive investments.
A genuine Bugatti Type 35 in excellent condition routinely fetches between $3 million and $5 million at premier auction events like Pebble Beach. However, because only 55 original “Blower” Bentleys were ever built, they are practically mythological. In 2012, the original Blower driven by Sir Henry Birkin sold at the Goodwood Festival of Speed for over $7 million—and market experts estimate its value today to be significantly higher.
They are no longer just cars; they are priceless artifacts of the first great supercar war.
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