CALIFORNIA’S MONTEREY PENINSULA HAS A PENCHANT FOR THE THEATRICAL.
Each morning cloaking itself in a thick shawl of sea mist that rolls in off the Pacific then whipping it off around am to reveal a Hollywood set on Mile Drive immaculate fairways on the Spanish Bay links tumbling down to a rocky coastline teeming with pelicans seals and pockets of blonde sand Occupying the higher ground enormous showboat mansions battle it out for the best view “Those are all m houses up there ” Mike Sayer head of Bentley’s heritage collection and the world’s most patient driving instructor points out That’s a lot of dinero
Precisely the same amount as the jewel in Bentley’s collection the Number Two ‘Team’ car just one of four supercharged ½litre Blower racers ever built and favourite of the most famous Bentley Boy Sir Henry Birkin This is not that car this is Car Zero the development prototype for a run of continuation cars announced back in costing m each So the fiscal risk is lower but the machine is true in every possible way to the original Handcrafted for hours using original tools and D scans of Number Two it is every inch as beautiful and every bit as truculent to drive
Which is why I’m up with the pelicans for a crash course in how to pilot a yearold motor car If Mike deems my efforts to be less shocking than I suspect they will be I shall progress to my full driving test at about lunchtime ferrying my examiner Adrian Hallmark CEO of Bentley around Laguna SecaIf Mr Hallmark surmises that I didn’t make a complete pig’s ear of it then I shall celebrate in traditional American fashion by taking the Blower to a drivethrough for a delicious meaty snack I know how to liveWe begin with the basics Firing it up involves turning the ignition key flicking on the fuel pump turning on two magnetos to provide sparks for the engine then hitting a button I nail it first timeImmediately I’m lulled into a false sense of confidence Mike drives first calmly explaining that the throttle and brake have swapped positions and that the brakes aren’t so much stoppers as gentle
decelerators before launching into the principles of double declutching You pull away in first as you would in any manual car lifting the clutch to find the biting point sparing on the throttle and you’re away Now the complexity ratchets up
Each shift up or down the synchro free four speed gearbox requires a dip of the clutch to visit neutral then another dip to select the next gear For downshifts a gentle squeeze of the throttle helps to match engine to road speed on upshifts it’s all about timing First to second requires a pause in neutral before proceeding second to third is as quick as you can and third to fourth is much easier because you’ve got some speed under your wheels I’m concentrating furiously but still fear the majority of this has whistled in then straight out of my brain I cling to crumbs of comfort even Mike the old Bentley maestro is crunching the odd gear something he’s entirely at peace with “If you get a gear at all you’re doing well ” he tells me cheerily
Mike hops out I slide across and start to make myself comfortable I say comfortable but with the seat far enough forward for my stumpy legs to press the clutch fully the enormous wheel is in contact with my thighs and the gearlever is having an argument with my right leg We set off and my first attempt at first to second is a crunchy but ultimately successful affair second to third a fraction smoother and third down to second as we approach a tightening right hander a flailing mess of mistimed throttle application and heaving at the wheel my first taste of just how heavy and low geared the steering is
No matter because I’m finding gears and making progress and absorbing the most important lesson for driving a Blower
planning ahead is everything Constant scanning at least metres up the road is required to give yourself a fighting chance
“THEY WHO RACED THIS THING WEREN’T JUST BRAVE AND HIGHLY SKILLED, BUT GODS”
It’s beginning to dawn on me that they who raced this thing Birkin recorded a lap of Brooklands in averaging mph weren’t just brave and highly skilled but gods because this two tonne lump appears to have zero inclination to go round corners Yes bhp at rpm doesn’t sound particularly potent these days but taking into account the absence of dynamics it must have been terrifying
Dial it back to the rather gentler mph to mph speeds
I’m hitting today though and the experience is totally magical The mechanical ballet required to make it move absorbs every fibre I’m entranced because I want to improve want to improve because there’s nowhere to hide This car only does what you tell it to do
if things go wrong you miss a gear say and have to stop and start again that’s on you But if things go well that’s your glory for the taking too Which is why tiny victories a slick downshift or a smooth three point turn have me punching the air and whooping like a fool The take home message is clear we’ve become obsessed with power and performance figures and reliant on electronic assistance to unlock more mindless speed but we’ve got it all backwards You don’t need to be going fast to have fun just involved in the experience
I proceed to Laguna Seca and hop in next to Hallmark who’s driving first As we wait he tells me about the time he left the tarmac at Laguna in the m Number Two Blower at the left hander after the corkscrew but gathered it up like a pro
Not filling me with confidence here Adrian but he cruises a lap with aplomb before making way for muggins I discover several things having the Big Boss next to you as you smash your way through a non synchro gearbox on the multimillion pound car he owns isn’t the most comfortable experience Not sure I’ve ever said “sorry” that many times in the space of a few minutes but he seems to be enjoying himself and doesn’t try to throttle me so I call that a pass I also learn getting a twin tracking shot of an old smoker next to a Le Mans winning Speed racer is a spectacular mismatch one wants to chug along the other constantly straining at the leash Still I follow the old automotive photography mantra that if it doesn’t feel like you’re about to have a crash it’s probably not a good photo and position myself uncomfortably close The result I fully intend to get framed
Then with the sweet taste of success getting my juices flowing we arrive at In N Out Burger for a victory lap queue up behind a series of perplexed Prius and Altima drivers and claim thy prize Would Birkin be proud? Not sure but I bet he’d take his double double animal style