James Bond may be known for Aston Martins, but 007’s original car was this Bentley – and it just sold for over £2m
The auctioned Bentley Blower is one of only 50 built and featured in the first three Bond novels
SUPERCHARGED to brilliance, the Bentley 4 1/2 'Blower' is regarded as THE supercar of its era.
The 50 original models were so desirable, that none other than James Bond drove one in the first three novels written by Ian Fleming.
The car was sold at the Goodwood Festival of Speed by Bonhams for £2,017,500 included the premium for the auctioneer.
Built in 1931, the Blower was the final car to be made in the first batch of 25 produced.
It was first ordered by Terence Byron of Whaley Bridge, Cheshire, from the Jack Barclay's London showroom.
The Bentley, however, was involved in a 1935 car crash by its new owner G.J. Dawson from Lambeth.
Having gone through various restoration work since 1984, the car's rebuild finally completed in 1993.
Well-known in Bentley enthusiast circles, the Blower had belonged to an esteemed British car collector.
It also faultlessly drove 3,000km in 2010 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the car's debut at Le Mans.
The £2million sale precedes Bentley's celebrations for its 100th anniversary next year.
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Blower creator and racer Sir Henry 'Tim' Birkin was hailed as the greatest Briton of his time by car company founder Walter Owen Bentley, despite his dislike of the supercharged car.
Birkin persuaded 'W.O.' - as he was known - to build 50 models of the Blower as it was the minimum requirement for the car to enter into the the Le Mans 24-Hour race.
In 1932, the Blower set a speed record of 138mph around the famous banked Brooklands circuit.