Bentley

A racing history by David Venables

Against the trend of increasing specialisation which has even brought us multi-volume works on single chassis, Venables has instead zoomed out to show us all Bentley’s racing from WO’s motorcycling exploits up to the Speed 8 which won Le Mans in 2003.

Surprisingly, this is the first on the whole competition story since 1956, and gives a wider perspective. There is much more on Rolls-Bentleys racing than we’re used to seeing, and Venables also covers development of the specials between the wars and what he calls ‘The Years of Nostalgia’ effectively what we are in now. Inevitably many pictures are wellknown, but there is fresh stuff too, such as pitstop shots of the Embiricos car at Le Mans. A good one-stop source for the subject, but a shame that many pictures are poorly reproduced. GC

Published by Haynes Publishing, ISBN 978 85733 021 5, £40