Quote Originally Posted by dm_td5 View Post
I prefer the later model with the supercharger at the front. Beautiful cars the old Bentleys
The 4 1/2 litre "Blower Bentley" were not approved of by W.O. himself. They were an unofficial competition conversion for "The Bentley Boys" financed by Woolf Barnato and the Hon. Dorothy Paget. Like Bugattis, there are a lot of "fake" Blower Bentleys about, being standard 4 1/2's converted with replica parts. In the rarified atmosphere of very high value vintage sports and racing cars, provenance is paramount. There have been numbers of cases of historic race cars having the same chassis no. as another (or others!!), causing temper tantrums and name calling in the pits.

A prominent Australian Bugattiste told me it is prudent, if contemplating purchase of any Bugatti, to regard it as a fake until proven true beyond reasonable doubt. There was the amusing listing of a Bugatti in a toffy pom auction catalogue as " believed to contain many original Bugatti parts".

There are now more Maserati 250F's competing in historic racing than were ever built. how logbooks can be issued is beyond me.