Bentley Motors and The Little Car Company today unveil a road-legal, 85 per cent scale recreation of the most famous Bentley in the world. ‘Blower Jnr’, a recreation of the 1929 41⁄2-litre Supercharged Team Car No. 2 in Bentley’s Heritage Collection, is the first road-legal car from The Little Car Company and the most sophisticated city car ever built.
Crafted by hand to the same standards as any Bentley, and adorned with beautiful details all inspired by the original Team car, Blower Jnr is built around a 48V electric powertrain with a 15 kW (20 bhp) motor, meaning a top speed of 45 mph / 72 km/h in the UK and EU (25 mph / 40 km/h in the USA due to legislation) and an expected range of around 65 miles, with tandem seating for two adults.
Blower Jnr is a collaboration between The Little Car Company and Bentley’s Heritage Collection. The original Team Car from 1929 – insured for £25m – was used by The Little Car Company to master the design of Blower Jnr, with details recreated at a sizeable 85 per cent scale. The result is a vehicle that will have even experts looking twice – with the car measuring 3.7 metres long and 1.5 metres wide. Unlike The Little Car Company’s other products, Blower Jnr is fully road legal and designed specifically to be used on the road.
A Faithful Homage
Beyond the headline figures, the beauty of Blower Jnr is in the recreation and repurposing of details from the original car.
The frame is painted steel, to which an authentic chassis specification is attached. Leaf springs and scaled-down, period-correct friction dampers bring a comfortable ride, while Brembo disc brakes at the front and drums at the rear provide the stopping power. The electric motor is mounted across the rear axle, while the batteries and drive electronics are all housed in a hidden undertray.
The bodywork is crafted in two sections, and while the rear body structure is crafted in carbon fibre rather than being an ash frame, it’s covered in impregnated fabric, just as the original. The bonnet, with its multiple cooling louvres, is hand-crafted in aluminium using traditional techniques and fastened with beautiful leather buckled bonnet straps. The two-person cockpit is in a 1+1 layout, with a central adjustable driving position and the passenger travelling behind in the rear seat. An optional bespoke weekend bag fits behind, in the scaled down and repurposed fuel tank complete with lockable latch.
At the front of the car, the supercharger now houses the charging port that connects the onboard charger to any Type 1 or Type 2 socket. It’s surrounded by the famous Bentley mesh grille, in an authentic nickel-plated radiator housing.
At first glance the dashboard looks like a scaled-down replica of the original, with Engine Turned Aluminium forming the dashboard itself. The fuel pressure pump has been repurposed as the drive mode selector, with a choice of Comfort (2 kW), Bentley (8 kW) or Sport for maximum power of 15 kW. Forward, Neutral and Reverse are selected via a lever that looks and feels like the ignition
advance control from the original Blower. Other switchgear for the headlights and indicators copies the form and materiality of the magneto switches from the Team Car, while the battery charge gauge recreates the original ammeter.
A USB charging point is discreetly concealed until required, and a dual-function display that serves as a Garmin satellite navigation screen and reversing camera completes the cabin.
The First Edition
The first 99 examples of Blower Jnr will be First Edition Models. These will feature First Edition badging on the hood, door sill plate and dash as well as an engraved and numbered ‘1 of 99’ plaque. All First Edition models will be finished in Blower Green, with matching painted chassis and wheels, and a Union flag hand-painted on both sides of the body as per the original, while the seats and interior are upholstered in the Dark Green Lustrana Hide used by Mulliner for the Blower Continuation Series. The side panel and radiator carry the period-correct racing number, while the steering wheel is rope-bound.
www.bentleyblowerjnr.com
