Bentley's Racing Heritage

We sample Bentley's first race-winning car, the 1921 EXP 2, alongside the company's 2003 Le Mans winner and the current Continental GT3 racer

It is 95 years since a Bentley won its first motor race, and we were lucky to go for a spin in that very car at the site of its victory, the banked circuit at Brooklands.

Frank Clement, WO Bentley’s development engineer and racing driver, won the Junior Sprint Handicap at Brooklands on May 16, 1921 in EXP 2 which was built in 1919 at the company’s original Cricklewood workshop.

EXP 2 is the oldest surviving Bentley, the second ever made and the first to win a race. According to Bentley, its value is incalculable.

EXP stands for experimental and is the prefix given by Bentley to this (and all subsequent) pre-production models, and latterly has been applied to motor show concepts (such as the new Bentayga SUV, which in its concept form was designated EXP 9).

The Bentley 3 Litre drew on WO Bentley’s racing experience, when he pioneered the use of aluminium pistons, and was influenced by pre-war designs from Mercedes and Peugeot.

Its 3 Litre monobloc engine had four valves and twin spark plugs per cylinder, and made extensive use of aluminium and magnesium - this was an advanced specification for 1920, especially for a road-going car (although the idea had been been to produce a racing car for the road, with touring accessories)...

Source: Bentley's Racing Heritage