Although it was the 3-litre cars that started Bentley’s annual pilgrimages to Le Mans, it was the Speed Six and the 4½-litre cars that really made the legend, with wonderful victories in 1929 and ’30.

The winner in both those years was the Speed Six nicknamed ‘Old No. 1’ after the 1929 win. For 1930, Bentley purpose-built two Speed Six cars especially for Le Mans: Old No. 2 and Old No. 3. The latter didn’t finish the 1930 race, but Old No. 2 was a close second behind Old No. 1.

Over the years Old No. 1 was rebodied, but Old No. 2 remained remarkably untouched. In 2004, Old No. 2 was sold by Christie’s for a record £2,790,000 and the new owner commissioned specialist Graham Moss to carry out arguably the most thorough conservation ever seen on an historic car. Bentley historian Clare Hay was employed full time to research the specification; three years later, the completed Old No. 2 is as close to 1930 Le Mans specification as humanly possible.

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