Bentley
The Bentley brand was formed in the year 1919.
In October of that year, a chassis with a dummy engine was exhibited at a London car show. The idea of using lightweight aluminum pistons instead of the traditional cast iron to make engine pistons came from Bentley. The first Bentley to use these aluminum pistons was first used during the Great War.
The company was always in financial struggle. In 1925, Bentley was forced to turn to Woolf Barnato for assistance. Woolf Barnato and Bentley arranged a deal where Barnato effectively took ownership of the company and became chairman. Much of Barnato’s fortune was used to keep the company afloat. In 1931 Bentley was sold to Rolls-Royce.
The Bentley became popular in the media, including several of the original James Bond novels. In television, the Avengers drove a Bentley. Roll-Royce took the company into the twenty first century. Until 2002, the Rolls-Royce and Bentley vehicles were practically identical other than the front grill indicative of the Rolls-Royce brand. Bentley to this day continues to be a brand among the top luxury manufacturers.
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