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Bentley are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the famous "Blue Train" event where Woolf Barnato raced, and beat, the then fastest method of travelling from the South of France to Calais and London.
Woolf Barnato was at a dinner party on board a yacht near Cannes in March 1930 when the subject of racing the famous Blue Train came up, one guest questioning whether it was possible to beat the train by road from St Raphael to Calais. Barnato wagered £200 that at the wheel of his Speed Six, he could not only arrive in Calais before the train but would be in his London club before the train arrived at the French port. The bet was accepted, and the next day, at 5:45pm, as the Blue Train left the main railway station at Cannes, Barnato and his companion, amateur golfer Dale Bourne set off in Barnato�s Bentley Speed Six.
Barnato and his companion finally reached Calais at 10:30 in the morning, a distance of over 570 miles, having maintained an average speed of 43.43 mph, no mean feat on the dusty and rough roads of the time. After crossing the Channel in a packet steamer and driving hard for almost 700 miles, it was 3:20pm when Woolf Barnato parked his Speed Six outside the Conservative Club in St. James� Street in London. Just four minutes later the Blue Train arrived at the station in Calais...
Full Article: http://www.classicdriver.com/uk/magazine/3300.asp?id=12704
