Bentley, original Bentley Mark VI brochure leaflet designed and printed by Herbt Fitch & Co. Ltd., circa 1940s 1950s.
Bentley Motor Cars is a British company, now owned by the Volkswagen Group, founded in 1919 in Cricklewood by Walter Owen Bentley, known as WO, and has always been considered a company that produces luxury cars with a sporty soul. In fact, Bentley's participation in sporting competitions has been known since the early 1920s and thanks to the sporting soul of its founder, Bentley has also managed to obtain numerous successes, such as the first victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans of 1924 to be followed by those of 1927, 28, 29, 30 and 2003, but, also, financial problems following the disastrous participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1925, a participation which then determined the sale of the company majority from part of WO Bentley, but, does not have its founder's exit from the management of Bentley Motor Cars. The financial problems already manifested in 1925, the depression of 1929 and other contributing factors brought Bentley Motor Cars to the verge of bankruptcy, a bankruptcy which was avoided only thanks to the intervention of Rolls-Royce Ltd of Manchester, Bentley's eternal rival. In 1931, in fact, the Manchester company became the owner of the Cricklewood one, after presenting a secret bid at the auction held by the British Equitable Trust precisely to save Bentley from bankruptcy. The years following the acquisition by Rolls-Royce were dark years for Bentley because Bentley was relegated to a mere minor brand of its "sister Rolls-Royce and only in 1998 was the separation between the two companies, when Rolls-Royce Ltd was purchased by the Volskwagen Group.Instead, 2003 marks the rebirth and definitive independence of the Bentley brand from Rolls-Royce with the presentation of the Bentley Continental GT, the first car entirely designed, engineered and built by the Cricklewood car manufacturer in the historic Crewe plant after about 70 years of life spent in the shadow and under the employ of the Manchester company.The historic Crewe plant, in addition to marking the rebirth of the Bentley brand, is important for the British company because, in 1946, with the presentation of the Bentley Mark VI, an automotive era ended and a new way of building Bentley cars began. ted from 1909 to 1949 they were supplied to customers equipped only with engines mounted on chassis, chassis which were then set up with bodies made by the customer's trusted coachbuilder. The Bentley Mark VI produced from 1949 to 1952, on the other hand, is the first Bentley car to be supplied to customers with a chassis set up by the Park Ward coachbuilder and entirely built in the Crewe plant, after the factory was reconverted to post-war car production; it was, however, granted to customers to be able to customize the interior of the Bentley cars they purchased.
The brochure, with an introduction by Raymond Mays, a former British racing driver and one of the creators of the development of historic Formula 1 teams such as ERA and BRM, is actually a book, also hand-bound, which tells the story of Mays with the Bentley cars, talks about the "new" Bentley Mark VI model, sending its technical characteristics and also includes drawings and technical details of the English car. They complete the brochure n. 5 cards showing the images and drawings with the actual measurements of the 5 versions then available for the Bentley Mark VI.
Excellent general condition considering its age, however it does show signs of wear as clearly visible in the phot
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