Driving the Bentley Blower Jnr: the ultimate blend of past, present and future

First introduced in 2023, the Bentley Blower Jnr is an all-electric 85 per cent scale reinterpretation of the Bentley Blower Team Car #2 of 1929. Bentley describes the Blower Jnr as “more than a car,” but as “an opportunity to own a piece of history,” and its connection to a proud heritage one of its main selling points.

Team Car #2 is arguably the most renowned of the 14 Team Cars built. With a supercharged 4.5-litre engine (much to the disapproval of W.O. Bentley), it was driven by Tim Birkin at Brooklands and Le Mans. Its best result came in 1930, when it finished a remarkable second in the French Grand Prix amid a field of Bugatti Type 35s. Now insured for £25million, it is the most valuable Bentley in the world.

So, how do you scale down such history? From looks alone it’s an immaculate effort. The Blower Jnr’s carbon-fibre body and aluminium bonnet do the Team Car #2 justice at its shrunken 3.7-metre length and 1.5-metre width, but the clever repurposed supercharger-turned-charging port drags it into modernity. The 10.8kWh battery charges in around three to five hours, and with the engine gone there’s now space for a tidy bit of luggage under the bonnet. Hedley says it endeavoured to use original materials as much as possible and in the most respectful way, hence the steel chassis paired with Brembo disc brakes.

If you haven’t had your fill of history you can turn to the paintwork. Configuration packs offer options from British Racing Green to a grey said to pay tribute to the road-going spec Woolf Barnato converted his Le Mans-winning Speed Six into. Dawn and Atlantic Blue hues tie into the famous Blue Train that Barnato raced and beat in his Bentley Speed Six from the Cote d’Azur to Calais in 1930. And if you’re going all in, you might as well add a Union Flag and a race number to the door and radiator.

The other selling point this little machine relies on is a promise to turn nostalgia into reality. The Blower Jnr is nobody’s first choice car; that is to say, this is hardly the car you’d be jumping in to run your errands. But it is the car you wish you could use all the time, if only you were always in the sunny English countryside idyl this car encapsulates.  

“When we started the project,” Hedley told us, “I said to my engineers, ‘let's make the ultimate pub car.” The Blower Jnr hits that mark – so long as it’s not raining. With such a niche vision behind its creation, does it matter that the Blower Jnr can’t offer much else?

Just a short test drive provides a resounding answer: No.

Any hesitations concerning the practicalities of this car fall victim to its unquestionable charm and the sheer fun it delivers on the road. Only certain roads, though. Driving the Blower Jnr in Jersey may have been a spectacular experience, but it was a curated one. “We figured it was the perfect place to come and drive Blower Jnr,” explained Mike Sayer, Head of Bentley Heritage Collection, “because a lot of the roads feel like they're scaled down from a normal road.”

Jersey also has the distinction of an island-wide 40mph speed limit, perfect for the Blower Jnr; its 45mph top speed is delivered by a 48-volt powertrain producing 20PS (15kW). When you’re driving on winding country lanes with views of the Atlantic, it feels like much more. Then there’s the wind factor. Any real speed you hit is accompanied by a blasting of wind to set the eyes watering – even with my regular glasses I wasn’t immune, so it may be best to consider a pair of goggles.

Such a blurring of my vision should have made me somewhat afraid, but I couldn’t bring myself to be scared when I was having so much fun. Driving the Blower Jnr is a gleeful and exhilarating experience you’ll be hard-pressed to find elsewhere, because there really is very little like it.

As exposed to the elements as you are, the cockpit has a cocoon-like quality, aided by the central driving position, that helps the car feel neither too big nor small once you’re seated. And the charm continues inside, where sleekness is swapped for glorious texture. Leather seats, wool lining, wooden flooring – you can even opt for an authentic rope-bound steering wheel just like the Team Car #2. The original car’s wheel is big enough to skim the tops of its driver’s thighs and Blower Jnr channels that into its own large wheel.

Unlike the original, however, this car has indicators, operated by a Caterham-style switch that you have to flick on and off. Other modern touches include optional Bluetooth speakers, and an electronic screen that seamlessly blends into the period-feel dashboard, where there’s a gold lever to choose between drive, neutral and reverse gear. The handbrake is a large gold clamp outside of the cockpit, and there is a wooden knob to select between Comfort, Bentley, and Sport driving modes.

It may not provide the most comfortable drive of your life but the ride is surprisingly smooth, the pedals responsive and the brakes firm enough to instil confidence when driving. Everything about the Blower Jnr offers a sensory experience. Electric vehicles often carry the idea of being streamlined, silent and anonymous, whether you’re a driver, passenger or observer, the Blower Jnr forces you to experience it and there’s something to be said for that.

There’s no escaping that there’s a very specific scenario in which you’d make best use of this car. Leaving the countryside and arriving in town, the mere thought of being held up at a set of traffic lights in a Blower Jnr was somewhat less appealing, but when you’re in the right environment there’s nowhere else you’d rather be. 

The Bentley Blower Jnr is not designed to be sensible, nor is it intended to shift huge quantities. Hedley reports only 349 Blower Jnrs will ever be built, 99 launch editions and 250 “serious cars,” all of which will be snapped up by collectors wanting to buy in to the history of Team Car #2.

In partnering with Bentley, Hedley also remarked on the opportunity to do something different, “something a bit fun that normal, larger OEMs are sort of hamstrung to do.” In an industry that can take itself too seriously the Blower Jnr is the antidote, an electric car where being electric is the least interesting thing about it, but still provides a perfect balance between the proud past and a promising future.

The Blower Jnr exists to deliver an enjoyable driving experience and it does so in abundance, even if that experience only takes you from your village cottage to the quaint country pub down the road. If there’s fun to be had, what do the limitations matter when you’ll be grinning the whole way there?