Bentley revives iconic Blower as ‘ultimate electric urban vehicle’

Luxury car manufacturer Bentley, part of the VW Group, is reviving its iconic 1929 4 1/2-litre Supercharged ‘Blower’ model as an electric car.

In cooperation with The Little Car Company, Bentley has developed a road-legal replica of the combustion classic that has been shrunk to 85% of the size of the original model and now drives entirely electrically.

The original Team Car from 1929, insured for £25 million, was used by The Little Car Company to master the design of Blower Jr. Unlike The Little Car Company’s other products, Blower Jr is fully road legal and explicitly designed to be used on the road.

Hand-built

The hand-built BEV called ‘Blower Junior’ weighs 550 kilograms, is about 3,70 meters long and 1,50 meters wide, and offers space for two people (one behind the other).

The frame is painted steel, to which an authentic chassis specification is attached. Leaf springs and scaled-down, period-correct friction dampers bring a comfortable ride, while Brembo disc brakes at the front and drums at the rear provide the stopping power.

The bodywork is crafted in two sections, and while the rear body structure is crafted in carbon fiber rather than being an ash frame, it’s covered in impregnated fabric, just as the original. With its multiple cooling louvers, the hood is hand-crafted in aluminum using traditional techniques and fastened with beautiful leather buckled bonnet straps.

The two-person cockpit is in a 1+1 layout, with a central adjustable driving position and the passenger traveling behind in the rear seat. An optional bespoke weekend bag fits back in the scaled-down and repurposed fuel tank, complete with a lockable latch.

At the front of the car, the supercharger now houses the charging port that connects the onboard charger to any Type 1 or Type 2 socket. It’s surrounded by the famous Bentley mesh grille in an authentic nickel-plated radiator housing.

The electric motor is mounted across the rear axle, while the batteries and drive electronics are all housed in a hidden undertray.

The 48 V electric powertrain produces up to 15 kW and allows the ‘Junior’, registered in the EU and Great Britain as a category L7e vehicle, to reach a top speed of 45 mph or 72 kph. The expected range is 65 miles or just over 100 kilometers.

In the US, the top speed is restricted to 25 mph or 40 kph due to the regulations there. Production of the Blower Junior is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2024, beginning with 99 examples of a ‘First Edition’.

Look and feel from yesterday

At first glance, the dashboard looks like a scaled-down replica of the original, with Engine Turned Aluminum forming the dashboard itself. The fuel pressure pump has been repurposed as the drive mode selector, with a choice of Comfort (2 kW), Bentley (8 kW), or Sport for a maximum power of 15 kW.

Forward, Neutral, and Reverse are selected via a lever that looks and feels like the ignition advance control from the original Blower. Other switchgear for the headlights and indicators copies the form and materiality of the magneto switches from the Team Car, while the battery charge gauge recreates the original ampere meter.

A USB charging point is discreetly concealed until required, and a dual-function display that serves as a Garmin satellite navigation screen and reversing camera completes the cabin.