Articles

Extract:
It is often said that the term “supercar” was coined to describe the Lamborghini Miura, which burst into the motoring world exactly 50 years ago, but that belief is as incorrect as it is commonly held. That is not to say that the Miura wasn’t a watershed, because it did set the template for every supercar since. It wasn’t the first rear-mid-engined sports car for the road – that honour goes to the Matra Djet – but the combination of that sonorous, transversely mounted 4.0-litre V12 and drop-dead gorgeous looks by Bertone seared the Miura into the public psyche. But the first supercar? Think again.

Extract:
The concept of brute force was combined with engineering genius to create the defining car of the Twenties. Ironically, Bentley ruled the best part of the decade even without the Blower, but when engineer Amherst Villiers and team driver Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin supercharged a Bentley 4½ they created a legend. Just over 50 of the cars wore their Roots-type “blowers” prominently in front of their grilles. Simply put, supercharging means that rather than the engine being naturally aspirated, the air that mixes with the fuel is pushed into the engine at a constant pressure, hence the phrase forced induction. Thanks to rival Ettore Bugatti dubbing them the world’s fastest lorries, Twenties Bentleys have a reputation of being truck-like but they are anything but truck-like to drive, except for the famously recalcitrant gearbox. Riding the steady wave of power delivered by a blown Bentley is one of the great driving experiences.