Founded by Walter Owen "WO"
Bentley who started out modifying the French
DFP cars before deciding he could do much
better. For a decade Bentley was
responsible for manufacturing large, exotic,
fast and very expensive motor cars. The company
collapsed in 1925, recovered for a time and
then collapsed again in 1931. Taken over
by Rolls-Royce, the Bentley name would then
be used on modified and tuned Rollers. After
World War II several "unique" Bentleys
were manufactured, including the beautiful
two-door R-type Continental of 1952 and
S-type of 1955. Rolls-Royce, and thus Bentley,
were taken over in 1998 by Volkswagen, then
in turn BMW.
Also see: Lost
Marques Bentley.