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The Le Mans 24hrs race has borne witness to some incredible feats of endurance in its 100 year history. But as the race celebrates its centenary in 2023 with the new Hypercars from manufacturers like Ferrari, Porsche, Cadillac and Toyota, we drive a Bentley from the 1930s that competed in 1950 and finished eighth. Why? because its driver (there’s a clue in there) did something extraordinary.
Eddie Hall (not the World’s Strongest Man) is the only person in the history of Le Mans to drive the entire 24-hour race on his own. What’s more, he did this when he was 50 years old and in a car that was 16 years old at the time. It wasn’t the intention of the ACO that anyone should drive the whole race single-handed, but they hadn’t specifically forbidden it because they presumably thought no one would be mad enough. After Hall’s exploits, however, it was written into the rules, so his feat will never be repeated.
The car is interesting too, because it is an early Derby Bentley that started life with a 3.5-litre engine but was upgraded to 4.25-litres by the factory and also acquired new bodywork in 1936. In fact Rolls-Royce (who owned Bentley at the the time) didn’t want to go racing, but the company did agree to support Hall in his exploits. Today the car belongs to The Revs Institute in Florida which keeps it in fine running order.
We also snuck in a quick drive in the closest modern equivalent to the old car, namely a new Bentley Continental GTC S. Suffice to say that if one were to attempt 24hrs non-stop in this turbocharged V8 with its massage seats and NAIM stereo, it would be a relative piece of cake. Of course the weather was delightful when Henry was driving this car that possesses a roof and rather more soggy when he was in the old, roofless car. C’est la vie.
We hope you enjoy the film - are there any other pre-war cars that you’d like to see Henry Catchpole try to squeeze his lanky frame into? If so, let us know in the comments down below. Many thanks, as ever, for watching, sharing, subscribing and remembering to switch on your headlights when the weather is foggy. And if you’re in the US and you haven’t done so already, please do think about joining the Hagerty Drivers Club - not only is it great, it also helps us to keep making videos like this! https://bit.ly/Join-HDC-Henry
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