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1/24 scale Franklin Mint 4,5 ltr Blower Bentley

Initially this looked like it was going to be a definitive 24th scale 'Blower' Bentley. How disappointed I was when it finally came to market to find the model is not based on a known 'Blower' Bentley team car.

It seems to have been based on one of the many replica cars built up over the Years for enthusiasts because there was not enough real 'Blower' cars available. A real 'Blower' Bentley team car does not have Two spare wheels!

I never did buy this model so have not been able to measure the wheelbase to help with identifying what real car it is based on. Yes it does have great detail, but they are the wrong details for me...

Ghosthunter.

GHOSTHUNTER wrote:Initially this looked like it was going to be a definitive 24th scale 'Blower' Bentley. How disappointed I was when it finally came to market to find the model is not based on a known 'Blower' Bentley team car.

It seems to have been based on one of the many replica cars built up over the Years for enthusiasts because there was not enough real 'Blower' cars available. A real 'Blower' Bentley team car does not have Two spare wheels!

I never did buy this model so have not been able to measure the wheelbase to help with identifying what real car it is based on. Yes it does have great detail, but they are the wrong details for me...

Ghosthunter.

In my perception there was no Blower Bentley team car, I always call them Birkin/Paget team cars, as W.O. was thoroughly against supercharging his cars.
There is an original Blower Bentley, one of the 55(?) built, with twin spare wheels chassis SM 3916, but that was not a real racer and had a different F.W. bodywork.

I do like this model in spite of the question whether it is completely accurate or not.

Or maybe it looks more like this one, the 4,5 ltr chassis NT3131, completely restored/rebuilt to Birkin specifications.

OK, to rephrase it would have been better to say...A real Birkin/Paget team car (which were 'Blower' cars), did not have have Two spare wheels.

Yes it does look very similar to the car in your pictures.

Ghosthunter.

NT 3131, XV 1200, is a replica Le Mans race car from 1990 on a 9 feet 9.5 inch chassis and one of the many problems of cars like this is the fact they often use genuine parts or even a genuine 'Blower' car with just a replica race car body.

Ghosthunter.

SM 3916, GK 8443, is a proper 1931 'production' (1 of the 50 cars produced to prove it could done for official model recognition), 'Blower' car fitted with a Gurney Nutting 2 seater body.

Ghosthunter.