Everything About This 100-Year-Old, 100-MPH Bentley Is Wrong

The piece profiles “Smoky,” a Bentley 3 Litre Supersports from the late 1920s/around 1930, described as a 100-year-old car capable of 100 mph with a chaotic mechanical character. The article says it originally left the factory with a 3.0-liter engine, but in the mid-1930s an owner swapped in a 4.5-liter engine from the company’s Le Mans racers, boosting output compared with the road car. It notes that later developments like the Bentley Blowers doubled power again. During a drive at Laguna Seca, it highlights straight-cut gears, an unsynchronized “crash box,” double-clutching, and a right-side clutch pedal.