14 August 2014 Ian Kendall - Bentley Motors
Thu, Aug 14th 2014 at 12:00 am - 12:00 am
Bentley Motors Head of Infotainment, Ian Kendall gave an illustrated talk on the history of Bentley Motors and some insight into the planning and production processes for the famous marque.
Members and visitors to last Thursday's meeting were greeted by the sight of an impressive Bentley Mulsanne motor car when they arrived.
No, there was no Lottery winner around but our speaker for the evening, Ian Kendall, is head of Infotainment at Bentley Motors and had brought along a top of the range model to show to members and visitors, John Owen, Alan Chodyniecki, son of member Wiesiek who is a long-time friend of our speaker, and Ian's partner, Mandy Thompson.
Following the meal, we were given an excellent illustrated talk by Ian on the history of Bentley Motors.
Founded by Walter Owen Bentley, an engineer, one of their earliest achievements was in designing the engine for the Sopwith Camel which was used extensively in the First World War. This earned Walter an MBE and an award of £8,000 which enabled him to set up a factory in Cricklewood which, in 1919, produced the first Bentley with the flying 'B' insignia. Sadly, this car no longer exists but the second car produced, Exp 2, is still around today.
The 1920's were a period of exciting developments as the quest for faster motors produced success for Bentley, finishing fourth in the inaugural Le Mans 24 hour race in 1923 and winning in 1924. However, the Great Depression in 1929 put an end to the development and Bentley was bought out by their great rival, Rolls Royce in 1931.
Production and development moved to Crewe after WW2 and Bentley continued to develop, albeit as a badge for Rolls Royce and with no real identity. The 1960's to 80's were Bentley's dark days but in 1998, the Volkswagen Group acquired the brand and started a new era of development. In the period 2002-2014, 70,000 cars were produced by the factory in Crewe which employs 4,000 people directly and some 15,000 indirectly. Last year's production was over 10,000 and the introduction of a new SUV model, due in 2016, could increase production significantly. Interestingly, Ian said they only had one process which used a robot - the application of the adhesive for the windscreen - all other construction was hand built.
Ian's role is in the 'Infotainment' section which deals with navigation, communication and telemetrics as well as the media, Wi-Fi and video aspects. It is a very fast moving business and the ever increasing pace of technological advance keeps Ian and his team of over 100 staff very busy.
John Kilby proposed the vote of thanks to Ian not only for the very interesting talk but also for bringing such an exclusive motor car along to show us.
