Bentley Speed Six Team Bentley Motors Ltd No. 3 Sammy Davis Clive Dunfee 24h Le Mans 1930 Spark Model 1:43

The 1930 24 Hours of Le Mans marked the close of one of the most dominant campaigns in endurance racing history. Bentley entered several 1:43-worthy Speed Sixes, and Spark Model has committed car #3 — the Team Bentley Motors Ltd entry of Sammy Davis and Clive Dunfee — to resin at 1:43 scale, preserving the pre-war silhouette and deep British Racing Green livery that define the Bentley Boys era.

The 6½ Litre Speed Six: Bentley's Racing Weapon

Introduced in 1928 as the high-performance derivative of the Bentley 6½ Litre, the Speed Six ran a 6,597 cc overhead-cam inline-six fed by twin SU carburettors and a raised compression ratio. In full open racing trim the car measured approximately 4,775 mm end to end. It was built to compete at the highest level of long-distance racing, and in 1930 it did exactly that — the works team fielded multiple cars at Le Mans, and the marque took the outright win for the fifth consecutive time.

Le Mans 1930: The Last Bentley Triumph

On 21–22 June 1930, at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Bentley entered a works team wearing the dark British Racing Green that was the traditional livery for British competition cars. Car #4, driven by Woolf Barnato and Glen Kidston, crossed the line first. Car #3 — carrying race number 3 under the Team Bentley Motors Ltd banner and entrusted to Sammy Davis and Clive Dunfee — retired before the finish. Sammy Davis had previously co-driven a Bentley 3 Litre to victory at Le Mans in 1927, making his 1930 DNF one of the race's more poignant entries.

Spark Model's Resin 1:43 Scale Model

Spark Model reproduces the Bentley Speed Six #3 in resin at 1:43 scale. Resin allows precise reproduction of the pre-war open body — the long bonnet line, cycle wings and exposed mechanical detail that distinguish these cars from every post-war Le Mans entry. The dark British Racing Green livery is applied to the one-piece body shell, with race number 3 and Team Bentley Motors Ltd identification faithfully represented. The computed model length sits at approximately 11.0 cm (4,775 mm ÷ 43).

In the Display Cabinet

At 11.0 cm long, the model fits comfortably on a standard 1:43 shelf alongside any period endurance racing collection. The natural pairing is the Bentley Speed Six #4 (Barnato/Kidston, Le Mans 1930 winner) — placing both cars together tells the complete story of that final Bentley victory. The dark BRG open-tourer body reads strikingly against silver or aluminium display surfaces and contrasts well with the closed-body competition cars of the 1930s and 1940s that often populate pre-war collections.