Bentley Blower reborn as £90k small electric Citroën Ami-rival
So you want a small electric car for inner-city commuting?
You could go for the ever-so-cute Citroen Ami, or the shape-shifting City Transformer.
But now there is a third way, as The Little Car Company has teamed up with British car maker Bentley to create a road-legal, electric scaled version of the marque’s storied Blower Bentley racer.
Called the Blower Jnr, the small EV based on the storied 1929 supercharged 4 1⁄2 litre Blower Bentley, specifically the Team Car No.2, one of four competition machines developed by racing driver Sir Tim Birkin.
The four cars took part in 12 races, with the most famous being the Team Car No.2’s adventure in the 1930 Le Mans 24 Hours.
In the 1960’s the car was restored and has been part of the Bentley heritage fleet since 2000.
The original team car from 1929 was insured for a staggering £25m and used by the Little car company to recreate the 85% scale car.
Measuring 3700 long and 1500 mm wide, the Blower Jnr is the firm’s first ever road-legal machine.
Powered by a 15kW motor and 48V electrical system, the Blower Jnr is claimed to have an official range of 65 miles and can travel at up to 45 mph.
It’s far from cheap though, with the Blower Jnr priced from an eye-watering £90,000 excluding vat. That makes the Citroën Ami – which costs £7695 – rather good value for money.
The bodywork is crafted in two sections, with the rear of the car made from carbon fibre and covered in an impregnated fabric just like the original Blower Bentley.
Sitting on a painted steel frame, the Blower Jnr gets scaled-down leaf springs and friction dampers, with Brembo disc brakes added to the front and drums at the rear.,
The electric motor is mounted on the rear axle, while the batteries and electronics are stowed away underneath the car.
Rather than being purely for show, the supercharger on the front of the Blower Jnr houses the charging port, which is compatible with both Type 1 or Type 2 sockets.
The Blower Jnr carries over the original car’s mesh grille and gets an authentic nickel-plated radiator housing.
Move inside and the micro EV is almost identical to that of the original, with some minor tweaks to capture the Blower Junior’s EV characteristics.
For example, the fuel pressure pump on the dash has been redesigned as the drive selector, with three different modes available, including Comfort (2kW), Bentley (8kW) and Sport (15kW).
The drive selector mimics the look and feel of the original car’s ignition advance control, while the headlights and indicators are copies of the magento switches from the Team No.2 car. And due to its narrower body, the passenger sits behind the driver.
You get some more modern touches, too, with a USB charging port and dual-function display that features a Garmin satellite navigation screen and a reversing camera.
The first 99 Blower Jnr’s will be First Edition models and will feature First Edition badging on the bonnet, an engraved and numbered ‘1 of 99’ plaque. All are finished in Blower green and a hand-painted Union Flag.
Production of the Blower Jnr is set to begin in mid-2024.
