FEATURE CAR BENTLEY BLIZZARD
It's not often a road test article needs to begin by explaining to readers what the subject car is, but in the case of the Bentley Blizzard, the origin story is everything.
We announced the completion of the first road-going, fully functional Blizzard in our July/August issue this year. In case you missed that, allow us to fill you in. The car is a realisation of an idea from 1950 by Ivan Evernden, then Chief Projects Engineer at RollsRoyce. He and John Blatchley are thought to have guided designer and painter Cecily Jenner, who created the only surviving sketches of a two-seat open roadster, based on a Bentley Mk VI chassis and mechanical components. These sketches inspired father-andson team Stephen and Chris Pearson of Chesman Motorsport to work with R-type and S-series Continental experts Padgett Motor Engineers and create the real thing, as part of a limited series of 15 hand-built cars.
The finished article is remarkably like the sketches Jenner produced. Turning a few pencil portraits into a motor car – and a truly Crewe-standard, productionised motor car – has been an immense task over several years. But finally, in the summer of 2023 the first Blizzard was ready for the road. After a few hundred shakedown miles in the hands of its builders, it was our turn.
The Blizzard is built on an original Bentley Mk VI chassis and running gear, modified in some important ways. First, the wheelbase is reduced to suit a
