TALLY HO! IT’S A BABY BENTLEY

Deep in the heart of Oxfordshire, a small car company with big ideas is helping to recreate the ultimate automotive toy. Some of motoring’s most iconic models are being scaled down and fully electrified, honouring coveted classics that would otherwise cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pounds to own.

The Little Car Company is based at the Bicester Heritage centre – a one-stop shop for all things automotive – and has been building the best and most expensive big boy’s toys since 2019. Forget Lego kits, LCC works with the elite of luxury manufacturers to recreate exact replicas of legendary cars we all know and love.

From Aston Martin to Bugatti and Ferrari, a close partnership with the original car manufacturer is key to the LCC philosophy. A small team of engineering experts at Bicester then has access to detailed build plans of the original, road-going model, ensuring the ‘junior’ versions look and feel every bit as good.

The latest hand-built model is based on a 240bhp Bentley Blower, perhaps the most important car in the marque’s illustrious history. The original Bentley Blower famously raced at Le Mans in 1930, powered by a supercharged 4.5-litre engine that rumbled and roared into the history book.

Today, a Blower is one of the rarest cars on the planet. To prove the point, three years ago Bentley announced a limited edition run of 12 ‘Continuation’ cars – each one an exact scale recreation of the model that first cemented Bentley’s racing pedigree.

Bentley spent 40,000-man hours completing each Continuation car, much of the detail the result of laser-scanning the original. The price matched the exclusivity at a mind-boggling £1.8 million but it sold out in an instance.

In comparison, LCC’s 85 per cent scale Junior version uses a modest, 15kWh electric motor capable of 20bhp. The road legal car returns zero emissions, plus none of the noise and drama that followed the original whenever it took to the track.

The first 99 examples of Blower Junior will be ‘first edition’ models. Each will feature unique badging on the bonnet, door sills and dash, as well as an engraved and numbered ‘1 of 99’ plaque. Finished in Blower Green, a Union flag hand-painted on both sides of the body replicates the original. My favourite feature? A rope-bound steering wheel!

Ingeniously, the Junior is classified as an L7e quadricycle, which is the loophole to road usage in the UK. The bodywork is crafted in two sections, and while the rear structure is cut from carbon fibre rather than an ash wood frame, the material is covered in impregnated fabric, just like the original of the late 1920s.

A long, lean bonnet is cut with multiple cooling louvres – one of the most memorable features of the Blower. Hand-crafted in aluminium, it uses original Bentley build techniques and is fastened with beautiful, leather-buckled bonnet straps.

The two-person cockpit is in a 1+1 layout, with a central adjustable driving position and the passenger travelling behind in the rear seat. An optional bespoke weekend bag fits behind in the scaled down and repurposed fuel tank, complete with lockable latch.

Duncan Grey, commercial director at LCC, explained: “The people who buy our cars come from all walks of life. Some want to add to their existing classic collection, others to drive on their estates or at their holiday homes – even inside their homes.

“The great thing about our cars so far is that they have not just been for children, anybody can drive them. The Blower Junior is the first LCC vehicle that it is road legal, so an adult with a license can drive it anywhere and enjoy the thrill of an historic motor car.”

The Blower Junior frame is painted steel, with original-style leaf suspension springs. Modern disc brakes are fitted at the front, with drums at the rear to provide the stopping power. And the electric motor? That’s mounted across the rear axle, while the batteries and drive electronics are all housed in a hidden undertray.

At the front of the car, the supercharger now houses the charging port that connects the onboard charger to any socket – imagine pulling up in a Blower Junior at a public charging station! The port is surrounded by the famous Bentley mesh grille, in an authentic nickel-plated radiator housing.

Inside, the dashboard looks like a scaled-down replica of the original. However, while Birkin could adjust the fuel pressure pump, it has been repurposed as the drive mode selector in the electric Junior.

Forward, neutral and reverse gears are selected via a lever that looks and feels like the ignition control from the original Blower. Other switchgear for the headlights and indicators copies the form of the old-school magneto switches from the 1930s car.

Ben Hedley, CEO of The Little Car Company, added: “The Blower Junior is a modern reimagining of not only one of motorsport’s most iconic racers, but also one of the most important cars of the 20th century.

“Our team has worked meticulously to ensure that each new feature of the Blower Junior enhances the driving experience. It offers drivers a substantial, tangible taste of what it feels like to be behind the wheel of the original.”

With a top speed of 45mph and an all-electric range of 65 miles, the 3.7-metre long Blower Junior could have been built especially for driving on the Channel Islands. It’s unlikely to land you a speeding ticket and slots into a tight parking space easily too.

The downside? Toy cars of this standard of build don’t come cheap. The First Edition costs £108,000, roughly the same as an entry-level, full-size Range Rover, or a Porsche 911. I doubt either will provide quite as much head-turning fun, though.