Bentley Blue Train 1930 Painting by Paul Meijering

About "Bentley Blue Train 1930 Painting"

by Paul Meijering

About the artwork

Realistic acrylic painting of the Bentley Blue Train, painted by the Dutch fine artist Paul Meijering - the original painting is 120 x 90 cm and for sale

Barnato drove an H. J. Mulliner-bodied Bentley Speed Six formal saloon during the race,which became known as the Blue Train Bentley. Two months later, on 21 May 1930, he took delivery of a new Bentley Speed Six streamlined fastback "Sportsman Coupe" by Gurney Nutting. Barnato named it the "Blue Train Special" in memory of his race, and it too became commonly referred to as the Blue Train Bentley. The H. J. Mulliner-bodywork was stripped off the original car's chassis to make place for a bespoke replacement, as was common practice for automobiles at that time.
As time passed, the Gurney Nutting-bodied car was regularly mistaken for or erroneously referred to as being the car that had raced the Blue Train. This was reiterated in articles and in Terence Cuneo's painting of the race, which shows the Gurney Nutting coupé just ahead of the train. In 2005 Bentley featured the coupé in the company's promotional material celebrating the race's 75th anniversary.
Careful reading of Barnato's account of the race, published in the 1946 British Racing Drivers' Club review, show that Barnato referred to "my Speed Six saloon," keeping petrol cans in the boot, and having only one spare tyre, while the Sportsman Coupė had no boot and two spare tyres, one on either side of the bonnet. Research efforts by Bru