Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Absolutely Love This

 


6 comments:

  1. What is this? A blower Bentley?

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  2. This is the dashboard of a 1929 Bentley 4 1/2 Litre "Blower" Le Mans team car, recognized by its complex arrangement of racing gauges.

    The dashboard features a distinct billiard counter used for tracking laps and a chronographic clock.

    These vehicles are known for their supercharged engines, which increased power to 175bhp, and a busy cockpit layout intended for endurance racing.

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  3. I see what looks like a Clock, Vacuum Gauge, RPMs, above it a Dash Light Bar, "Air?...?, Oil Pressure...?, a Joy stick? Couple of knobs that could be "Choke"? Those 2 glass bowls - what the heck is that???

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    Replies
    1. Probably fuel valves.

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    2. The joy stick is the knob of an air pump. There were no reliable fuel pumps in the '20s so many cars had the driver pump up air pressure in the tank to push fuel to the carburetor. Model Ts and many others were gravity fed by placing the tank above the engine but race cars put the tank as low as possible.
      Al_in_Ottawa

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    3. Actually there was a Vacuum Tank fuel pump that was reliable. It used a series of floats and needle valves to pull fuel from the fuel tank with vacuum into a chamber, then dumped it into another bowl for gravity feed to the carb float. Works well on my '27 Chrysler, but I don't know if it would work in high g turns on a racing car.

      My dad's '26 Cadillac phaeton has the fuel tank pressurizing pump like the one shown in the photo though.

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