The rolling chassis was then shipped to the Pourtout workshop, Paulin's coach-builder of choice. Rolls-Royce, incidentally, believed the work was actually done by Vanvooren.

The Embiricos aerodynamic design was not widely accepted by Bentley's conservative customers. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)

The artisans at Pourtout crafted the body mostly out of aluminum to keep the car's weight down. Even the frames for the seats were constructed from the lightweight metal. Their efforts resulted in saving of over 220 pounds compared with a conventional body.

The Embiricos Bentley was completed in the summer of 1938 and immediately sent to the high-speed Montlhéry track just south of Paris for testing. The car barely broke the 100 mph mark but it was reported to handle very well.

Although Embiricos took delivery of his Bentley shortly thereafter, he generously offered the car for subsequent testing. During one of these tests, the Embiricos Bentley broke the 80 mph record average set by a Grosser Mercedes-Benz on the stretch of Autobahn between Berlin and Munich.

Bentley engineers raised the output for the straight-6 engine to 142 horsepower. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)

Running on larger wheels, the modified Bentley averaged more than 110 mph on a four-mile section. Later that year, it went marginally faster around Brooklands, so the car had certainly proved its point. Embiricos sold his unique Bentley late in 1939 to HSF Hay.

Hay thoroughly enjoyed his latest acquisition and used it on the road for many years. With more than 60,000 miles on the clock, he entered the Embiricos Bentley in the first post-War edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1949.

Despite its age, the streamlined machine still managed a commendable sixth in the race. He entered the race twice more and recorded 14th- and 22nd- place finishes. By then, the odometer read a startling 120,000 miles. Hay finally sold his much-loved Embiricos Bentley in 1969.

Since then it changed hands several times and was even repainted blue. In recent years, the unique Bentley joined a very prominent collection. It was restored to its original gun-metal silver color and shown at many events. In 2001, it won Best of Show at Meadowbrook. For the Bentley's 90th anniversary celebrations, it was brought back to Pebble Beach in 2009 where it is seen here.

The original reservations about a streamlined design on a Bentley design had been partly correct. Despite its obviously superior performance, the Embiricos Bentley was not received with universal approval. The styling was clearly too advanced for the average Bentley buyer, and no other 4¼ Litre chassis was sent to France for a similar treatment.

The R-Type Continental launched in 1952 was the closest Bentley came to adapting Paulin's ideas. It can hardly come as a surprise that the Continental, and most of its successors to this day, continue to sport the large, upright Bentley radiator.

For more photos, see Embiricos Bentley.

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