Why you absolutely need an electric mini Bentley Blower furnished with Russian reindeer leather

Hedley Studios has just revealed one of the more unlikely design collaborations — an 85% scale reinterpretation of a 1929 Bentley Blower, completed with the help of London’s renowned shoemaker, George Cleverley.

Over the years, the famous Mayfair atelier has handcrafted footwear for Sir Winston Churchill, Clark Gable and Sir Laurence Olivier. More recently it stitched a pair of shoes for, ahem, Sir David Beckham, while The King has a pair of Cleverley brogues cut from reindeer leather found in the 1786 shipwreck of the Metta Catharina.

Preserved under a layer of thick, black mud, that same historic leather has now been woven sparingly into the interior of the iconic Bentley created by Oxfordshire-based Hedley Studios. It’s a battery-powered model, which is road legal and currently offered for sale at £170,000.

The one-of-one Bentley Blower Jnr features small cuts of the rare hide on the hand-stitched steering wheel and seatbelt covers. George Glasgow, CEO of George Cleverley, said the collaboration represented something truly extraordinary.

‘It’s not just the marriage of two British craft traditions, but the use of some of our final remaining pieces of Russian reindeer leather from the Metta Catharina. When we commit this historic material to a project, it must be worthy of its provenance.

‘This one-of-a-kind car felt like the perfect tribute to both Bentley's racing heritage and the remarkable story of these 239-year-old hides. Once this leather is gone, it's gone forever — there will never be another project quite like this.’

Hedley Studios was originally launched as The Little Car Company in 2019. Since then, the Bicester firm has built more than 500 classic car models, including versions of a 1296 Bugatti Type 35, 250 Testa Rossa and an Aston Martin DB5. Most are 75% scale replicas not designed for road use, but the larger Blower Jnr, with an electric range of up to 65 miles, is street legal.

Launched earlier this year, just 349 examples of the legendary Le Mans car are currently under construction, including 99 First Edition versions. However, the George Cleverley model, painted in eye-catching Claret, is set to be the ultimate expression of Britishness.

With a dashboard finished in Koa, a rare Hawaiian hardwood historically used in surfboards and prized for its strength, plus a bespoke nameplate reading ‘GC 1 of 1’ to underline the car’s singular status, the Bentley’s historic hide is only referenced by the number ‘86’ painted on the grille — a nod to the year 1786, when the Metta Catharina sank.

Earlier this month, I was the first journalist to drive the car at Hedley Studios’ headquarters. The company is based at a former Second World War RAF airfield, seemingly the ideal place to enjoy this one-of-one EV.

However, although the reindeer hide survived more than two centuries underwater, the Bentley’s extensive Tuscan leather interior was not designed for torrential downpours, curtailing my driving experience to a quick whizz around the block.

Although the original Blower never won the Le Mans, the car famously broke the track record at the Brooklands circuit, not once, but twice. A cacophony of noise and speed, the open cockpit roadster also inspired author Ian Fleming to hand Bond the keys to a 4 ½-litre in his first novel, Casino Royale.

Blower Jnr is a silent experience and small by comparison, but it’s very big on personality. The original 1929 racer measured over 14ft and weighed more than 3.5 tonnes. By comparison, the George Cleverley car is just a third of the weight, much of that ballast provided by a 15kWh battery pack underneath the floor.

And instead of a 16-valve, four-cylinder petrol engine, underneath the leather-strapped, louvred bonnet in front of me is nothing but fresh air. Technically the first all-electric Bentley ever built, the Hedley Studios model is still an absolute hoot to drive.

The electric charge port is cunningly hidden in the fake, front-mounted supercharger unit, while a re-purposed fuel tank at the rear provides enough luggage space for a Fortnum and Mason hamper, as well as the charger cable. There’s even room for a passenger because the Jnr cockpit is configured in a 1 + 1 tandem layout.

This car is much more than a jolly jape, though. In fact, there’s absolutely no reason why the Blower Jnr couldn’t be a regular commuter car during the sunny seasons. Returning zero emissions, it offers the eco-conscious motorist a fun way to overcome any emissions-based congestion charge and is more practical than it first appears.

Looking down that long bonnet — surely a bucket list moment for any motoring enthusiast — I peer over chrome-plated driving lamps and spoked wheels shod in wafer-thin, period correct tyres. A full-size spare is attached on the near side, just in front of a Union flag motif mounted on the single door.

What’s missing? Perhaps an umbrella, because the original Blower had no weather protection and some of the clouds overhead look certain to burst at any moment. A tiny, crested-moon windshield provides little solace, but I’m giggling so much that not even a monsoon would dampen my enthusiasm for this remarkable little car.