Wherefore Displacement

“There’s no replacement for displacement” is an adage as old as the internal combustion engine itself. Early horseless carriages beat their competition by increasing the stroke of their single-cylinder engines – eleven inches of stroke wasn’t unheard of – and this practice continued into the days of 11-liter Hispano-Suizas, 24-cylinder Duesenberg speedboat engines, and, of course, big Bentleys.

Bentley enjoyed enormous success with early 3-liter engines and the later 4 ½-liter “Blower Bentleys,” but the jump to 6 ½- and eventually 8-liter engines came from an unexpected rendezvous. In the charming prosody of automotive historian Ralph Stein:

“The birth of the 6 1/2-litre Bentley was due to a strange coincidence. The Bentley Factory was experimenting with the prototype of a 4 ¼-litre six. To this end they fitted the chassis with an extraordinarily ugly sedan body and disguised its front end with an angular radiator shell of particularly nauseating appearance,” and Bentley himself and three accomplices set off for France for testing (and to watch the French Grand Prix. Then, “they were rapidly approaching a Y junction as another strange-looking and unrecognizable car raced for the junction on the other leg. Neither of them gave way and both cars flew into the stem of the Y side by side. Both parties immediately saw through the camouflage. The other car was the new Phantom I Rolls-Royce, also on test. Both drivers stamped on their accelerators and roared along side by side, filling the narrow tree-lined route nationale, neither managing to best the other, kilometer after kilometer, up and down hill. They’d very likely have run on into the English Channel had not the cap of one of the Rolls-Royce’s passengers blown off. The Rolls stopped to retrieve it and the Bentley went on. The Rolls’ speed worried the Bentley people and to ensure their superiority, since they were certain their speed would also spur Rolls-Royce to increase the power of the Phantom I, the new Bentley’s cubic capacity was increased from 4 ¼ to 6 ½ litres.”

That’s quite a jump. Eight-liter engines were the next logical step, and sure, why not supercharge it too? The result: an engine with 220 horses, all whipped furiously to outdo the car in the next lane (or the neighbor’s driveway). 

Competition is intrinsic to cars and the people who build and race them, yet the Bible challenges the competitive mindset than can be unhealthy and damaging:

“Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:2-3 ESV)

“Rivalry” is sometimes translated as “selfish ambition.” The challenge is to pursue healthy competition without being competitive, and to be ambitious without wallowing in selfish ambition. The author, Paul, gives a hint. He frequently addresses the recipients of this letter as “brothers,” which in Greek is adelphoi, a plural word referring to siblings in a family. Paul is telling his fellow brothers and sisters about the dangers of sibling rivalry. Siblings engage in petty competitions to gain attention or superiority, sometimes out of an insecurity in their relationship with their parents. There’s no reason for this in the family of God. 

Now imagine extending that to everyone. After all, humans have a lot in common. This includes the desire to conquer over one another, which may be nothing more than a malignant desire to be loved and accepted by one another. 

While numerous Bentleys have had forced induction over the years, the famed “Blower Bentleys” are the 4 ½ liter models, and they never won Le Mans. The mammoth 8-liter cars were never even raced. First appearing in 1930, these pleasure boats had wheelbases measuring 144 or 156 inches (for comparison, the gargantuan 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee L has a 130-inch wheelbase). They carried a $9,000 price tag at a time when a decent new car was $600 and half of the U.S. was nearly starving to death due to the Great Depression. Fewer than 100 were bought, and many remain as monuments to rivalry and humility, which are always in competition. 

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