Meet the Kingsbury Racing Sisters, the twenty-somethings bringing new energy to vintage racing in their pre-war Bentleys.

What would you do with a 1929 Bentley Blower that had been in your family for more than half a century? Sell it? Donate it to a museum? Keep it for display purposes only? Not if you’re Anna and Louisa Getley, two sisters with other ideas. Like taking it to Le Mans, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Donington Park and on road trips around France doing exactly what you’re supposed to do with it: drive it. Race it. Enjoy it.

The Bentley in question belonged to Anna and Louisa’s grandfather, bought in the 1950s as his daily driver. It’s seen multiple generations of the Getley family take the wheel ever since. Today, the Blower – affectionately known as DD – sits alongside a Bentley 3 Litre of the same era at Kingsbury Racing Shop in Bicester, founded by their dad Ewen, who specializes in vintage Bentley restoration. And when the cars aren’t being tended to, the two Kingsbury Racing Sisters are showing everyone exactly what the Blower, the 3 Litre, and they are made of.

A NEW GENERATION OF RACING
After watching their dad race vintage Bentleys as they grew up, Anna and Louisa first expressed an interest a few years ago. Ewen’s face lights up when he talks about them wanting to join the family legacy, and he was all too happy to take them down to Goodwood to learn and get their licenses. Not that learning in a vintage Bentley was an easy thing to do. “It took us a long time to be able to change gears in our first year of racing. We just drove around, we’d get into top gear and then just stay in top gear,” says Anna.

Luckily, help is at hand with Kingsbury Racing Shop employee Lewis, a fellow racing driver and former F1 mechanic who is teaching them how to race “for better or for worse.”

SHIFTING PERCEPTION
It’s not every day you see two women in their 20s participating in a vintage race. But the sisters have seen a shift, even in the short time they’ve been racing, from a traditionally male-dominated endeavor to something much more inclusive and varied.

“When people saw that we were doing it, they were like, ‘oh, maybe I should give that a go’. We’re trying to get others to do it because we need as many young people in these cars as possible. The community is so lovely because everybody who races these cars just loves Bentleys,” Louisa tells us.

“Everybody’s very encouraging of us. Even if we are stealing their lines, they’re happy just to be racing alongside other people. We want more people to start racing cars because racing’s not fun if you have no one to race against,” Anna adds.

ENJOYING THE JOURNEY
There’s a six-hour race in Portugal in the books for later this year, as well as a hill climb, which they haven’t tried before. But apart from that and a few other races, Anna and Louisa plan to take the Bentleys out on the road and simply enjoy them.

“If we’ve got a spare day, it’s sunny, and we’ve got nothing to do, we’ll just take the cars out and go somewhere. We’re privileged to be able to drive them, so we should do it more,” says Anna.

The community is so lovely because everybody who races these cars just loves Bentleys.

PREPARATION IS KEY
Anna and Louisa hop into their Bentleys and give us a demo on the track behind the Kingsbury Racing Shop. We hear about the build-up before a race: the studying of circuits, Lewis prepping the cars, and just before a race begins, the sisterly exchange of encouragement. Then there’s the wait, sitting in the cars in the assembly area, nerves tingling, one eye on the engine to make sure it doesn’t get too hot.

“That’s always the most nerve-wracking bit. You just sit there in your car alone thinking about what you’re about to do but also try not to think about it too hard while preparing yourself. You’ve got to concentrate,” Anna says.

There’s a bit of competitive sibling rivalry involved, too. “We’re encouraging at the time, and then we’ll get back and look at the race times to see who’s done the fastest lap,” Louisa admits.

THE THRILL
Anna and Louisa’s first race in the Bentleys was at Donington Park in Leicestershire, which, as Louisa tells us, “was terrifying.” They’re more experienced now, but the nerves are still there. In fact, they tell us that the adrenaline is so high that they can’t eat before a race.

“It’s always challenging, but we always love it,” says Anna. “Sometimes it’s a bit dicey, but it’s so fun. The switch of trying to go as fast as possible to trying to stop as quickly as possible in a car that doesn’t really want to stop is actually quite fun.”

POST RACE
After a race, what are they up to? Analyzing? Swapping notes? Planning for the next one? “No, we just go for a drink,” they laugh. They give the impression that, like riding their ponies as little girls, it’s about enjoyment rather than competition. Their dad Ewen has a slightly different take, though: “They have a casual air, but they do take it seriously. As Anna always says: Let people underestimate us.”