Dedicated to Rolls-Royce & Bentley Motorcars ... - Magazooms

©The ©The Rolls-Royce 

Rolls-Royce 

Owners Owners Club, Club, Inc. Inc. 

Dedicated to Rolls-Royce & Bentley Motorcars January / February 2009 09-1 

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contents 

january/february 2009 

The proper way to take a photo—no point and shoot cameras for these pros. See p. 9144 for more. 

features 

Wrapped Up in Rapson’s 

Inventions: Part I 9132 

Owners and Their Cars: 

John Ellison—A Bespoke 

Enthusiast 9144 

2008 Monterey Auction 

Impressions 9149 

The 2008 Cross Border 

Fall Tour 9152 

Derby Bentley 

Anniversary 9159 

From the Archive: 

W.O. Bentley 9162 

The Curious Story of 

B11AE 9163 

“Review of the French 

Motor Industry” A 1945 Memo 

by Walter Sleator 9168 

technical feature 

The Ignition is Pointless 9166 

departments 

Conduit 9129 

Book Reviews 9174 

Bazaar 9177 

On the Cover 

1929 P I (109WR) Barker tourer 

Owner N. Numata 

This car was originally ordered by J. 

Pierpoint Morgan. It is specially fitted with 

interesting items such as a high top because 

JP Morgan didn’t want to remove his top hat 

when he sat in the back seat. 

It was ordered in all chrome, at a 10% premium 

and has Barker dipping lights which 

turn side to side as well. It also came with 

canvas leather coveralls for the sides and the 

back to protect the leather during touring. 

 

Larry S. Glenn 

Annual membership dues are $60, $30 of which is for a 

subscription to The Flying Lady for one year. New members 

pay a $25 initial processing fee. Regional membership 

dues vary, but joining is highly encouraged. 

Multiple Winner of IAMC 

& Golden Quill Awards 

9128 THE FLYING LADY January / February 2009 

Doug Gates 

RROC, Inc., 

191 Hempt Road 

Mechanicsburg, PA 17050 USA 

800-TRY-RROC / 717-697-4671 

fax 717-697-7820 

www.rroc.org, email: rrochq@rroc.org 

EDITOR IN CHIEF 

Sabu Advani 

6860 N. Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85718 

ph/fax 520-615-6484, 

TECHNICAL EDITOR 

Jon Waples 

3231 Sherbourne Rd., Detroit, MI 48221-1814 

313-345-5123 

EVENTS EDITOR/PHOTOGRAPHER 

Larry S. Glenn 

8500 Reservoir Road, Fulton, MD 20759 

301-470-7191, 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 

André Blaize (FRA), Tom Clarke (UK), 

Barrie Gillings (AUS), Rubén Verdés (FL) 

Vice-President, Communications 

Rubén Verdés 

rverdes@bellsouth.net 

ADVERTISING/BAZAAR 

RROC HQ 

ART DIRECTOR 

Marcia D. Quiroz 

 

The Flying Lady (ISSN 0015-4830) is a bi-monthly 

publication of The Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club, Inc., a nonprofit 

corporation, 191 Hempt Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 

17050, USA. Printed in USA. Periodical postage paid at 

Mechanicsburg, PA 17050, and additional mailing offices. 

Postmaster: Send address changes to The Flying Lady, 

191 Hempt Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050 USA. 

Copyright ©2009 

by the Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club, Inc. 

The trademarks “Rolls-Royce,” “R-R” Logo and the 

“Rolls-Royce” Badge device are the trademarks of Rolls- 

Royce plc and are used by the Club under license. 

The Club and the editors aim to publish accurate 

information and recommendations, but neither assumes 

responsibility in the event of claim of loss or damage 

resulting from publication of editorial or advertising 

matter including typographical errors. Statements 

of contributors are their own, and do not necessarily 

reflect Club policy. 

ride-along enclosed 




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TM 

PTRUTH THROUGH 

MEDIA 

REVAILS OVER 

MIGHT

Conduit 

From the 

President 

The National Tours in 

2008 were a huge success 

and the Pacific 

Northwest Fall Tour, 

described in this issue, 

was no exception. My thanks 

to tour hosts Phil Birkeland 

and David Stocks. 

You have all received the 

2009 Desk Diary. This outstanding 

diary covers the 

Williamsburg Annual Meet 

and many other interesting 

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING 

OF RROC MEMBERSHIP–JUNE 16, 2009 

As part of the annual election process 

last November, the membership voted, 

and approved, a completely revised set 

of bylaws. These new bylaws took effect 

January 1, 2009. While there are many 

changes in the new bylaws, two very significant 

changes impact us right away. First, 

there will be an Annual Meeting which will 

be very similar to annual meetings held 

by publicly traded companies. Our first 

Meeting will be held in conjunction with 

the Annual Meet in New Orleans. Second, 

we will be electing directors at that Annual 

Meeting. You will receive candidate biographies 

and your ballot four to seven weeks 

prior to the Meeting. If you are unable to 

attend the Meeting, you may vote and send 

your ballot to HQ before the Meeting. 

The 2009 Annual Meeting of the RROC 

Membership will be held on Tuesday, June 

16, 2009 at 1:00 pm EST in the River Bend 

Ballroom on the 2 nd floor of the meet 

Feb. 20–21 

May 3–8 

Sept. 13–19 

2009 

events, including collecting 

RR/B toys and stamps. 

My thanks to Phil Brooks, 

who has put so much hard 

work and time into writing 

and collecting articles of 

interest to our members, for 

making this one of the best 

Calendar of Events u.s. and overseas 

ABM, Mesa, AZ 

Spring Tour, VA 

(Brooks) 

Fall Tour Route 66 (LeBoy) 

Contact RROC HQ to register for RROC events 

(listed in roman). Scheduling/information: 

VP Activities, Rick Barrett, ph. 248-647-4403 

For regional events please visit 

Diaries ever. Your first 

entry should be the 2009 

Spring Tour, May 3–8, of 

the Shenandoah Valley, 

hosted by Phil and Sue 

Brooks, as this promises 

to be a wonderful tour. 

For two years 

the RROC Board of 

Directors has worked 

extremely hard on creating a 

new set of Bylaws, because 

after fifty years of revisions, 

the old Bylaws were confusing 

and contradictory. The 

idea was to make the Bylaws 

concise while creating a 

new Policy & Procedures 

hotel, the Marriott Convention Center, 

859 Convention Center Boulevard, New 

Orleans, LA 70130 USA. 

At the Meeting you will be asked to: 

• approve a report by the president; 

• approve a report by the secretary; 

• approve a report by the treasurer; 

• approve the audited accounts for fiscal 

2008; 

• ratify the appointment of Hamilton & 

Musser, P.C. (Mechanicsburg, PA) as the 

Club’s independent registered public 

accounting firm for the 2009 fiscal year; 

• elect seven directors to serve for one year 

on the Board of Directors; 

• elect seven directors to serve for two 

years on the Board of Directors; 

• comment or ask questions of the officers 

and directors. 

Full Members as of the date of the mailing 

of the ballots are entitled to vote at the 

Annual Meeting. 

By Order of the Board of Directors 

Future Annual Meets 

2009, June 15–21 New Orleans (Borchert) 

2010, July 19–24 Ontario (Popp) 

2011 Lake Tahoe, CA (Kilburn, Heath) 

All editorial contributions go to the editors, addresses above. Deadlines 2/1, 4/1, 

6/1, 8/1, 10/1, 12/1. 

Direct all other correspondence, including change of address or complaints 

re delivery to the relevant Club officials or to HQ. All ads, whether classified (the 

Bazaar) or display, go to the Ad Manager at Club HQ. 

Manual to govern Club operations, 

which specifically 

supports the new Bylaws. 

The new Bylaws and Policy 

& Procedures Manual took 

effect January 1. They were 

overwhelmingly approved 

by the membership and can 

be viewed on the RROC 

web site. My sincere appreciation 

goes to the Bylaws 

Committee, chaired by 

Sharon Rich, and the Policy 

& Procedures Committee, 

chaired by Rick Barrett, on 

a job well done. I am proud 

to say that all of our board 

members and all of the 

committees have worked 

extremely hard governing 

the Club. 

The Meeting of the 

Board of Directors is scheduled 

for February 20–21. 

At this meeting I will step 

down and Gil Fuqua will be 

our incoming President. He 

has served this club and contributed 

so much already, 

serving on both the Bylaws 

and the Policy & Procedures 

Committee, and holds the 

position of Executive VP 

of Activities and prior to 

that, RROC Treasurer and 

Tech VP. 

During the past two 

years, it has been my honor 

and pleasure to serve as 

your President and I thank 

the Board of Directors, HQ 

staff, and all of my friends 

and members for their kind 

support, and also my wife, 

Michelle, who has managed 

our business and has supported 

me in all my endeavors. I 

look forward to serving the 

club as Honorary Chairman 

and working with the new 

Board in the upcoming year. 

May you all have a happy and 

blessed New Year! Michelle 

and I hope to see you on 

a future tour and the New 

Orleans Annual Meet! 

Sincerely, Robin A. James 




January / February 2009 THE FLYING LADY 9129 


Bentley Motors 

Annual Business Meeting 

Feb. 20–21, Mesa, AZ. 

The Meeting of the Board 

of Directors will be held at 

the Phoenix Marriott Mesa, 

888-236-2427. 

Judging Training Sessions 

Chief Judge John Rich has 

scheduled two training seminars. 

The first will be held 

in Houston (February 28– 

March 1), the second in St. 

Petersburg (March 7–8). If 

you are planning to attend 

the New Orleans Meet, and 

have an interest in learning 

about RROC judging 

and serving as a judge, you 

are invited to attend one 

of these two free sessions. 

Registration is limited to 25 

members and acceptance is 

on a first-come, first-served 

basis. To register, contact 

Eileen Dilger at RROC 

HQ at 800-879-7762 or 

. 

RRF Tech Seminar 

April, date tba, at RRF 

HQ. Removal of a Derby 

Bentley head, hood, grille, 

and front gear cover. 

Diagnosis, adjustments, 

reassembly. 

2009 Spring Tour 

May 3–8, VA. Phil and 

Sue Brooks are hosting 

a Spring Tour in the 

Shenandoah Valley. 

2009 Fall Tour 

Sept. 13–19, details tba. 

Travel Route 66 from 

Chicago to St. Louis. 

Hosted by Phil LeBoy. 

20˝ 5-spoke, two-piece “Bright Finish” alloy wheels with 

255/40 ZR20 Pirelli P Zero tires, “Le Mans” front fender 

vents, dark tint matrix grille, retractable Flying B mascot. 

Choice of 42 exterior paint colors, door mirror mountings 

finished in body color. Three-layer canvas roof deploys in 

25 seconds. Beneath the front and rear, carbon fiber crossbracing 

reinforces the whole bodyshell, while adding far 

less weight than steel. 

BENTLEY News 

Power on Ice (Nov. 25, 

2008) From Feb. 16–March 

10, 2009 Bentley will host 

for the fourth time threeday 

driving events on a 

frozen lake in Finland. For 

an all-inclusive price of 

€7,7590–8,990 you too— 

if you can cope with -4 to 

-22º F—can whip around 

560–610 hp Continentals 

a mere 35 mls from the 

Arctic Circle. 

Finnish rally star Juha 

Azure T (Nov. 12, 2008) A twin-turbocharged 500 hp 

Azure with Bentley T styling cues makes for a stylish, 

sporting, driver’s car. The 11% increase in power and 14% 

increase in torque over the 

standard Azure raise the top Diamond quilting to 

speed to 179 mph (288 km/h) seats and door panels. 

and give a 0–60 mph time of A new hide-covered 

5.2 seconds (0–100 km/h in trunk rail with coordinated 

leather trim and 

5.5 sec). Although many of the 

most desirable Mulliner options a chrome strip along 

are included as standard, the top edge gives the area a tidier appearance. Embroidered 

Bentley anticipates that the Bentley emblems to front seats and rear seat center. Choice of 

majority of buyers will request 8 unbleached veneers and 25 hides. Instrument faces in black 

additional enhancements. rather than parchment. Engine-turned aluminum finish to fascia. 

Kankkunen and his team 

will serve as instructors. If 

fast cars on ice make you 

nervous, try your hand 

at bobsledding, snowmobiling, 

and all sorts of 

other activities included in 

this excursion. 

Top-notch accommodations 

are in the small town 

of Ruka, one of Finland’s top 

ski resorts, 500 mls north of 

Helsinki. Contact your dealer 

or . 




Bentley “Jewel” fuel filler cap is 

made from billet aluminum. 



Bentley Motors

News From The Rolls-Royce Foundation 

BUILDING A BETTER FOUNDATION The Rolls-Royce 

Foundation Museum and Research Library recently completed 

a move from its Mechanicsburg, PA headquarters to its 

Mechanicsburg, PA headquarters. Confused? A simple explanation 

is in order. Members of the Board of Directors, staff 

and volunteers reorganized the 5,000 sq ft public portion of 

the facility located at 189 Hempt Road adjacent to the RROC 

offices. The library, office and research facility were formerly 

located in the rearmost corner of the “showroom.” Being relocated 

closer to the entrance will enable staff to better monitor 

the building while the reorganization offers more room for 

displays, including the Foundation’s collection of motorcars, 

artwork, and automobilia. Staff is busy filling the bookshelves 

and organizing data which is being cataloged to provide better 

access for research and member services. Currently eleven 

Rolls-Royce and Bentley automobiles are on display ranging 

in age from a 1929 Springfield Rolls-Royce P I limousine to a 

1985 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit. 

Behind the scenes storage is being organized and updated, 

too. The Foundation’s extensive collection of parts, literature, 

and factory service records have been tidied up for better 

access. In cooperation with the RROC, service records have 

been desensitized (i.e. removal of personal information and 

OTHER NEWS 

RROCA Editor 

At the recent meeting of the 

RROCA Federal Council, 

Praeclarum editor David Neely 

announced that after four years at 

the helm it was time to move on. 

His tenure will end with the April 

issue at which time Tim Dean 

takes over. Tim is president of the 

Victoria Branch and was their newsletter 

editor. We congratulate David 

on 29 splendid issues and the positive 

contributions he made; we 

wish him well on his next enterprise 

and extend a hearty welcome to the 

fraternity to Tim Dean. 

Addenda/Errata 

2008 Annual Meet: FL p. 9020 listed 

the 2 nd place winner in Class 

115C incorrectly. The owner’s correct 

name is Burton Hunter. 

Pininfarina: FL08-5 p. 8994 

described 1952 Mk VI B332MD 

as “reportedly having an H.J.M 

dhc body now.” P & A Wood advises 

that this car is currently on their 

premises, with its original body. 

The owner is researching its history; 

contact him via . 

phone numbers) and are being digitized for future use. Are 

you looking for a specific part or possibly the factory history of 

the car you are considering purchasing or restoring? Contact 

the Foundation as chances are the RRF might have just what 

you’re looking for. Seminars are given in this area utilizing 

the RRF’s extensive collection of Rolls-Royce and Bentley 

engines, suspension, and chassis componentry. Be sure to 

check the website for future events. 

The Foundation is in desperate need of upgrading its 

entire computer system including equipment and software 

in order to better serve its growing needs. The cost of the 

upgrade is $12,500 and your generous donations in support of 

this project are much appreciated. 

The RRF is a non-profit, charitable 501(c)(3) organization 

that depends solely upon dues and the generosity of donations 

for its existence. Are you downsizing your collection of cars, 

literature, parts, and automobilia? Consider donating it to 

the Foundation or take advantage of the tax benefits of estate 

planning by gifting your vehicles and automobilia to the RRF. 

We are open Tuesday–Thursday from 10 am to 2 pm or other 

hours by appointment: 189 Hempt Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 

17050; 717-795-9400, toll-free 877-795-4050; www.rollsroycefoundation.com. 


▼ 

The ballots were counted at RROC HQ on 12/16 

and the following officers were elected: 

President - Gil Fuqua Jr. 

Executive VP Activities - Rick Barrett 

Treasurer - David Washburn 

Secretary - Sneed Adams 

VP Awards - Jason Coker 

VP Membership - Brad Zemcik 

VP Communications - Rubén Verdés 

VP Regions & Societies - Michael Gaetano 

VP Judging - John Rich 

VP Technical Post-War - John Palma 

VP Technical Pre-War - Cortes Pauls 

Western Great Lakes Area Director - David Taylor 

Northeast Area Director - Gene Sorbo 

West Area Director - Cathie Mouton 




The new RROC By-Laws were also approved by the 

membership. 


▲

Wrapped Up 

in Rapson’s Inventions 

Puncture-proof tires, self-cleaning spark plugs, engine-powered 

permanent lifting jacks, dipping headlamps, easy-winding 

tops—who wouldn’t have welcomed the motoring inventions 

of Frederick Lionel Rapson? His pursuit of driver convenience 

led to forty-two British (and many overseas) patents as well as 

endless thoughtful details on the cars he fitted out. Yet his was 

a short life with limited commercial success. He deserved better 

but did not achieve the wider public acceptance that would 

have brought him fortune rather than notoriety alone. 

Early Life and Into the 

Army 

Part I 

© Tom Clarke and John Athersuch (UK), 2008 

Rapson was born as Frederick 

Eyers on April 21, 1888 at Ryde 

on the Isle of Wight, the eighth 

child of William Pomeroy Eyers 

(1832–1905, a blacksmith) and 

Mary Jane Eyers (née Rapson, 

1842–1915, a laundress). 

His siblings were all born 

between 1863–1884 but, curiously, 

his parents married only 

in 1880 after the birth of their 

sixth child. His father was not 

recorded living with his family 

in any of the censuses from Frederick Lionel Rapson (1888–1933) 

1861 and presumably spent 

much time away from home. In Frederick Eyers aged almost 13 when 

1891 Frederick was living at 18 received at the Dr. Barnardo’s Home 

School Street in Ryde with his 

(his name misspelled). 

mother and two sisters, Ethel 

and Rose, but from March 27, 

1901 and now almost 13 years old he was a resident at Leopold 

House, 199 Burdett Road in east London. This was a Dr. 

Barnardo’s home for orphaned and disadvantaged boys aged 

between about 10–13 years that operated here from 1883–1912. 

The home provided school training only, so in March 1902 he 

was moved on to the main Stepney home where practical skills 

were taught. Rapson later recorded his early experiences, such 

as becoming familiar with the internal combustion engine aged 

11, and driving a Panhard at 14, but it must be doubtful that the 

latter at least was whilst at Dr. Barnardo’s. 

The story of how Frederick came to be at Dr. Barnardo’s makes 

sad reading. An inspector from the National Society for the 

Prevention of Cruelty to Children found his Ryde home to be 

“a den of iniquity of the vilest kind” and noted that his mother 

was drunk and that both she and Frederick had been in the 

Parkhurst workhouse. His mother could not find work and lived 

off the immoral earnings of two of her daughters, with Frederick 

forced to act as lookout for policemen. The sisters’ heavy 

drinking led to constant rows. The father, who was described 

as similarly drunken, worthless and immoral, had been charged 

with criminal assault on one of his daughters about six years 

earlier. Although acquitted for lack of evidence, his guilt was 

generally believed and he had moved out of the family home. 

Frederick was healthy and intelligent and doing well at school 

but with such an unhappy background it is clear his chances 

in life were limited. Frederick would have seized any chance 

to further himself. His mother at first refused to let him go 

but eventually consented. In the circumstances, his subsequent 

achievements earn him the highest credit. 

In December 1901 Dr. Barnardo’s declined a request from 

one of Frederick’s other married sisters, Mary Jane, to allow 

him to have Christmas with her in Dorset. Frederick perhaps 

missed some of his family or could not accept the regime in his 

new home because on June 8, 1902 he absconded. After ten 

days Dr. Barnardo’s ceased to search for him. It is from 

this period that Frederick might have covered his tracks 

by using his mother’s maiden name, Rapson. (There 

can be no doubt that Frederick Eyers and Frederick 

Rapson are one and 

the same. Personal and 

family details recorded 

for Eyers by Barnardo’s 

match those in the army 

record of Rapson.) 

So what did the boy 

do next? A clue emerges 

from a later account of 

his early achievements. 

Here he claimed that 

he had worked in the 

Courtesy of Barnardo’s, copyright Barnardo’s 

engine room of the 

Union Castle liner The 

Scot, aged 10. The 

quoted age must be an 

error because he was still 

at school then but this 

work might have been 

around 1902, when he 

was 14. It might not be a coincidence that at about this time his 

brother Harry was working as a steward on another ship of the 

same line, the Kildonan Castle. A further claim made by Rapson 

was that he had completed a three-year apprenticeship at an 

“Allsop’s garage, London” (presumably after he had absconded 

from Dr. Barnardo’s). This was actually E. & W. Allsop at Halfway 

Garages, Walton on Thames (later to become Rapson tire 

agents). Rapson later stated, in a 1923 article, that he had been 

driving for 22 years. This would place his first motoring experience 

in 1902. Furthermore, Rapson declared in 1917 that in 

1902 he had even discussed car jack designs with the Hon. C.S. 

Rolls (1877–1910), the Panhard agent, who thought a system of 

sprags could be used to raise cars. (Rapson’s first jack invention 

was based on powered sprags.) Rolls had only just begun his 

business at Lillie Hall in west London. Rolls’s family supported 

various charities so it is possible man and boy met that way. Was 

this how Rapson got to drive a Panhard? 






Rapson’s father died in 

February 1905 in Mitcham, 

Surrey, and by December 

that year his widow had 

moved to Westcliff-on-Sea 

in Essex. Frederick joined 

the 1 st Battalion Coldstream 

Guards the same 

month, signing up using 

his mother’s maiden name 

and describing his previous 

occupation as “general 

labourer.” The Army 

probably assisted him with 

education because he sat 

for two education certificates 

in 1906 and became a 

clerk. He was discharged as 

medically unfit in September 

1907 with the rank of 

Lance Corporal and moved 

to 16 Finborough Road in 

Tooting. He was described as 5.9" tall, 

fair with blue-grey eyes and light brown 

hair, a “good clerk . . . well-educated and 

intelligent man.” 

It was in 1908, Rapson claimed, 

that he became the engineer-in-charge 

of royal cars at Kensington Palace, taking 

part in the 1911 coronation procession 

and driving H.R.H. The Princess 

Louise, Duchess of Argyll (a daughter 

of Queen Victoria), until the outbreak 

of WW I in 1914. He taught other royal 

coachmen how to drive cars and became 

acquainted with younger members of the 

Royal Household. In addition, in 1912 

it seems that he demonstrated Rolls- 

Royce Silver Ghost cars for that company’s 

Spanish agent Marquis Don Carlos 

de Salamanca. 

During this period Frederick had 

married Rose Playle (1890–1976) in 

Walthamstow, London, in September 

1910. Their marriage certificate records 

his father’s name as William Rapson. 

(This was probably done for reasons of 

social propriety. Frederick’s change of 

name must have been known to his family 

as his sister Ethel, and her husband, 

were witnesses at the wedding.) The first 

of their two children, Frederick, was born 

on June 28, 1911 at the family’s home at 

27 Boundary Road, Leyton, London. 

On September 5, 1914, shortly after 

the outbreak of war, he signed up at the 

Army Service Corps’ Motor Transport 

Depot in Aldershot and was given the 

rank of acting Sergeant. In this period he 

was living at 20 Alderney 

Street in Pimlico, central 

London and not in Palace 

staff quarters. From October 2 nd he 

served in France as a driver in the King’s 

Messenger Service (K.M.S.) and was in 

charge of all the Rolls-Royce staff cars 

given or loaned by their owners for the 

war effort. He drove with a French interpreter, 

Count Maurice le Lafitte who later 

lost his life to an aerial bomb. Rapson was 

at the front long enough to earn the socalled 

“Mons” Star campaign medal. One 

of Rapson’s mounts was a 1914 Silver 

Ghost, chassis 38MA, a Holmes limousine 

carrying six spare wheels. Frequent 

wheel changing under extreme conditions 

must have turned his mind towards 

better jacking systems. 

Rapson recorded that he was injured 

on March 12, 1915 by a blow to the head 

from a rifle butt (circumstances not 

explained). As a consequence, he was 

adversely affected by the concussion of 

heavy artillery and, after a spell in hospital 

at St. Omer in France, he was transferred 

to the Royal Herbert Hospital, Woolwich. 

When sufficiently recovered he declined 

a discharge but remained at the barracks 

for a while as a drill instructor. 

At his own request and with the 

recommendation of Lord Ilchester of 

the K.M.S., he was discharged “Free” 

to enable him to join the Mechanical 

Transport Division of the Union 

Defence Force in South Africa. He set 

sail for the Cape on May 20, 1915 but 

1914 Silver Ghost 38MA Holmes limousine at the Western 

Front. Rapson by the front door with Count Lafitte. Note the 

rifles mounted on the side spare wheels. 

Rapson in the army uniform of the South 

African Infantry. 

not long after his arrival misfortune 

struck again. Rapson wrote later that 

he was “. . . invalided suffering from fits 

brought on by the heat in Africa acting 

on the clot of blood in my head. . . .” 

He was repatriated from the Wynberg 

Military Hospital in Cape Town on July 

17 when hostilities ended in southern 

Africa and was transferred to Arrowe 

Hall in Birkenhead, near Liverpool. 




Arrowe Hall had been purchased and 

converted at her own expense into an 

Auxiliary Military Hospital in November 

1914 by Miss Dora Susan Cecilia Schintz 



The Motor 25 Dec. 1917 p. 502 

The Motor 25 Sept. 1917 p. 171

(b. 1869), the spinster daughter of wealthy 

Liverpool businessman Hans Gaspard 

Schintz (originally Schinz). She also personally 

funded its maintenance and staff 

of doctors and nurses. At one time there 

were as many as 300 inmates and Miss 

Schintz provided a fleet of ambulances 

and cars to transport the wounded to and 

from the hospital. 

Miss Schintz was an extremely 

wealthy lady. Her Swiss-born father was 

a millionaire who lived in Liverpool from 

the 1860s and traded there as Reyher & 

Schintz. He became a British subject in 

1875. His wealth came from saltpeter 

mined in northern 

Chile by his company, 

the Tamarugal 

Nitrates Co., 

and earned him 

the epithet “The 

Nitrate King.” 

When he died in 

1912 Miss Schintz 

inherited a share 

of his considerable 

fortune, including 

his stake in the 

Société de Produits 

Chimique et 

Engrais d’Auby 

in France (the 

shares later being 20 th century. 

sold cheaply). She 

owned the vast “Thickthorn” 

estate near Kenilworth in Warwickshire, 

which her father had 

purchased for her in 1906, and 

where she ran a stud for hackney 

horses. She also owned an Argentinian 

ranch near Buenos Aires. 

Rapson was now associated with 

considerable wealth and Miss 

Schintz was to give him the financial 

support he needed for a new 

life in business. 

Early Motor Days, 

and a Post-War Patron 

As he came into prominence 

Rapson revealed in 1919 that he 

had been involved in preparing 

a Grand Prix-winning car (for 

whom was not stated). This cannot 

be proven independently and 

might simply mean a touring car 

later in private hands such as the 

100 hp Benz, probably a “Prince 

Miss Schintz around the turn of the 

Henry” model, seen with him at this time 

or the use of the engine in a “special” (see 

The Autocar 29 Jan. 1921 p. 211 for its 

later use in Rapson’s fleet). 

Rapson was by now a skilled mechanic 

and keen inventor. From 1917 articles 

started to appear in The Autocar (and 

The Motor which called him the “young 

Edison of the motor world”) showing 

his inventions for such devices as dipping 

headlamps and powered car jacks. 

By 1918 he had a team of men working 

under him on the fleet of cars at Childwall 

Hall. A biographical article written in 

1926 claimed he was kind and generous, 

quick-thinking, musical, 

and a first-class athlete. 

These were probably the 

attractive qualities that 

won him Miss Schintz’s 

patronage. He became 

known to some as “Bulldog” 

Rapson, because he 

was so tenacious. 

Courtesy of the Collenette family 

The Rapsons had set up 

home at “Brightside,” 

Green Lane, Waverley in 

the West Derby area of 

Liverpool after the war 

and in early 1919 their 

second son, Lionel, was 

born there on February 

6. Soon afterwards Rapson and his family 

followed Miss Schintz south when 

she took up residence in her new home, 

“Hurtwood Edge” near Cranleigh in Surrey. 

In addition, Miss Schintz soon took 

the lease on the extensive “Ottershaw 

Park” near Chertsey and finally purchased 

the estate in September 1921. Around 

October 1921 Rapson bought a large 

house at 2 Acacia Road in fashionable 

St. John’s Wood, London. Here Rose and 

the children were installed, with a nanny, 

whilst Rapson only used the home for 

his days in London on business. Freddie 

attended nearby Arnold House school (as 

later did Lionel) and University College, 

London. Rapson, meanwhile, ran his 

infant business life from the workshops 

in The Bothy behind the Ottershaw mansion 

and had an apartment in the mansion 

from 1925–28. Miss Schintz’s many 

cars, including a Lanchester, Rolls-Royces, 

Napier, Daimler 30 hp, Austin 20 

hp and Armstrong Siddeley 30 hp were 

maintained and driven by Rapson and a 

small team of chauffeurs. It is possible 

Rapson engineered this move south so as 

to be only a few miles from Brooklands 

racetrack for the testing of his emerging 

tire designs. However, Miss Schintz 

claimed the move was for the sake of her 

ailing mother who would benefit from 

the “beautiful countryside of Surrey.” 




Rapson’s first advertisement, in The Motor for 1 Jan. 1918, shows that he already had two inventions 

in production. It also showed his Rolls-Royce and military association. The artist was Hawley Morgan. 



The Motor 1 Jan. 1918 p. 520 

Business by Patent 

His wartime experiences on the Western front led Rapson 

to devise solutions to the problems he had encountered. For 

example, he designed special linked crutches to help soldiers 

who had lost the arm and leg on the same side, an idea that 

gained him some public credit. Motoring-related patents 

included permanent engine-powered (and also manual) lifting 

jacks, unpuncturable and/or long-lasting tires, frictionless 

screw threads, and miscellaneous coachwork and accessory 

fittings. In general his designs tended towards safety and 

convenience. Two curious unrelated patents concerned the 

manufacture of hats. 

Rapson’s wheel 

locking system, using 

the same handle 

from the top and 

jack systems. 

Patent 116995 

of July 1918 for 

the long-arm 

permanent jacks 

with Rapson’s 

supposedly 

frictionless screw 

threads which 

were the staple 

in many of his 

patents. 

Although Rapson’s tires were not the well-base balloon type, he 

recommended much lower pressures for his cord tires than beaded 

edge tires would normally be run at. 




One of several Rapson jack designs, this one showing the highly 

regarded portable type with hook-on system to the axle. 



The Autocar 25 Sept. 1920 p. 544 

Garage & Motor Agent 30 Dec. 1922 p. 503

Garage & Motor Agent 2 Nov. 1921 p. 77 

The Autocar 26 Mar. 1921 p. 562 

A closeup view of the headlamp mechanism. 

The Motor 6 Nov. 1923 p. 711 

Rapson’s son Freddie 

demonstrating the jack in front 

of the Prince of Wales and his 

entourage, evidence of Rapson’s 

useful royal connections. 

A Rapson rocking headlamp dipper on a 

Bentley (the mechanism, formerly cableoperated, 

now in one fixed position). The 

plate claimed 1920 patent 32500 but Rapson 

was not successful in protecting this device. 

The final form of Rapson’s cable-operated 

headlamp dipping system. The controls 

could be either in the steering wheel or on 

the dashboard. 






The Autocar 23 Oct. 1920 p. 703 

Rapson’s hinged rim to make tire removal easier. As far as is known it did not 

enter production. 

The Autocar 23 Oct. 1920 p. 703 

In mid 1917 Rapson had formed the Rapid Jack Co., at 

22 Manchester Buildings in Tithebarn Street, Liverpool (the 

address of the late Hans Schintz’s business) to handle the permanent 

jack. It was licensed for manufacture to Lake & Elliot Ltd. 

of Albion Works, Braintree in Essex, makers of the “Millennium” 

jack. In June 1919 Rapson approached Rolls-Royce for endorsement 

of his products. At first they were not impressed with his 

“Rapid” jacks which added 23 lbs to the weight of the front axle 

and were poorly finished. One freestanding Rapson jack was not 

Rapson’s patent 141782 of April 1920 showing 

the various alternative unpuncturable systems 

he designed. Some criticized them as cushion 

rather than truly pneumatic tires. 

A caricature summing up the doubts in some quarters about 

Rapson’s ability to complete a 10,000 mile test with his new 

tires. The artist was Alick P.F. Ritchie. 

secure enough to prevent a Rolls-Royce mechanic from shaking 

the car to the ground. Things later improved and in due 

course the jacks were accepted even on the new 20 hp though 

never given public Rolls-Royce approval. However, the prestigious 

coachbuilders Barker & Co. undertook to fit both the 

top system and permanent jacks to order. 

As his patents accumulated, in June 1919 he formed Rapson 

Automobile Patents Ltd. to exploit what was claimed to 

be his 200 Rapson patents (and applications). He brought 

in A. Wilfred Oyler, the tire manufacturer, as Managing 

Director and Rayner Roberts as a director. Capital was set at 

£150,000. Motoring pioneer S.F. Edge announced he would 

join as Chairman if the company’s flotation was successful 

(and technically it was by December 1919 but only through 

Miss Schintz’s share). The business was based at Oyler’s 

address, 35 New Cavendish Street, London W.1. (Rayner 

Roberts had written about Rapson, his tires and other inventions, 

in The Autocar 22 March 1919 so he might have been 

a “front” for Rapson in these early stages of publicity.) A 

Rapson letter in The Autocar 20 September 1919 claimed 

that he had been inventing for seventeen years and, in a weary 

tone, implied it was now time to pass on his inventions. 

The early post-1918 years saw a big growth in motoring 

and an endless fascination for gadgets and accessories, many of 

them spurious, to make motoring more reliable. Rapson now 

had Oyler’s making his new tires at their Skew works and, after 

an agreement on January 1, 1920, North British Rubber Co. to 

distribute them. From 1920–24 Rapson’s companies exhibited 

at Olympia. 






An early 1920 advertisement showing Rapson’s 

tires now in production. 

Inventing was one thing, exploiting the patents 

through licensing was another. Edgar 

Norman Duffield (b. 1880), the prolific 

writer for AutoMotor Journal, joined as an 

executive and it seems more of the inventions 

were then licensed to mainstream manufacturers, 

using the “Rapid” or Rapson name. 

The ideas that were not patented included 

the headlamp dipping system that was deliberately 

left free for others to copy (so it was 

claimed but in fact applications 32500 of 

1920 and 34746 of 1922 simply failed to gain 

acceptance), an “electric compressed vapour 

starter” (that did not get off to a good start!), 

and an anti-rattle window device. The inflated figure of 200 

patents could mean overseas registrations or patent applications 

that subsequently did not find Patent Office acceptance. 

Duffield, who did not stay long with Rapson, will be 

heard from later with an assessment of the inventor. 

The Autocar 22 March 1919 noted that the Lynton Wheel Co. 

was about to make Rapson’s pressed steel disc wheels, and the 

Blackhall Engineering Co. Ltd. of Glasgow would be making 

the winding top system (as well as Rapson’s spare wheel canister). 

The same handle for the hood would be used for the 

“Rapid” jacks, both systems exploiting Rapson’s frictionless 

AutoMotor Journal 10 Oct. 1918, 

and The Autocar 21 Sept. 1918 

p. 284 variant drawing 

The spring-operated engine starter utilizing Rapson’s frictionless 

threads, also licensed to Lake & Elliot of Braintree. Rapson withdrew 

it because the springs could not keep their tension. 

screw threads, and for Rapson’s new wheel locking system. The 

Rapson car, an idea floated in 1919, did not find favor with any 

company for manufacture. Its novelty was a powertrain that 

could be moved in and out from one body to another. However, 

no patents for it can be traced. At the end of 1920 Rapson was 

working on a suspension system, again not patented. He was at 

risk of spreading his talents thinly rather than promoting the 

more marketable designs. 






Garage & Motor Agent 10 Jan. 1920 p. 595

The June 1920 patent 134368 for 

the winding top. It is unlikely that 

this system opened or closed the 

front portion. 

An unidentified 1911–12 pre- 

1900 series Silver Ghost at 

Childwall Hall with ca. 1918 

cabriolet coachwork and carrying 

the registration LE4107 (that 

Rapson would move to other 

Rolls-Royces). His son Freddie 

is showing one of the first 

winding top examples. This is 

probably chassis 1737, formerly a 

Rothschild landaulette, acquired 

by Miss Schintz. 

1737 was with 

Barker & Co. in 

December 1916. 

The hood is the 

replacement 

taper type used to 

modernize early 

cars. Two telltale 

features make 

Barker the likely 

coachbuilder: the 

front fender ending 

under the running 

board, and a 

curved recess in 

the B-pillar just 

above the rear 

door handle. 

Country Life 3 June 1922 p. lxxxiii 

Neatly summing up his three patent strengths, these products appeared in the 

sumptuous advertising of 1922. A seven-page brochure on the The Rapson Super Jack 

later appeared and included cartoons by the celebrated H.M. Bateman (1887–1970). 





The Motor 25 Sept. 1917 p. 172 

Miss Schintz’s 1914 

Silver Ghost 5EB 

Mulliner saloon 

(its second body) 

at Childwall Hall, 

Liverpool, with Rapson 

demonstrating its 

engine-powered 

“Rapid” jacks. Each 

leg had rollers but it 

cannot have been an 

ideal system on soft 

ground, and the strain 

on the slender legs, 

arms, and pins must 

have been considerable. 

It was claimed the car 

could also be rolled around whilst on the 

jacks. The cost of the system (and its weight 

of 2 cwt) soon saw it replaced with a manual 

Possibly Rapson’s own drawing, or from a patent, to show the enginepowered 

system. 

The Autocar 28 July 1917 p. 86 

version. The body shown could have been 

by either Arthur Mulliner in Northampton, 

or H. J. Mulliner in London. All that survives 

The engine-powered jacking system layout in the middle of the chassis near the gearbox. 

from this scene is the stone arch and buttress 

behind. The historic house and most of the 

stable yard have been demolished. 

On soft ground mooring plates had to be inserted 

into the jack arms. 






The Autocar 28 July 1917 p. 84

The Motor 16 Oct. 1917 p. 252 


The Motor 18 June 1919 p. c633–4 & p. 647, Rolls-Royce Owner Aug. 1963 p. 6 

Rapson with Silver Ghost 5EB in the Childwall Hall garage 

demonstrating the permanent manual jacks which replaced the 

engine-powered type on this car. It took 7 seconds to raise the car. 

A neat model of the Silver Ghost chassis made for Rapson by 

Bernard & Needs, to show how his systems worked. 

The subsequent manual version of 

the system could be wound from the 

side for each wheel. Fitted here to 

Silver Ghost 5EB formerly with enginepowered 

jacks. Winding the handle 

lowered the jack which then remained 

at that point as a fulcrum and the car 

was drawn forward as it rose. 



Above: Miss Schintz’s 1915 Silver Ghost 

32RD Watson of Liverpool tourer, a body 

possibly ex 5EB, showing the permanent 

swivelling jacks as well as the top system, 

headlamp dippers, and Rapson tires. 





Left: Miss Schintz’s 1915 Silver Ghost 

21CB Barker tourer showing the manual 

permanent swivelling jacks. It sported a 

polished aluminium hood. 

Rolls-Royce Owner Aug. 1963 p. 6

The Autocar 7 June 1919 p. 889 

The Autocar 22 March 1919 p. 413 

1930 house sale catalog 






Opposite Top: 

The manual 

permanent 

swivelling jacks 

seen from the 

front on one of the 

Ghosts. 

Opposite Center: 

The garage at 

Childwall Hall 

in 1919. (l–r) 

Probably the 100 

hp Benz (with a 

bulbous coupe 

body like Rapson’s 

later Rolls-Royces) 

used for tests at 

Brooklands, and 

Silver Ghosts 

LE4107 (probably 

chassis 1737), 

LR6392 (21CB) 

and K294 (5EB). 

Rapson’s men 

in the foreground 

are checking his top 

winding system on a 

body frame. 

Opposite Bottom: 

The garage at The 

Bothy, Ottershaw 

Park, in the early 

1920s. From the 

left, Daimler 

XA2722, Silver 

Ghost coupe 70JG 

(now PB7863), 

the second Silver 

Ghost coupe 21CB, 

an A.C., the 1911 

Ghost cabriolet 

(possibly 1911 

chassis 1737), 

and the bulbous 

coupe on the 100 

hp Benz, seen in 

the 1919 Childwall 

Hall image. Other 

cars were absent 

on this occasion 

such as the 1922 

40 hp. Lanchester 

registered PD6682 

and Silver Ghost 

70YE. The building 

survives but without 

the glass canopy. 

Some of the Schintz cars used by Rapson for tire and accessory 

promotion, and his four chauffeurs, during 1921. (l–r) At The Bothy, 

1915 Silver Ghost bulbous coupe LR6392 (21CB), Daimler XA2722, 

Ghost LE4107 (i.e. probably 1737), a Lanchester cabriolet, 1921 

Napier PB8232, 1921 Ghost PB7863 bulbous coupe (70JG) and 1920 

Ghost PC5877 (70YE). Most of the cars carry Rapson’s eagle mascot. 

This image also appeared in the Daily Mirror during the early thirties 

coverage of Miss Schintz’s court case. 

Two of Rapson’s cars, Silver Ghost 21CB and the 100 hp Benz (with 

registration ending in 47), joined for tire tests by a 12 hp ABC and 14 

hp Sunbeam on the left. 




To be continued. 



Car & Golf 10 Mar. 1922 

The Autocar 1 July 1922 p. 22

All photos Douglas Gates 

Owners and Their Cars 

John Ellison—A Bespoke 

Enthusiast 

Brad Zemcik (CA) 

John drove his 2000 Bentley Continental SC, SCBZZ22E8YCX65102 

to the 2007 Skamania meet. Even after the long drive from 

Southern California, the car took First Place Touring in the Covered 

Engine class. Production figures for this model are listed as 76 for 

the world in 1999 and only 3 in 2000. Roof leaks were a weak spot. 

The fleet is in. Looks like half the San Diego region is out for a day at 

the beach but, no, these are one guy’s cars!* This was the first time 

all of John Ellison’s cars came together in one place. Due to an acute 

garage shortage, most of the cars live in separate garages but within 

walking distance from the owner’s home. Still, it takes some planning 

to figure out where to go to pick up what car . . . 

(*At the time of the photo in 2007; there are already more by now.) 

in 1972 we were in the throes of forming the RROC’s San 

Diego Region. Most of us had older cars, Silver Cloud 

and earlier, except for one person, John Ellison. John had 

a 1969 Silver Shadow lwb saloon with division (LRX6766) 

which provided more interest than a standard saloon at that 

time. This was the first time most of us had met John, and it 

would be the beginning of knowing a Rolls-Royce/Bentley 

enthusiast with bespoke and exquisite taste in cars. 

1980 Silver Wraith II, LRL41423C 




1986 Camargue, SCAYJ42A4GCX10399 2001 Corniche, SCAZK29E11CX68539 



1991 Bentley Continental MPW drophead coupe, 

SCBZD02D9MCX30394. 

As a kid John liked big cars like Cadillacs and Lincolns. His 

first new car was a 1969 Cadillac convertible, the ultimate land 

yacht. It wasn’t until the early 1960s that John even became 

aware of Rolls-Royce cars, seeing one on a used-car lot in Portland, 

Oregon. He doesn’t recall the model but believes it must 

have been a Silver Wraith because after moving to San Diego in 

1967 John purchased WVA50, a 1946 Hooper limousine, which 

1995 Rolls-Royce Flying Spur, SCAZG03C5SCX55162 

in turn was sold for a 1959 Silver Cloud I, then selling that for the 

lwb Shadow in 1972. From there it’s been a constant interchange 

of cars, including a 1971 Corniche, Dean Martin’s 1982 Corniche 

(John happened to be in the dealership when it was traded in 

by Dean and took it on the spot), a 1977 Silver Wraith II, and a 

1985 Silver Spur among others. John does this because he likes 

to experience different models of Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars. 

1998 Park Ward Limousine, SCAZV19C7WCX80248 




2001 Silver Seraph PW lwb touring saloon SCALD61E71CX07554 2005 Bentley Continental GT, SCBZZ22E8YCX65102 



Before the 2008 Williamsburg meet, John stopped by New York and picked up his 

newly purchased 2005 Arnage R Mulliner saloon, LC510814. This car, too, won an 

award: Second Place in the Bentley GT/Spur/Azure Concours class. Burgundy over 

Black Velvet with Signal Red coachlines, special wood, cocktail requisites, and a 

unique color of interior leather. (RROC member Woody Richey was the one who 

spec’d the car for the original owner.) 

Although John loves the big coachbuilt cars, he chose to 

own modern ones because his business kept him busy and he 

wanted to be able to get in a car and go. By 1990 John was able 

to begin keeping his cars instead of selling them, and so he 

zeroed in on low-production models with bespoke features. 

John has the distinction of having purchased the last car sold 

by Rolls-Royce in 1999. While relaxing on New Years Eve of 

1999, he received a phone call from a dealer who just needed 

to close his year with one more sale of a 1999 Silver Seraph. 

After discussions, John acquiesced and purchased the car, his 

first new Rolls-Royce. Since California is just about the end of 

the dateline, his claim of having made the last purchase of the 

year is valid. 

Whenever I see John I always have to ask if he has a new car 

because chances are he will. By the time you read this, a 2006 

Goodwood Phantom will have joined his stable. 

John is an educated enthusiast and 40-year RROC member 

from whom you will learn a lot when you chat with him. He is 

one of only two of the founding San Diego region members to 

have kept his membership current since 1972 and the lwb 

Shadow he drove at our first meet still lives in San Diego, but 

with a different owner. 

⚙ ⚙ ⚙ 

This 1972 P VI (PRH4703*) Park Ward limousine A few cars have the hooded tail light 

was purchased new by Sir Lew Grade (1906–1998), cluster, as shown here, similar to the 

a showbusiness impresario and television company Park Ward SC III 2-door models. 

executive known as the “King of Showbiz World” in 

Britain for his dynamic leadership of Associated Tele- 

Vision (ATV) Corporation. The car was ordered in 

August 1971, took nine months to finish, and rang up 

at about £15,000. It was used by him until his death 

and remained in the family until his wife’s death a few 

years ago. 

The car is uniquely fitted with custom removable 

burl wood picnic tables on the front fenders and 

bumper-mountable leather stools, a custom burl wood 

entertainment cabinet (TV and radio), a cocktail service 

in the rear compartment, and a wine cooler in the 

trunk. The rear compartment is upholstered in dark 

red velour and has wool carpet, the seats are poweradjustable 

and have gold-trim pillows. There are two rear jump * The P VI uses the Silver Shadow’s serial numbering system. The P V and 

seats and a fixed glass sunroof with sliding curtain cover. The VI were initially not that different from each other, and it is not clear at what 

time the Company settled on the decision to issue a new model designation. 

rear and side windows are fitted with gold-trimmed privacy curtains. 

The front compartment is finished in matching leather. in 1968, is still called a “P V” on its Sales 

This indecision is evident in the fact that the first production P IV (PRH4108), 

Card. 






Lex Mead of Maidenhead Ltd. 

was the dealer of record for 

PRH4703. They created a brochure 

highlighting the special 

features of the car and sent it to 

prospective customers for this type 

of work. Rolls-Royce displayed the 

car at their Conduit St. showrooms 

for a week and sent a letter to 

all their UK retailers encouraging 

them to take the opportunity to see 

this highly bespoke car in person. 

The dash layout of a P VI is very different from its 

predecessor in that it is very similar to the early Silver 

Shadow (cf. eyeball and below-dash center “Texas” 

vents, location of controls and instruments). There are 

no armrests on the doors but fold-out armrests are on 

each side of the front seat squabs. As in the P V, seat 

cushions are plain with pleated and bolstered squabs. 

After 1971 P VIs were required to have front-hinged rear 

doors to comply with new European safety rules. While US 

safety regulations did not permit the sale of this model in the 

US, several cars are thought to have been imported anyway. 

Observe that the (optional) stainless steel sill embellisher is 

extended over the wheel arches; a narrow (as here) or wide 

type were available. 











there was great anticipation of the 

results of the 2008 Monterey Auctions 

this year. With fuel prices and 

a depressed housing market at the top 

of many minds, people wondered if the 

golden years of classic vehicle appreciation 

were behind us. It is my observation 

that both feast and famine were witnessed 

this year at the events surrounding 

the Pebble Beach Concours. 

The top of the market—including Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and 

a dozen or so other manufacturers—is motoring along strongly, 

with the rarest, best-documented coachbuilt cars leading the 

way. Rare cars, with bulletproof history and correct numbers 

have not flinched in the least. Witness the 1933 Phantom II 

Brewster Special Town Car 218AMS 1 , lot #453 at RM, which 

sold at $2,310,000 with fees, well above expectation or 1920 SG 

36PE one-off Barker roadster, an all-original unrestored survivor 

that sold at $429K. At Bonhams, a 1927 Bentley Speed Six 

two-seater with dickey by Markham (DH2206) sold well above 

the estimate of $354K at $568K with fees. 

Smaller, less unique models from these fine manufacturers are a 

mixed bag—still trading hands, but at slightly depressed prices. 

Savvy sellers dropped their reserves and made the deal, a situation 

they were not forced into until recently. Rebodied cars, or 

cars with cloudy documentation have fared even worse, and we 

saw several very well done examples stall far below the auction 

estimates. Even the Gooding sale, which topped $60 million 

in closed sales had challenges selling some very nice Bentleys, 

including a 1935 3½ Litre Aerodynamic Saloon (B103CW 2 , 

est. $275–350K), a 1936 Bentley 4¼L roadster (rebodied 

saloon B49HM 3 , est. $140–200K), and a one-off 1949 Mark 

VI Cabriolet Speciale (B435CD) by Pinin Farina falling far 

short of its borderline absurd $500–700K estimate (this car is 

fully covered in FL05-6 when it sold for $253,750 at Bonham’s 

RROC auction). 

Racy body styles, cars with factory provenance, and cars with 

competition history are bucking that trend, despite the hard 

2008 Monterey Auction 

Impressions 

Bob DeKorne 

Manager, Car Club Marketing - Hagerty Insurance www.hagerty.com 

use and parts-swapping practices common with race vehicles. 

For example, any true Blower Bentley or Cricklewood 

Bentley stands a fair chance of continuing on the appreciation 

curve. At Gooding, a beautifully presented 1931 Bentley 4½ 

Litre “Birkin Team Blower” car (MS3928 4 , originally a Gurney 

Nutting coupe, rebodied in the ’70s) was right on the estimate 

at $1,760,000. While this car was rebodied, it was one of 

the authentic 50 original Bentley Blowers. 

Postwar factory-bodied cars are simply flat, and might 

be a challenge to sell in less rarified air than Pebble Beach. 

Don’t expect a lot of upside here, despite their elegance and 

excellent driving characteristics. Don’t feel alone there— stats 

from Hagerty Insurance show that the fringe muscle cars that 

were swept up with the recent rising tide are also wallowing 

and won’t change much in the near future either. 

1933 Phantom II 218AMS Brewster Special 

Town Car. This Brewster one-off with 

low razor edge roof design, dramatic V- 

windshield, sculpted windows, German silver 

hardware, painted canework, and interior 

gold-plated hardware inspired the 1935 

Brewster P II for actress Constance Bennett 

and Dutch Darrin’s 1938 design for the 

Countess di Frasso. It was originally acquired 

by C. Matthew Dick, heir to a major business 

machine company, as a wedding present for 

his bride-to-be. At $31,000, it was the most 

expensive car in the world built that year, 

over 50% more expensive than the “Twenty 

Grand” Duesenberg created the same 

year. Only three owners from new. Sold for 

$2.3 million. 

1©The ©The Rolls-Royce 





Despite this, the auction companies did 

brisk business, realizing $129.3 million 

in sales (vs. $116.2m last year). The big 

three all did very well, Gooding leading 

the way with $64,288,300 (with fees) for 

112 of 140 lots, RM at $44,093,450 with 

fees for 147 of 172 lots, and Bonhams at 

$21,004,800 with fees for 44 of 77 lots. 

Add in $9.1 million in muscle cars at 

Russo and Steele for 75 of 150 lots, and 

some familiar lessons rise to the surface: 

• Every market holds both opportunity 

and heartache 

• Do your homework 

• Documentation and provenance are 

everything 

No doubt, 2009 will hold some of each 

for most of us, but don’t call the overall 

collector car market soft or down—it just 

depends on the condition and type of car 

you are interested in! 

For complete results consult the various 

companies’ web sites. 

1936 Bentley 4¼L B49HM. 

Originally a Thrupp & 

Maberly 4d4l touring 

saloon, rebodied in the 

1950s by a now unknown 

builder as a Park Wardstyle 

roadster. Not sold. 

3 

2 

1935 3½ Litre B103CW 

Aerodynamic Saloon is the 

sister car to Rippon’s 1935 

Olympia Motor Show car 

and is one of two to this 

design. Not sold. 

1931 Bentley 

4½ Litre “Birkin 

Team Blower” car 

MS3928, originally 

a Gurney Nutting 

coupe but rebodied 

in the 1970s. Sold 

for $1,760,000. 

4©The ©The Rolls-Royce 





1926 6½ Litre TB2542. Said to be the sole 

remaining “Big Six” short-chassis (11 ft) car with 

original coachwork (H.J. Mulliner one-off dhc with 

dickey. Mulliner called this ¾ folding head style 

a “Simplex Coupe.”) Also has its original engine 

(FW2605). While these are noteworthy attributes, 

the $1.2–1.5m estimate was optimistic and the 

car remained unsold. 

1931 Bentley 8 Litre YR5086 with 

replica body by Wallis (ca. mid-1960s) 

in the style of a Vanden Plas dual cowl 

tourer; originally a Thrupp and Maberly 

limousine body. Major mechanical work 

done. Bidding stalled at $850K, on a 

$950K–1.2m estimate. 

1924 Silver Ghost 322LF. Obviously the year "1924" and the 1910/11 

body style don’t go together, so this is a replica, or, more precisely 

a recreation since it is not an exact copy of the original Mulliner 

balloon car body (the radiator here is taller, with all the resulting 

proportion/alignment issues). 322LF originally came with a Mayfair 

limousine de ville body by Merrimac and is now on at least its 

fourth body. 

While the sale price of $118,250 included a hot air balloon 

wicker passenger basket mounted on a custom aluminum rack at 

the rear of the car, it is difficult to know exactly what to make of the 

sale price. It’s certainly more realistic than the $160–200K estimate. 

1928 Phantom I 99EH with replica 

body by F.L.M. Panelcraft (ca. 

1950s) in the style of a Barker 

Boattail Tourer. Originally a Thrupp 

& Maberly “Fixed Cabriolet” or 

“Faux Cabriolet,” i.e. a passenger 

compartment whose roof looks 

collapsible but isn’t. The front seat 

is now covered by a removable cloth top and a tonneau 

over the rear. Ex-Pres Blake, recent engine work, Mitchell 

overdrive. Well bought at $110K. 

1961 Phantom V 5LVB27 with James Young PV22 touring 

limousine body. Well preserved older restoration. Fetched a 

realistic $97,900 on a not so realistic $120–150K estimate. 






The 2008 Cross Border 

Fall Tour 

John Peirson, BC 

Photos by John Peirson, Marny Peirson, John Harris, Nick Northeast, 

Terry Saxe, John Waite, Dan Walker 

this tour started in LaConner, WA on September 13 and 

finished in Whistler, BC on September 19. Of the 28 participating 

cars, four were prewar and six were Bentleys. 

The oldest car was a 1922 Silver Ghost and the newest a 1992 

Silver Spur II. 

The tour was very much a repeat of the highly successful 

2005 Fall Tour (FL pp. 7988–95), with many of the participants 

being repeaters. However, for 2008 the tour was slightly 

shorter, finishing in Whistler instead of Vancouver, and many of 

the stops along the way were new. I think everyone enjoyed the 

tour. The weather was just perfect every day, the arrangements 

all worked flawlessly (except for a blocked road; an alternative 

route was quickly suggested) and the wine provided by Bentley 

Bellevue and Hagerty Insurance for the welcome reception 

seemed to last for several days—what more could one ask? 

On Day one my wife, Marny, and I arrived in LaConner before 

lunch. As soon as we had checked in at the meet hotel we 

walked down to the waterfront looking for food. LaConner is 

a fishing village, so we wanted seafood. We soon found a suitable 

restaurant—and found it full of RROC friends with similar 

ideas. We were off to a good start. We ate enough but still 

had room for the evening welcome reception and dinner. A 

good tour needs a bit of “administrivia.” We had to register 

and received cards for our car windows, one for each side. We 

also received a goody bag and two elegant wine glasses. More 

importantly we received a tour book with very comprehensive 

details of each day’s activities and driving instructions. Later 

The map gives an 

overview of our 

travels. 

in the day a meeting was held at which we were told what to 

expect and how to behave. 

Day two was the first day of actual touring. We drove from 

LaConner to Winthrop, about 113 miles. The first stop was at 

Newhalem, a Seattle Power and Light company town originally 

built for the construction of two dams on the Skagit River to 

produce electricity for Seattle. Today, Newhalem is the starting 

point of a tour by bus and boat of the town and reservoirs. 

An old steam locomotive that used to bring tourists in until the 

highway was built provided a good photo opportunity. 

A tour was included. Our bus had both a tour guide and a 

driver with a sense of humor so we had a lively tour, ending by 

driving across the 350 ft high Diablo Dam to the Alice Ross 

III, a comfortable lake cruise boat. The scenery was spectacular, 

forests with towering peaks above, deep narrow channels 

between cliffs. The sky was cloudless, a perfect day. At the end 

of the reservoir the Ross Dam towered some 500 ft above us, 

giving an odd feeling when thinking that the concrete wall was 

holding back a lake nearly as high as the dam. Our next stop was 

at the top of the 5,477 ft Washington Pass, where we parked 

and made the one-mile return hike to the Washington Pass 

Overlook, which provided a spectacular view of the surrounding 

mountains and of the road we were to drive in the valley far 

below. I think everyone took numerous photos here! Our final 

stop was at Winthrop, a very colorful Old West-themed touristy 

town. We checked into our hotel, gassed up at the station next 

door, dusted our cars off, and readied ourselves for happy hour. 

The registration desk in LaConner with Mary 

Hunter (l), Barb Saxe, Burton Hunter and 

Terry Saxe. 

Tour leaders David Stocks (l) and Phil 

Birkeland. 






It was billed as leftover food and wine from day one, but was 

sufficient to provide dinner for most people, all enjoyed around 

the pool. 

Day three required 140 miles of driving. We started by going 

back into Winthrop for some photos in front of the old buildings. 

Then we drove about 100 miles to Molson. There are 

two Molsons, an old Molson ghost town and a new town with 

a handful of inhabitants. Here we enjoyed lunch provided by 

the ladies of the Historical Society. We had visited Molson on 

the 2005 tour, and a photo taken there of my car and wife by 

a mural subsequently appeared in The Flying Lady. So I was 

pleased to take the same photo again—well, it was the same 

mural, the same car, and the same wife. We explored the former 

schoolhouse, now an excellent museum. 

The next stop was at the Canadian border. Waiting in line, 

at least one of the tour cars overheated though it was not 

excessively warm outside. By the time our turn came, the customs 

officer had seen enough cars with right-hand steering to 

comment that our left-drive car had the wheel on the wrong 

side. From the border it was just a short drive to our hotel 

in Osoyoos, but first we were in for another treat. There is a 

tiny tongue of desert in Osoyoos that is part 

of the huge Sonoran desert that stretches all 

the way south to Mexico. We were directed 

to the Desert Centre where a tour for us was 

organized. The weather was suitably hot and 

dry for a desert, so all kinds of pretty hats (on 

the ladies) and not so pretty hats appeared. 

Alas the snakes and animals were napping (or 

off on a tour?) but the tour guide made the 

experience very interesting nonetheless. 

The top of the Diablo Dam as seen from 

our boat cruise. The dam was once the 

world’s tallest dam, standing 389 ft tall. 

Thar’s gold in them dang hills and it brought 

the first permanent settlers to Winthrop in 1883. 

Things were a little more settled when our group 

arrived on day two of our tour. 

The Peirsons’ 1965 Silver Cloud III (LSJR517) 

parked next to Old Number Six, the steam 

locomotive used by Seattle City Light on 

their tourist railroad from Marblemount 

to Diablo now resting in Newhalem as a 

tourist attraction. 






The view from 5,477 ft, the Washington Pass Overlook. 

That’s our road below. 

Day four, Osoyoos to Vernon: this day’s driving, 135 miles in 

total, was through the Okanagan Valley, an area known for hot 

dry summers. Fruit-growing (especially grapes for wine) and 

tourism are its major industries. In recent years it has become 

popular as a retirement place. Certainly it has become much 

busier, and thus we met traffic for the first time on our tour. 

Fortunately it was not too much of a problem. Our first stop was 

in Summerland, for a ride behind a steam locomotive on a short 

stretch of the Kettle Valley Railway (yes, railway in Canada, 

railroad in the US) that is lovingly preserved by a mostly volunteer 

organization. Following the train ride we were treated 

Part of our group touring the Desert Centre in Osoyoos. Note the hats! 

John Harris’ 1922 Silver Ghost (68ZG) sits in front of the first law 

office in Old Molson, circa 1900. In the 2000 census Molson’s 

population was listed at 23. 

The entrance to the 

Knox Mountain Hill 

Climb road. The 

current record for 

covering the 2.2-mile 

course is 1 minute 

37.065 seconds. 

to a lunch of hamburgers and hotdogs, salads and desserts back 

at the station. Suddenly our organizer of the Canadian portion 

of the tour, David Stocks, announced that the road to our next 

stop, Kelowna, would be closed for some considerable duration 

in about 20 minutes. We scrambled to our cars, and everyone 

but David got through before the closure. In Kelowna we were 

directed to the Knox Mountain hill climb. Right in the built-up 

area of the city is a steep hill, with a paved 2.2 mile winding 

road to the summit, a climb of about 800 ft. This is the site 

of the longest-running annual paved hill-climb race in North 

America. We did not race, but we did drive to the top to enjoy 

the panoramic views over Kelowna. Next stop was Arrowleaf 

Cellars Winery for a tour, 

tasting, and opportunity to 

buy. They make some very 

good wines in this small 

family operation but only 

sell at the winery, mostly to 

local restaurants. Our hotel 

for the night, the Vernon 

Lodge, is one of the most 

imaginative I know. I’ve 

stayed there many times. 

It’s a three-story square 




Pop Day was the 

speaker at our 

dinner in Vernon. 



Davison Orchards in Vernon, can 

be found in the northern area of 

the Okanagan Valley. 

building with a large courtyard in the 

center with a roof over it three stories 

up. Through the courtyard runs a stream. 

There are also a restaurant and bar and 

a swimming pool. The whole courtyard 

is landscaped with trees and shrubs. 

All very attractive. We enjoyed a social 

hour followed by a dinner and a speaker, 

a motoring enthusiast originally from 

England, Pop Day, who told us stories 

of early motoring in England. When 

David Stocks first met her, she was introduced 

as being the daughter of the model 

for the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot. She said 

her family greeted Rolls-Royce cars 

with “hello mother” and she was keen 

to talk about this. However, doubts were 

expressed, so Pop did a bit of checking 

on dates with members of her family. 

Pop realized this was not possible, 

but said maybe her mother had something 

to do with modeling for the 

kneeling mascot. 

On Day five we drove from Vernon to 

Kamloops, about 160 miles. Our first 

stop was just a couple of miles from 

our hotel. We had visited here in 

2005 and definitely enjoyed a second 

visit. The stop was at Planet Bee, a 

bee-keeping/honey and bees-wax 

business and, right next door, Davison 

Orchards, an agri-tourism fruit 

and veggie farm with a farm produce 

store and café. At Planet Bee we 

learned about bee-keeping and their 

theory that honey cures almost anything 

(does honey cure fuel pumps or 

smoking exhausts?). A working beehive 

was taken apart layer by layer 

while those observing sat on bleachers 

behind protective netting. The 

bees did not seem overly concerned 

about the process. 

One of the steam tractors in action 

At Davison Orchards we settled into seats in a train 

of large apple boxes on wheels. A tractor pulled the train 

through the orchards where “Farmer Bob” stopped a couple 

of times to tell us the history of the area, the irrigation 

systems that make farming possible, the latest ideas about 

growing apples, and the many varieties of apples. After the 

ride they treated us to apple pie a la mode made from a 

special apple they grow for pies—delicious. Twenty miles up 

the road brought us to Armstrong. Armstrong cheeses are 

no longer made here, but the Village Cheese Company is 

in business. We had lunch and listened to an explanation of 

cheese making. We tasted some of the specialty cheeses they 

make—merlot wine cheese, maple syrup cheese, horseradish 

cheese and many more. An unexpected extra treat was a 




The train of apple boxes behind a vintage tractor at Davison Orchards. 



visit to a nearby farm where there were three steam tractors. 

The two biggest dated from 1911 and 1916. Two were running 

when we arrived, and some of us got to drive—and were 

splattered with black oil. Dan Walker says he was a little quick 

on applying the steam pressure, causing the giant machine to 

almost lift its front wheels off the ground as it lurched ahead, 

almost dumping his son from his perch behind Dan. David 

Stocks knows this part of British Columbia very well, having 

lived here in the past. So he found a delightful meandering 

route from Armstrong into Kamloops along very quiet, very 

scenic side roads. In Kamloops we stopped at the Kamloops 

Indian Band Museum; Marny and I also peeped inside the 

adjacent Kamloops Indian Residential School building, a very 

large facility built in 1923 when native children were removed 

from their homes and given an education. Today the building is 

used for offices and meetings. 

In 2005 we arranged a barbecue at the home of RROC 

member Karl Stegemann, but not everyone got there for 

various reasons. This year the tour organizers put us on a bus 

and everyone got to Karl’s gracious home high in the hills 

above Kamloops. The house affords a spectacular view of 

The Cohens’ 1938 4¼L (B142MR) 

and the Hastings’ Silver Shadow 

(SRF31911) leading us towards 

Armstrong. 

From the left the Northeasts’ 1934 3½L (B165BL), the Wooleys’ 

1954 Silver Dawn (LSRH10), Tom Purcell’s 1956 S1 Continental 

(BC18BG) and Dan Walker’s 1957 Silver Cloud (SED445). 

the city far below. After happy hour and dinner, Marny handed 

out song sheets we had prepared, sat down at the piano and led 

a sing-along. All too soon the bus was at the door to take us back 

to our hotel in Kamloops. 

Day six was our last driving day and saw us going from Kamloops 

to Whistler, about 200 miles. The tour had just one couple without 

a car, Howard and Betty Green (there were others without 

their own cars but traveling with friends or relatives, and also 

Dave and Carol Sjolund in the luggage van). On this day the 

Greens traveled with us and added a great deal to our enjoyment 

of the day. Fortunately the driver of an early-departing 

car phoned David Stocks before most of us had left the hotel 

parking lot to say that our route was blocked by an overturned 

truck, and the road would not be cleared for at least four hours. 

David quickly found us an alternate route, and off we went. It 

The Village Cheese Company in 

Armstrong. Parked out front, Rodney 

Brown’s 1948 Silver Wraith (WFC31), 

the Hunter’s 1971 Silver Shadow 

(SRH10634) estate wagon, and the 

Waite’ 1955 Silver Wraith (ELW5). 






Dan Walker drove his Silver Cloud (SED445) around the world in 2007. 

Resting in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains, Whistler offers a wide variety of winter 

sports and genuine Canadian charm. In 2010 Whistler will host the alpine, Nordic, and sliding 

events such as bobsled, luge and skeleton for the Winter Olympics. 

proved to be another very empty, very scenic route. The first 

stop was for coffee and muffins at the Lillooet Legion Hall and 

a quick run round the museum opposite. Then we checked our 

brakes and life insurance before heading out onto the Duffey 

Lake Road. This is a slow, winding road, paved but with 

lots of frost heaves and two or three one-lane bridges, 

and with a very long steep descent that requires caution 

if brakes are to stay cool. The first town after Lillooet 

is Pemberton, where we stopped for lunch. Whistler 

was just another 20 miles down the road. Marny and I 

left the tour at this point, and carried on to our home in 

West Vancouver. So the rest of this account is based on 

what others have told me, and especially on Dan Walker’s 

Travel Journal posted on the internet. 

In the evening Dan gave a slide show of his 2007 

around-the-world drive in his 1957 Silver Cloud, the 

same car he had on this tour. He drove from Victoria, 

BC to Montreal, then shipped his car to England, drove 

around there, then on through Europe to Moscow, then 

east to China, whence he shipped his car home to Victoria. 

On Dan’s map it is almost a straight line and it 

really is a complete circle around the 

world. The Cloud gave very little trouble, 

not even a flat tire, even though it had to 

travel on some very rough roads—and no 

roads at all in the Gobi desert. You can 

read all about it on Dan’s web site. 

Day seven was a free day until the farewell 

dinner that evening. Whistler is 

primarily a ski resort but it has many 

summer activities too—golf, tennis, hiking, 

mountain biking, canoeing, ATVriding, 

zip-lining and shopping, plus sitting 

in outside cafes people watching. During 

the Farewell Dinner, speeches were 

made and awards given. Phil Birkeland 

presented a goody bag and tour book to 

Karl Stegemann to thank him for the terrific 

party at his house and thanked Dave 

Pass for producing the tour book. David 

Stocks then toasted FHR, CSR and 

WOB because they brought us together. 

He toasted our partners because of their 

support and tolerance. He thanked Burt 

Hunter for reserving a room for the 

previous evening, and Dan Walker for 

his slide show there. He thanked Dave 

and Jackie Baron for doing the pre-run 

and Lynn Pass for designing the commemorative 

glasses. Caroline Sharkey 

made a speech of thanks on behalf of all 

the guests on the tour. Dave Pass presented 

our hosts Phil and David with 

plaques from RROC HQ. Burt Hunter 

and Dave Sjolund presented numerous 

gifts to Phil, David and various other 

folk (Dave Sjolund had collected funds 

for this from us earlier on the tour). Phil 

presented special ribbons to Dave Sjolund for his van driving 

and help to those with mechanical problems. Good Samaritan: 

Colin Gurnsey (he stayed behind with stragglers on the way to 

Whistler). Good cheer: Karl Stegemann. Newest car: Gerald 




Colin Gurnsey’s Corniche gets a little attention. 



John Waite’s Silver Wraith did not want 

to leave Whistler under its own power. 

Something to do with fuel pumps. It got a 

ride home. 

Korn (1989; O’Morchoe’s 1992 car was 

not represented at the dinner). Oldest 

car and best sport: John Harris (1922 Silver 

Ghost). Furthest distance driven: the 

Jacksons (from AZ). Hard luck Charlie: 

Nick Northeast (slipping clutch). Finally 

Frances Stocks distributed participant 

ribbons and Knox Mountain Hill Climb 

certificates. 

And on Day eight everyone headed off 

for home, except one poor driver whose 

car was reluctant to go. 

Ah yes. FTPs (Failures to Proceed). 

Despite our cars’ reputation for lasting 

forever and never breaking down, we did 

have a few minor problems along the way. 

At least three cars had fuel pump difficulties; 

two were fixed sufficiently to carry 

on, but one had to be carried home from 

Whistler on a truck. One car had been little 

used during the year before the tour, 

with its battery always hooked up to a 

charger. So it had given no battery problems. 

But on the tour, without its charger, 

this battery proved to be unable to retain 

a charge. A new battery was purchased. 

One car used a lot more oil than its owner 

had anticipated, but another owner had 

ample extra oil to share. A loose union in 

a fuel line produced an unpleasant smell 

for a car’s passengers, but the owner had 

the right equipment to solve that problem. 

The most awkward problem was a 

slipping clutch that became so unwilling 

to transmit power that its car’s passengers 

and luggage had to be taken out before 

the car could ascend a hill. Even so the 

car had to ride on a truck for a bit. But 

once home the owner was able to adjust 

the clutch and had no slippage at all on 

his next tour. 

My own adventure was something I 

People and Cars on Tour 

1922 SG 68ZG M. Phillips tourer John & Angela Harris 

1935 20/25 GPG23 Hooper saloon Phil & Jean Birkeland 

1948 SW WFC31 James Young saloon Rodney Brown & 

Lev Drachenko 

1950 SD LSBA86 saloon David & Frances Stocks 

1952 SW WSG46 James Young saloon Tom & Anne Terry 

1954 SD LSRH10 saloon Roger & Chris Wooley 

1955 SW ELW5 H.J. Mulliner touring 

limousine 

John & Nicky Waite 

1957 SC I SED445 saloon Dan Walker & Scott Piercy 

1962 SC II LSAE445 saloon Dave & Lynn Pass 

1963 SC III LSDW469 saloon Andrew & Jeannie Duffus 

1965 SC III LSJR517 saloon John & Marny Peirson 

1967 SS SRX2897 saloon Gary Thompson & Don 

Gaines 

1971 SS SRH10634 estate wagon Burton & Mary Hunter 

1973 Corniche CRB16715 MPW coupe Steve Mason 

1975 SS SRD22262 saloon Ron & Margaret Jackson 

1975 Corniche DRD20405 MPW dhc Colin & Laurel Gurnsey 

1976 Camargue JRE22722 MPW coupe Dave & Jackie Baron 

1976 SS SRE26265 saloon Roger & Marie Pearson 

1977 SS II SRF31911 saloon Ian & Sandra Hastings 

1979 SS II SRK36676 saloon Larry & Jane Goldberg 

1989 SSpur NAK-24547 LWB saloon Gerald & Audrey Korn 

1992 SSpur II NAN-44496 LWB saloon Charles, David & Margaret 

O’Morchoe 

1934 3½L B165BL Park Ward saloon Nick & Anne Northeast 

1938 4¼L B142MR H.J. Mulliner coupe David & Adele Cohen 

1947 Mk VI B394BH James Young coupe Terry & Barbara 

McMichael 

1954 R Type B183MB saloon Terry & Barbara Saxe 

1954 R Type B37YA saloon Dave & Diane Gibson 

1956 S 1 Conti BC18BG Park Ward fhc Tom Purcell & Tony 

Sandoval 

Riders: Howard & Betty Green, Clive & Alison Northeast, Edward & Caroline Sharkey, 

Dave & Carol Sjolund (luggage van) 

had never come across before. We drove 

over a cattle grid at what I would consider 

a sensible speed, and all four wheel 

disks came off. The frequency of vibration 

must have been just right (or wrong, 

rather). We heard a tinkle and stopped 

to pick up what I thought would be one 

wheel disk. We found all four, though 

two had gone some way up the roadside 

bank. Fortunately no damage was done. 






A view of Westonbirt House and some of the many Bentleys present. 

To celebrate 75 years of the Derby Bentley, Neill Fraser of 

Scotland organized a tour in south Gloucestershire in August, 

ending at Westonbirt House near Tetbury. This magnificent 

stately home became a girl’s school in 1922. About 30 Derby 

Bentleys attended a parallel event there, the Spirit of the Age 

Summer Jazz Age Party sponsored by Bentley Motors, and 

were joined by other classic cars. Frank Dale & Stepsons were 

among the exhibitors. Sadly, summer was in short supply this 

year and the festivities took place under grey skies. 

Co-organizer of the event, Lawrence Trackman, brought 

his Alvis 12/50 and a smaller version for his grandchildren! 

The pedal car is a generic toy that he gave an Alvis 

appearance with the familiar red triangle badge. 

Derby Bentley 

Anniversary 

Tom Clarke (UK) 




An exotic body by 

Whittingham & Mitchel on a 1938 4.3 Alvis SC 

model, a concealed head dhc with pontoon front fenders. 



A 1937 Alvis Speed 20 

model with concealed 

head by Lancefield, 

showing the scalloped 

detail copied from 

the similar design by 

Park Ward and H.J. 

Mulliner on Derby 

Bentley chassis. 

1938 4¼ Litre B172LS 

Vanvooren pillarless saloon, 

not quite as happy a solution 

as the Vanden Plas version of a 

pillarless. Observe that the rear 

hinges are hidden but the front 

ones are exposed. 

1934 3½ Litre B28CR 

Freestone & Webb saloon. 

Last heard of in 1953 this 

time capsule car emerged 

only recently. 






1934 3½ Litre B68BN Vanden 

Plas saloon, a 1934 Olympia 

show car. 

1937 4¼ Litre B162JD Vanden 

Plas pillarless saloon, virtually the 

same body as B68BN seen right 

but with doors reversed for the 

pillarless system. The registration 

number is from the island of Jersey 

near the coast of France. 

The house is incredibly grand from the front but the rear is even 

more sumptuous. It belonged to the Holford family from 1665 until 

1926, replacing the original Elizabethan and subsequent Georgian 

manor house on the site. Robert Stayner Holford, who inherited 

Westonbirt in 1839, replaced that house between 1863 and 1870 

with the present mansion designed by Lewis Vulliamy. While the 

exterior, in ashlar masonry, is again an Elizabethan style with a 

symmetrical main block and asymmetric wings, the interiors are 

in the classical style. For its time it had state of the art features: 

gas lighting, central heating, fireproof construction, and iron roofs. 

It is now a Grade I listed building (“outstanding architectural or 

historic interest”) and is open to the public twice a year. 

Everyone at the event 

was in the dress of 

the 1920s and '30s. 

Crooners on ukeleles 

and also bowing on 

a wood saw sang the 

popular standards of 

the day. You guessed 

it, here they are 

performing “Rainy 

Day.” And it was. 






From the Archive: Foreword 

by W.O. Bentley 

Editor’s Note: Decades-old files contained this Foreword written by W.O. Bentley 

for the 1961 book A History of the World’s Sports Cars by Richard Hough (Allen 

& Unwin). This book has seemingly been long forgotten, so we reproduce WO’s 

words here with the thought that someone, somewhere may find it useful. While it 

contains nothing earth-shatteringly new, it does nicely summarize WO’s thoughts 

about the place of his own cars in the world. And, one is reminded of the bittersweet 

comment he once made to Sammy Davis: “If people had only been as enthusiastic 

about the car in its early days as they were about it as an historic relic, the 

success would have been unbounded!” 

I HAVE NEVER been quite certain what 

a sports car is, and when I was a young 

man, the distinction between a sporting 

and a touring car was so fine that some 

people scarcely knew the difference. No 

one could call some of the motors that 

ran in the early Isle of Man Tourist Trophy 

races and in hill climbs and sprints, 

sports cars. What some people had done, 

of course, was to take an ordinary car and 

tune it up to make it faster, and perhaps 

to lighten its chassis. That was really how 

it all began, and how we began with the 

DFP before the 1914–1918 war. It was 

not until some time after this that the 

sports car proper was born. To the ordinary 

person, a sports car has always been 

a small, open motorcar, with seats for two 

and a noisy exhaust, which is unbearably 

uncomfortable for more than the shortest run and probably 

often “goes wrong.” Personally, I have never seen the sports 

car in such terms. I have never thought high performance justified 

discomfort, noise, and unreliability, and when, after my 

pleasant years with locomotives, I entered the motor business 

Duff and Clement at the 1924 Le Mans race. 

and began to work with others to design 

a car of our own, the principle on which 

we worked was to build a machine that 

would go far and fast, safely, reliably, and 

comfortably. I have never really been very 

interested in short journeys, which can be 

accomplished perfectly satisfactorily with 

beam axles, the shortest wheel base, and 

an inefficient side-valve engine! For 10 

miles nothing matters—and in any case 

the engine oil is scarcely warm! I think 

most people who have been responsible 

for the design of interesting motorcars 

have usually built the sort of machine 

they like to drive themselves and which 

are suitable for their own sort of motoring. 

Since I was aware at a very early age 

of the possibility of traveling great distances, 

I wanted to make machines that 

would allow me to do so efficiently and 

at high speed. My first exercise in this 

was carried out with the French DFP, 

which I can see now as a sort of test bed. 

It gave me enormous satisfaction to make 

this quite humble little motor go faster 

than ever its designer intended, to the 

extent of taking records at Brooklands 

and racing for 12 hours over the rough 

and mountainous Isle of Man circuit at 

an average of over 48 mph in 1914. The 

3-litre car was the next logical step in the 

process of expressing what we all wanted 

of a motorcar. We did not think of it as a 

sports car. We wanted speed, but we did 

not want it at the expense of reliability or safety. We had, therefore, 

like every design team, to compromise. The result was 

that the 3-litre and the 4½-, 6½-, and 8-litre cars were not necessarily 

the fastest cars in their class in the world. But because 

the engine was always working within its capacity and we gave 

a great deal of attention to brakes and springing 

and weight distribution, they were safe and 

reliable cars. 

At Bentley Motors and later at Lagonda’s 

we designed and produced the cars we wanted, 

which were a reflection of our policy and our 

personal tastes. This may sound obvious, but I 

think people are inclined to forget how strongly 

the personal element comes into the design of a 

motorcar—that is conceived in terms other than 

mass production for the average motorist. It is 

possible to see distinct traces of the character, 

personality, and tastes of, say, Captain Smith- 

Clarke in the Alvis cars of the 1920s, of Louis 

Coatalen in the Sunbeams from about 1909 on, 

and of Georges Roesch in those splendid, sturdy, 

and good-pedigree fast Talbots from the 14/45 

car of 1927. I don’t think this argument should 

be extended too far, if only because it will lead 

to dispute and might even give offense, but it 






Bentley Motors

A modern-day BDC outing. 

is worth thinking about. Could, for example, anyone but Fred 

Duesenberg have produced the Duesenberg? Is it possible for 

anyone to imagine Archie Frazer-Nash designing the fwd Cord! 

From the information in the pages that follow, you will be 

able to exercise your mind on any number of possible anachronisms 

like this if you want to. But you will find it more 

The Curious 

Story of B11AE 

Jack E. Triplett and Tom C. Clarke 

Editor’s Note: The authors are writing a history of the coachbuilder 

J. Gurney Nutting & Co. This article is abstracted 

from material for the book. 

in the last issue, FL08-6, John Parker, that superb American 

amateur body builder (see FL68-6, page 1107, and 

69-4, pages 1180–1183, for the body he built on Phantom 

I S198PM, and for his body on Silver Ghost 83AG, FL81-3, 

pages 2396–2401, plus 08-5, page 9009), shared with us some 

1969 photos of a rebody on a Derby Bentley. John did not know 

its chassis number nor the British body builder, only that the 

“craftsmanship was superb.” The British body builder was 

C.B.D. Sargeant, proprietor of Sargeant’s of Goudhurst, and 

the chassis was 3½L Bentley B11AE. Carl Sargeant’s was the 

Bentley’s third body, or perhaps it should be numbered 3.5, for 

reasons that we explain in the following. 

B11AE was a very early 3½ (the 6 th chassis, by chassis number). 

It was fitted with Vanden Plas body 3047, one of a batch of 

standard catalog tourers, which, according to Brian Smith’s 

book Vanden Plas Coachbuilders, included 3046 (for B1AE, 

the first production 3½), and 3048 (mounted on B5AE, Bentley’s 

1933 Motor Show car). VdP painted B11AE in two tones of 

gray, upholstered it in gray leather, and it had gray-painted wire 

wheels. Because the new 3½L Bentley attracted great interest 

from the automotive press, the earliest production cars were 

initially retained by Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd. for press trials 

and the like. This indeed was B11AE’s first employment, 

though we don’t know whether it was the actual subject of a 

press road test. 

The chassis order and build cards for B11AE record that 

after completion of its trials car duty the company sold it in 

useful to read about the cars as they were and as they are. In 

sheer numbers I find them quite remarkable, even the numbers 

of other models that were produced during the lifetime 

of Bentley Motors. This makes it all the more surprising and 

pleasant that many people remember the old Bentley and 

that so many of the cars we made are still on the road and 

constantly changing hands at high prices. But then it is one 

of the most satisfying things about the motoring scene today 

that so many people who care about the better sorts of car, 

built in the earlier days, are prepared to give so much time 

to keeping them on the roads in good condition today. That 

there are many of them is proved by the publication 

of this large book. 

I wish them—and the book—well. 

 

W.O.B. 

B11AE with its second body, a Gurney Nutting Owen sedanca 

coupe. Note the early series characteristics of small, Lucas Bi-flex 

headlamps and high horn placement, used only on A-series and 

early BL-series Bentleys. 

April 1934 to Mrs. Jean Smith-Bingham, of Wykeham Park, 

Banbury. Her ownership has duly been recorded in books on 

Bentley, but no one seems to have asked who Jean Smith-Bingham 

was, or where she got the “pull” to move to nearly the head 

of the line of potential Bentley buyers. Derby Bentleys were 

in great demand in early 1934 and few were available. Several 

other names who must have wanted B11AE were scratched 

out on the order card, and against her name someone entered 

“delivery as soon as possible.” 

The lady, neé Jean Garland, was the daughter of a wealthy 

American ex-patriot who had a big country house in Warwickshire 

and was active in tennis and horse racing circles. Indeed, 

she carried on her father’s interest: her horse won the Cheltenham 

Gold Cup in 1939. But more relevantly for Bentley 

Motors, she had married in 1930 Arthur T. Smith-Bingham, 

who at the end of 1933 became a director of H.R. Owen Ltd., 

the London Rolls-Royce and Bentley dealer. Smith-Bingham 

was often listed as the “keeper” of H.R. Owen’s showroom 

demonstrator cars. 

Harold Owen gained access to B11AE through Jean Smith- 

Bingham, but he had little interest in putting a Vanden Plas 






The Field, 16 March 1935, p. 593 (used by permission)

Tom Clarke 

tourer on display in his showroom in early 

1934. A little over a year earlier, his dealership 

had introduced the “Owen sedanca 

coupe,” designed for him by Gurney Nutting’s 

A.F. McNeil and built by J. Gurney 

Nutting & Co. on Rolls-Royce P II and 

20/25 hp chassis. The Owen sedanca was 

a fabulously successful design, but Owen 

had not been able to get a chassis in order 

to display a Bentley Owen sedanca coupe 

at the 1933 Motor Show. [A small digression 

here to avoid an avalanche of letters 

to the Editor: Some Motor Show reports 

said that an Owen sedanca coupe was 

on display, but they were wrong—that is 

another story, for another time.] 

What happened soon after Mrs. 

Smith-Bingham’s acquisition of B11AE 

demonstrates Owen’s urgent need to 

get a Bentley Owen sedanca coupe into 

his showroom. Owen had Gurney Nutting 

remove the new Vanden Plas body 

from B11AE and replace it with an Owen 

sedanca coupe. We know this indirectly, 

not directly, for no contemporaneous 

1934 Gurney Nutting records are available, 

but the evidence (which will be presented 

fully in our book) is conclusive. 

A photograph (page 9163) of B11AE 

appeared in the British magazine The 

Field in 1935. This was already an old 

photo when it was published, but it 

likely shows B11AE when in use as an 

Owen demonstrator. The only other 

Owen sedanca coupe in the early series 

Bentleys was B2AH, but it differs from 

The Field car in fenders, color, and 

other features. 

Vanden Plas body 3047, 

originally mounted 

on B11AE, here on its 

second chassis, B161DK 

ca. 1960s. B161DK 

is now owned by 

Nic Møller. 

What happened to B11AE’s original 

Vanden Plas body? It was, after all, essentially 

a new body, so no reason to scrap 

it. Owen may have returned it to Vanden 

Plas, or it might have gone to Cooper’s 

of Putney, a company that bought and 

sold all kinds of used bodies, sometimes 

using them to re-body their customers’ 

cars, sometimes disposing them to others—we 

don’t really know where body 

3047 went. 

We do know where it wound up. A 

year or so later, Leslie Matthews & Co. 

(a Birmingham dealer who dabbled in 

Rolls-Royce and Bentley) ordered Bentley 

chassis B161DK for their customer 

S.C. Harrison. The order instructed 

Bentley Motors to send the chassis to 

Mulliners Ltd. of Birmingham (not H.J. 

Mulliner, as some books have erroneously 

recorded). Matthews (or perhaps it 

was Harrison) somehow located Vanden 

Plas body 3047 at wherever it had been 

since Nutting separated it from B11AE. 

Likely it was a bargain. Mulliners were 

then commissioned to mount the Vanden 

Plas tourer on B161DK (not a Mulliners 

tourer, as the chassis card incorrectly 

stated). Body 3047 remains on that chassis 

today: B161DK won first in class at 

the 2002 RROC annual meet at The 

Homestead, and is pictured in FL02-6, 

page 6790. 

Time passed. B11AE with its Owen sedanca 

body moved out of Owen/Smith- 

Bingham hands in 1936 to John Profumo 

(later a politician who, after leaving 

office in a scandal, became noted for his 

charitable work, for which he earned 

the CBE). From then on, its history is 

obscure. Though B11AE was a historic 

car because its Owen sedanca coupe 

body was one of the first two such on 

a Bentley, the urge to “update” what 

were then just old cars infected many an 

owner. When the Swain Group offered it 

for sale in the early 1950s, it had already 

been remodeled (below): someone had 

fitted an angular, metal-covered top and 

cobbled up its graceful fenders, trying to 

make it look more modern. And whoever 

modified the body also fitted bizarre carriage 

lamps to the sides of the top. The 

changes almost obliterated the Owen 

sedanca coupe lines, so much so that at 

one point the body was identified as Windovers. 

But the characteristic McNeil 

downswept waist molding and window 

reveal and the outline of the door shape 

all mark it as a Gurney Nutting Owen 

sedanca coupe. There can be no mistake 

about the chassis identification of the 

Swain photo because a photo of the car, 

in a dilapidated state, appears in John 

Adams and Ray Roberts’ Pride of Bentleys 

(page 139). 

Carl and Tim Sargeant (Carl’s son) first 

encountered B11AE when its then 

owner (drunk) rammed it into Tim’s 

van! After a few more such accidents, 

damage was extensive, both to the chassis 

and the body. The Sargeants bought 

the relic partly because they wanted its 

opera lamps for another Bentley project. 

At that time, B11AE’s Gurney Nutting 

body plates had long since been lost, 

and no one knew the builder of its sedanca 

coupe body (the chassis cards, of 

course, list the car’s original Vanden Plas 

tourer body). Eventually, they decided to 

rebuild B11AE as an open two-seater on 

a shortened chassis, with the result shown 

on FL page 9107, in color in Adams and 

Roberts’ book, and also in Johnny Green’s 

book on Bentley (page 192). 

Many things have happened to our cars 

over 70+ years, but few of them have histories 

to match the curious story of B11AE 

and its three (or three and a half) bodies! 

B11AE with modified Owen sedanca coupe 

coachwork, about 1950. Angular top, 

reconstructed trunk, valanced fenders, 

and Hooper-style skirted rear wheels all 

obscure the line, but the characteristic 

Owen sedanca coupe proportions, body 

waist moldings, window reveals, and door 

contours proclaim its origins. 






Preserve our past 

and secure our future 

THE 

ROLLS-ROYCE FOUNDATION 

RESEARCHR 

LIBRA 

RY AND EDUCATIONAL MUSEUM 

The only organization in America dedicated to the preservation of the Rolls-Royce 

and Bentley automobiles and their heritage. The new museum and library is located 

next to the RROC headquarters. Please come visit the cars and library and consider 

joining the foundation to insure our heritage for future generations. We are a 501C3 tax 

deductible organization and would greatly appreciate donations of automobiles, parts or 

literature. 

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION 

 

 

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Technical Feature 

The Ignition Is Pointless 

Gil Fuqua (TN) 

rolls-Royce and Bentley cars made before 1977 have ignition 

systems that include a distributor with a coil, points, 

and condenser. This basic ignition system was developed 

by Charles Kettering around 1911 and displaced the magneto 

ignition used on earlier cars. 

Rolls-Royce adopted Kettering’s coil-based ignition system 

on the Silver Ghost in 1919 and the system was used on subsequent 

Rolls-Royce cars for almost the next 60 years. The coil 

ignition replaced the trembler ignition used on the early Silver 

Ghosts but did not totally displace the magneto. Rolls-Royce 

was seldom an early adopter of new technology and continued 

to include a magneto ignition on its cars manufactured through 

the mid-1930s. For example, the Silver Ghosts made from 1919 

included a dual ignition system that ran on both a coil (Kettering 

ignition) and magneto. These Silver Ghosts were capable 

of running on either system if one of them failed. Later Rolls- 

Royce cars, such as the 20/25, had a magneto as a back-up in 

case the coil ignition failed. 

Rolls-Royce first introduced electronic ignition in the Silver Shadow 

series in 1977. The Lucas-supplied OPUS module, shown here, proved 

to be troublesome over time and is expensive to replace. Note the 

exposed electronic components on the Lucas circuit board. 

The Kettering ignition was the dominant automotive ignition 

system until the 1970s. With the advent of solid state electronics, 

the Kettering-designed ignition was eventually replaced 

with an electronic ignition that eliminated the points and condenser, 

and later by computerized systems that eliminated the 

mechanical distributor. 

The Kettering-designed ignition included a distributor that 

was driven off the engine. It incorporated a contact switch that 

triggered the coil to produce the electrical pulse to the spark 

plugs. The switch in the distributor is known as the “points” 

and includes two arms. One set of points is on a stationary arm 

and the other set of points is on a movable arm that is springloaded, 

allowing the arm to open and close the circuit. As the 

movable arm encounters a lobe on the revolving cam of the distributor, 

it closes the points and triggers the high tension side 

of the ignition system. This allows the voltage built up in the 

coil to be transferred to the spark plugs. The Kettering ignition 

also includes a condenser that serves as a buffer for the voltage 

spike across the points. Without the condenser in the circuit, 

the points would arc and burn up. 

Silver Shadow distributor shown with replacement ignition 

module from Dennison-Jayne. The Lucas module and 

wiring are removed from the distributor and this drop-in 

replacement is substituted. No physical changes are made to 

the distributor so it can always be refitted with the original 

Lucas module. 




Phantom III distributor shown with twin points and 

internal condenser. 



Dennison-Jayne electronic ignition kit for 

prewar six cylinder distributor. The kit 

includes all of the electronics housed in the 

epoxy-sealed module shown with the red 

and black wires attached, a replacement 

rotor fitted with a magnet ring (shown with 

green stripe), two brass mounting posts, and 

a rubber grommet that replaces the wire 

terminal in the distributor housing. 

The advent of electronic ignition 

provided distinct advantages over the 

old mechanical system by eliminating 

the moving points in the distributor that 

required periodic adjustment as well as 

the condenser that was subject to intermittent 

electrical failure, generally at the distributor. The points are removed and the module fits over 

Dennison-Jayne module shown installed in a prewar 

most inopportune times. 

the existing posts in the distributor. The module is held in place 

The advantages of electronic ignition by two brass studs that come with the kit. The two wires are 

are now available for almost every model fed through the supplied rubber grommet and pass through 

of Rolls-Royce and Bentley car made the existing hole in the distributor housing. 

with a conventional distributor, from 

early cars with a single set of points to the later V8 models with 

single and dual point ignition systems. Dennison-Jayne Motors 

has designed custom kits that replace the points and condenser 

in the distributor. The kits require no modification of the distributor 

other than removing the points and routing an extra 

wire to a source of 12 volt power. The entire module fits within 

the existing distributor. A major benefit of the Dennison-Jayne 

kit is the ability to reverse the process and reinstall the original 

points with no permanent modification to the distributor. Kits 

are available for Silver Ghosts (British and Springfield), Phantom 

I (British and Springfield), 20hp, 20/25, 25/30, Bentley 

3½ and 4¼, Phantom II and III, Wraith 1 , Silver Wraith, Silver 

Dawn, Silver Cloud, Mark VI and R Type, Phantom VI, and Silver 

Shadow cars with points. They also make a kit that replaces 

the trouble-prone Lucas electronic ignition that was installed 

until about 1982. 

The electronic ignition provides a number of advantages over 

the traditional points and condenser system. First, the moving 

points are eliminated. You don’t have to worry about points arcing, 

point wear and erosion, adjusting clearance of the points, 

and setting the proper dwell angle. In addition, the electrical 

components in the electronic ignition are epoxy-sealed and thus 

not subject to dirt, oil, and moisture-related problems in the distributor. 

The condenser is also eliminated from the circuit since 

it is not required with the electronic ignition. 

The Dennison-Jayne kits use an electronic module designed by 

Pertronix, one of the largest manufacturers of after-market ignition 

systems. The Pertronix modules have been used on a wide 

variety of coil-based ignition systems for 30 years that range 

from hot rods to tow motors. The system incorporates a Hall 

Effect circuit that uses a cobalt magnet to trigger the ignition. 

Hall Effect sensors provide a very accurate trigger for the ignition 

system and are not prone to heat and vibration issues associated 

with other retrofit kits. There are no points to burn out, no 

condenser to fail, and no moving parts to wear out. As a result, 

timing is more stable and is less susceptible to changes due to 

wear in the distributor’s 

cam and bearings. 

There are two schools 

of thought on such 

modifications to keep 

in mind: (1) Don’t mess 

with Sir Henry’s brilliant 

engineering (if it’s 

not broken, don’t fix it), 

and (2) it’s acceptable to 

adopt newer technologies 

if they improve the 

usability and/or longevity 

of the car as long as 

the modification can be 

reversed (example: adding 

a full-flow oil filter to 

a prewar car). With the 

advent of the electronic 

ignition kits, you now 

have a choice. 

1 Dennison-Jayne has yet to perform a conversion on the Wraith C series and 

will need to borrow a distributor in order to do the first conversion. 




The rotor is fitted with the supplied magnet ring to complete the 

installation of the electronic ignition module in the distributor. No 

physical modifications are required to the distributor and the original 

points can be easily retrofitted. 



“Review of the French 

Motor Industry” 

A 1945 Memo by Walter Sleator 

Editor’s Note: In FL08-2 we ran an article on the activities 

of Rolls-Royce’s Paris Depot, Franco-Britannic Autos Ltd., 

and Walter Sleator’s role in that company. Since that article 

was written, the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust has discovered 

in its holdings the prospectus for the incorporation of Automobiles 

Rolls-Royce (France) Limited. It is dated May/June 

1911 and gives the following as directors: Frederick Henry 

Royce, M.I.Mech.E, M.I.EE, Claude Goodman Johnson, Lord 

Herbert Andrew Montagu Douglas Scott, DSO, Ernest Alexander 

Claremont M.I.Mech.E, M.I.EE. On the French side 

there were Victor Bagués, Evremond de Saint Alary, and Walter 

Behrens. Of particular interest is the statement that the 

Since I have been over here, I have 

endeavoured to procure from the best 

possible sources, a picture of what F.B.A. 

[Franco-Britannic Autos Ltd.] can look 

forward to, in the coming months or 

years, from a commercial point of view. 

It will be immediately appreciated that, 

owing to the war, the situation in Europe 

is anything but bright, and in France— 

which is the country we are interested in 

at the present moment—the position is 

difficult, but nevertheless hopeful. 

What Has Happened to 

the French Motor Industry? 

Owing to the war, factories have either 

been damaged by aerial bombardment, 

or by sabotage, and as to the remainder, 

which are intact, they are incapable of 

being utilised owing to a complete lack of 

raw materials. Factories such as Renault 

and Matford are slowly getting under 

way again with their production of commercial 

vehicles. Hardly any private cars 

are being turned out by any firm, but a 

small number are being assembled from 

spare parts in such factories as Ford, 

Simca, etc. 

What is the French Plan? 

As you probably already know, a five-year 

plan has been devised by the French 

Government, after considerable thought 

had been devoted to the matter, and in 

this respect, it is worth noting that the 

responsible people, mainly M. Lacoste 

(Ministre de la Production Industrielle), 

and. M. Pons (Chef du Cabinet du Ministre) 

had, it seems, been working out the 

details of this plan during the occupation. 

The plan calls for the mass production of 

cars by the various firms, as under: 

4 HP Category Simca, and Panhard 

& Levassor will make the Gregoire aircooled 

car (particulars of which remarkable 

little motor car I gave to Rm and Ev. 

many months ago), and it is planned to 

turn out 250,000 of these vehicles during 

the five years. 

6–8 HP Category Next on the list is the 

202 Peugeot, which firm estimate that 

they will produce 265,000 cars during the 

same period. 

10–12 HP Category Citroën and Ford 

have been entrusted with the manufacture 

of this category and between them 

they are supposed to produce 304,000 

cars in the five years. 

Luxury Type Car, 15 HP Finally, we 

have what is now being called the “De 

Luxe” model, which will be the 15 HP 

6-cylinder Citroën, and 62,000 of these 

cars are expected to be produced according 

to the five year plan. 

Having discussed the foregoing plan with 

numerous friends of mine, all of whom 

are particularly well placed to judge 

same, it appears to me highly improbable 

that the production figures mentioned 

will be attained unless the first year of the 

Company had been registered by Rolls-Royce “with the object 

of manufacturing the famous Rolls-Royce motor chassis 

in France and selling there and in other countries of Europe, 

other than the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.” 

[Emphasis by ED] There is no information at hand presently 

that says that chassis were actually manufactured in France. 

Here we pick up the thread with a report from Sleator 

to the Rolls-Royce board in September 1945. For the sake 

of context, it should be noted that Sleator had by this time 

come under intense criticism from Rolls-Royce for the heavyhanded 

manner in which he had installed in 1944 his brotherin-law 

Jean Schoffs as head of FBA thereby forcing out Jean 

Goemaere who had been in charge of FBA since 1940 when 

Sleator escaped France to Spain. This episode will be the subject 

of a final article on FBA. 

We are obliged to the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust for sharing 

this material. 

five-year plan is considered to be the year 

1947. In that case it will become in reality 

a six or seven years plan. One cannot fail 

to be impressed by the fact that the 15 

HP Citroën is now considered over here 

as the future French luxury car. 

Such firms as Bugatti, Delahaye, 

Delage, Talbot etc., are free to produce 

whatever car they wish, as they are outside 

the five-year plan, not being in a 

position to make cars on a mass-production 

basis. No very definite programme 

has, been drawn up by any of these firms 

yet. It would appear, however, that most 

of them are contemplating producing 

their 1940 models, trimmed up for 

weight reduction by the introduction 

of aluminium and light alloys. Talbot’s, 

however, have, I understand, more or 

less produced a car that is a replica of the 

Bentley! I have not yet seen this car, but 

hope to do so before I leave France, or at 

least get some further information concerning 

it. With regard to the Hispano- 

Suiza, it seems that they have, according 

to Prince Poniatowski [Prince Michel 

Casimir Poniatowski, 1922–2002], given 

up the idea of manufacturing motorcars 

in the future. 

What Are the Possibilities 

of Selling R.R. and Bentley Cars 

in France? 

This, as you will appreciate, is a very difficult 

question to answer. I have, nevertheless, 

discussed this matter, not only with 

M. Rabuteaux (President of the Chambre 






Syndicale des Importateurs), but also with M. Pons (Chef du 

Cabinet du Ministre de la Production Industrielle), who, as 

everybody knows over here, is the man who is responsible for 

the five-year plan and who is generally considered the No. 1 

motor car specialist. Re M. Rabuteaux. During the lengthy 

conversation I had with this competent official, it was obvious 

that at the present time it would be quite impossible to hope 

to sell—and by this I mean import—Rolls-Royce and Bentley 

chassis in France for the two following reasons: 

(a) The necessary import licences would not be granted by the 

Production Industrielle (M. Pons). 

(b) The necessary Sterling funds required to pay for the vehicle in 

question, would not be allowed by the Financial Committee 

over here, through whom all such transactions have to pass. 

The situation as set forth on the preceding page does not 

come as a surprise to me any more than it would to other 

knowledgeable persons, as it is obvious that the French Government 

have got to give priority to imports of vital necessity 

which will contribute towards the economical reconstruction 

of the country. As one could write at length on this particular 

subject without, by so doing, marking one’s point, I think it 

preferable to give the gist of the conversation I had with M. 

Pons and the Minister [Lacoste], when they received me on 

the 7 th September. 

After a general conversation which covered the political situation 

(!) as is usual in France, M. Pons took great pains to explain 

to me the remarkable results he expected to receive from the 

five-year plan. He appeared to be very optimistic, and repeated 

on several occasions “I can assure you that this plan, which is 

already in operation, will be fully carried out.” He then went 

on to tell me how keen he was to collaborate fully with British 

manufacturers, with the object of being able to compete against 

a certain country (evidently the U.S.A.) which, in a very short 

time, would be in a position to flood the European markets 

with motor cars, the prices of which would make European 

competition difficult; he stressed the necessity for British and 

French cars being of similar quality, and expressed his views on 

the matter as follows: “France was one of the finest motor car 

quality manufacturers in the world, and it is our intention to put 

the French motor industry back where it should be, and I can 

assure you that we are going to do it.” 

He added that, during his recent trip to England, he discussed 

with the officials of the Board of Trade the possibility of an agreement 

between the two countries, whereby France and Great 

Britain would get together in such a way that, instead of working 

out a motor car policy by which they would automatically cut one 

another’s throats, they should on the contrary elaborate a scheme 

to the effect that certain models should be produced in France to 

suit certain European markets, and by resorting to mass production, 

compete against the States. He was of the opinion that the 

U.K. should act on the same lines. M. Pons said he considers that 

in such an event there should be no customs barriers between 

the two countries. Certain types of French cars would be available 

in this way to the British public and vice versa. He asked me 

whether I would use whatever influence I had to push home this 

point with the Board of Trade people and appears convinced that 

it is only by our two countries working on parallel lines, and cutting 

down the number of models made to the minimum, which 

The first postwar auto show in France, the Salon de 

l’Automobile, took place in October 1946 at the Grand 

Palais in Paris. Much of Europe was still digging itself 

out of the rubble and cars were scarce, but some 809,000 

visitors—double the number of the last prewar salon in 

1938—came to distract themselves and to dream. There 

were 680 exhibitors but they had little to show in terms 

of new designs and less to sell. Most of the exhibits were 

prototypes, raw material was a rare commodity, and the 

country needed to make exporting cars for hard currency 

a priority over satisfying domestic demand. 

The Salon de l’Automobile (renamed Mondial de 

l’Automobile in 1988) was the first motor show in the 

world. It was started in 1898 by industry pioneer Albert 

de Dion at the Tuilleries Gardens. Fifty years later the 

1996 salon featured a replica of that first postwar salon, 

complete with period signage and as many of the period 

cars as possible: a rear-engined Renault 4CV, 3CV Dyna 

Panhard, Peugeot’s 202 sedans and convertibles, various 

models of Citroën “Tractions,” the three-wheeled Mathis 

v.1 333 “egg on wheels,” Delahaye, Delage D6, a Hotchkiss 

686, Panhards, a Simca Cinq, a Salmson S4E Coupé, a 

Talbot Lago Record coupé, a Bugatti type 59/50DB singleseater 

from 1939 and foreign fare such as Fords, Lincolns, 

Buick, Studebaker, and a Cadillac Coupé de Ville. 

would then have to be mass produced, that we can hope in future 

to compete with the States. 

Speaking of Rolls-Royce sales in France, his attitude was 

as follows: 

“I have no objection on the contrary to the importation 

of such luxury vehicles such as Rolls-Royce manufacture, 

as I consider it necessary for our manufacturers to realise 

what other people are doing, and healthy competition is 

a good thing.” On the other hand, for reasons which have 

previously been stated, he cannot foresee the possibility 

of granting import licences for such vehicles as we manufacture 

for a couple of years. He then made the rather 

extraordinary statement that if the British and French Governments 

come to terms respecting their future motor car 

policy, R.R. and Bentley cars would not have to be penalised 

by heavy duties (incidentally both M. Pons and the Minister 

appeared to be against the levy of customs duties), as 

French luxury vehicles would be shipped to England in 






exchange for the apparently free 

admission into France of Bentley 

and Rolls-Royce cars. What French 

luxury vehicle he had in mind, or 

what French car will ever, or at all 

events for many years to come, be 

able to compare with our type of 

motor car, is as complete a mystery 

to me as it is to other people to 

whom I mentioned the matter. 

To resume, therefore, there is no 

anti-British feeling whatsoever in 

the Ministry of the Production 

Industrielle. On the other hand, 

there appears to be a very definite 

desire on the part of the present 

authorities to come to an agreement 

with the British manufacturers, 

and unless things alter, as they 

may do, after the elections, the 

Time-travelling 

just a few 

years ahead, we show 

here examples of what would 

become the golden years of French car 

design. Since the French government made 

it impossible for the French industry to produce 

big luxury chassis, the French coachwork 

industry turned to American and British 

makes in larger numbers. The illustrations 

here are from a 1949 issue of Réalités Magazine, 

an international periodical since 1946 

featuring articles of fashion, politics, social 

issues, arts and entertainment, etc., as they 

pertain to French culture. The illustrations 

were not captioned, so our captions represent 

an educated guess. 

future possibilities, as far as we are 

concerned in this country, will be 

entirely dependent upon Government 

control. Or in other words, 

the order of the day will possibly 

be a “you play with us, and we will 

play with you” policy. 

F.B.A. Ltd.’s Present Situation 

As you already know, F.B.A. Ltd. has 

more work than it can conveniently handle. 

This is mainly due to the repair, or 

overhaul of U.S. engines, and after having 

discussed this matter with the interested 

officials, we can definitely state that 

we shall continue to receive engines for 

complete overhaul at the present rate 

until Feb. 1946. From that time onwards 

they will start cutting down, and to quote 

their own words ‘we will be on a day to 

day policy’. 

Apart from this, we have a considerable 

amount of work to do for other 

military units, especially the British Red 

Cross, and I do not see any change coming 

from this direction before April next 

year. Finally our customers are gradually 

coming out into the open, and bringing 

in their cars for attention. If petrol is 

once again on the market, we can foresee 

a considerable amount of work coming 

from the repair and general mechanical 

attention that will be required by the 

majority of our customers’ cars. 

This being so, I have no hesitation in 

stating that F.B.A. Ltd. will be fully capable 

of looking after itself until the end 

of 1946, and by that time we must hope 

that the situation in Europe will have 

A Talbot Lago with unknown body. 

Notice how the door is sculpted to cope 

with the rear fender. 

All illustrations: Réalités Magazine, Oct. 1949 

A 

Delahaye 

by Figoni. This 

is almost certainly a 

1938 V12 model 165R, either 

rebodied or bodied postwar for the first 

time (unless this is a prewar drawing). 

A 1948 Cadillac 62 by Saoutchik; 

this car still survives today. 






improved and that a plan for 1947 

will have been worked out. 

Customers’ Requirements 

Ever since my return to Paris I have 

been literally assailed by our customers, 

most of whom, I am glad to 

say, are excellent friends of mine; in 

fact I find it difficult to cope with 

the ’phone calls at times, the record 

being 14 calls one day between 7.30 

and 9 am! All our customers are 

anxious to put their names down for 

the new Bentley. As I have already 

mentioned in a previous report, we 

have some 30 odd names down, and 

the list is still growing. 

An unidentified make, bodied 

with Chapron design 5362. 

A Talbot Lago from a Saoutchik ad. 

A Talbot Lago by 

Figoni. 

Figoni advert, probably a Delahaye. 

A Delahaye, possibly by Saoutchik. Quite 

a unique sedanca coupe. Note the chrome 

button to the left and above the door 

handle but not in the door; function unclear. 






If trade were free, or, in other words if we were in the 

same position as we were in 1939, and these cars could be 

delivered almost immediately, they would be paid for irrespective 

of price (a good second-hand 4¼L Bentley fetches 

Fcs. 850,000 today), but what will be the attitude of these 

customers when the factory is able to deliver cars again? I am 

afraid this is a question I cannot answer. First of all, there will 

be the exchange situation. If we surmise that a new Bentley 

will cost £2,000—the price in French currency at say Fcs. 200 

to the £ would work out at Fcs. 400,000—and at this figure we 

could sell them like hot cakes, seeing the above mentioned 

price people are willing to pay for a second-hand car, but if, as 

I have strong reasons to believe, the Franc will be devalued, 

and the £ sterling quoted at Fcs. 380 for instance, (which is 

The French Connection 

On the one hand, it is outside 

the scope of this magazine’s 

focus to explore 

in depth the many notable 

activities in the 

world of automobiles, or 

engineering in general, 

that don’t specifically 

relate to Rolls-Royce 

and Bentley. On the 

other hand, everything 

is connected on some 

level and a full and 

informed appreciation 

of any one thing is only 

possible within the larger 

framework of knowing 

the full spectrum. 

Furthermore, the migration 

of ideas is normal, 

essential, and unavoidable 

especially in a company 

like Rolls-Royce that made such 

a particular point of following 

what was done elsewhere so 

as to identify suitable solutions 

to its own problems and then 

license and, usually, improve or 

adapt them. Just think of such 

essential technologies as the 

GM Hydramatic transmission, 

or, to use a French connection, 

the Citroën hydraulic selfleveling 

system. 

French coachbuilders’ Rolls- 

Royce and Bentley output is 

a mere footnote in the coachwork 

canon, but what few examples 

they did produce stretched 

the envelope disproportionately. 

To better see why French 

coachwork looks so recognizably 

French, it is helpful 

to see the work they did on 

other marques: 

La Carrosserie Française 

du Style au Design 

by Serge Bellu 

ETAI [www.etai.fr], 2007. 384 

p. Hardcover. ISBN-13: 978- 

2726887165. €92 

(French) Right from the cover 

photo the book leaves no doubt 

that French cars look, well, different. 

This distinction—and it 

is a distinction—is true still 

today. (Moreover, you wouldn’t 

have to look far, especially 

among European commentators, 

to find the strong sentiment 

that only the French know 

how to build true luxury cars.) 

Profusely illustrated, this 

book is the first-ever chronological 

survey of French design, 

covering every decade and even 

including concept cars up to 

2010. A “pre-history” of carriages, 

which includes a nice 

glossary of terms, leads into a 

brief overview of the earliest 

only my personal feeling) this would mean that a Bentley at 

£2000 would cost the French customer Fcs. 760,000 delivered 

at an English port. This is quite a figure, and to which 

it would be necessary to add the cost of transport, cartage, 

luxury tax etc., which would bring the price of the car up to 

approximately Fcs. 850,000. 

I do not wish to be pessimistic, or over-optimistic, but bearing 

in mind the last war, I do believe that, provided F.B.A. Ltd. 

can be given more scope such as other European markets to 

deal with, both from a sales and service point of view, it will be 

able to hold its own, on the assumption that the parent company 

are prepared to give it financial assistance for say three 

years starting from 1947. 

A.W. Sleator, 10.9.45 

of self-propelled vehicles and 

then the early precursors of the 

car as we know it today. All the 

examples shown and described 

are of French manufacture, 

and even the reader who is 

only slightly familiar with early 

RR history will recognize most 

of the names. The photos go 

far beyond what our marquespecific 

RR books show, so 

there is much to discover here! 

These sections show the rapid 

transformation of body styles in 

response to emerging technology 

and changes in lifestyle, and 

also describe the changes to 

the vocabulary. Already by the 

1896 Concours du Louvre it is 

obvious that French designers 

are developing a unique, 

national idiom that evolves 

in a distinct manner as the 

century unfolds. About half 

the book is devoted to prewar 

designs; the coachbuilder 

names will be familiar to 

anyone who has an interest 

in that era. The many period 

photos are supplemented by 

occasional coachwork drawings, 

ads, and modern photos 

of classic cars. The photo 

captions are brief, identifying 

the cars by make, model, 

and year. RR/B are shown/ 

referred to several times, 

but not in particular detail, with 

two photos each. (However, the 

cars, being so distinctive, are 

easily identified!) 

The second half of the 

book (1945–2010) begins with 

the obvious lament about the 

demise of traditional coachwork, 

but even the increasingly 

mass-produced French cars 

continue to look unmistakably 

French. US readers in particular 

will find much here that 

never made it to these shores 

and so expand their visual lexicon. 

Many photos of studios, 

mock-ups, drawings, quirky 

ads. The emphasis of the narrative 

is on trends and descriptions 

of styling; for explanation 

of business matters, production 

stats etc. other books will need 

to be consulted. 

Index of people and companies; 

extensive bibliography. 

Won the 2008 Grand Prix du 

Plus Beau Livre at the Festival 

Automobile International. 

Henri Chapron 

by Dominique Pagneux 

ETAI [www.etai.fr], 2002. 192 p. Hardcover. 

ISBN 2 7268 8602 7. €42.70 




(French) Along with Kellner, 

Binder, Labourdette or Franay, 

the house of Chapron (1920– 

1978, continuing as a restoration 

shop until 1986) is one 



of the names that immediately 

come to mind when we 

think of French coachwork 

on RR/B. The author asserts 

that this interest is on the 

rise and goes so far as to call 

it “Chapronmania.” 

Even if you don’t 

speak French, the hundreds 

of—mostly period—photos 

and coachwork 

drawings will show 

you things you probably 

have not seen yet. The 

book begins with a brief 

overview of Henry Chapron’s 

early life and the 

founding of the company, 

followed by recollections 

of eight people associated 

with him professionally. 

The bulk of the book 

showcases examples of 24 

of the major marques that 

carried Chapron bodies, 

the largest section being that 

on Citroën. (There are only two 

pages about RR [plus several 

scattered photos elsewhere that 

include RR/B], with poorly captioned 

photos and no examples 

of prewar bodies even though 

that constitutes half of Chapron’s 

RR work.) While always 

current in terms of popular 

taste, Chapron’s designs were 

not flashy or avant-garde but 

sober and of restrained elegance. 

During the peak years of 

1928–31 their output reached a 

lofty 500 cars a year, and their 

work on the Delage D8 (see 

next book review) set a new 

benchmark with wide-ranging 

and long-lasting influence on 

the other coachbuilders. 

A selection of Chapron’s private 

collection will be in Bonham’s 

Retromobile auction Feb. 7. 

To put the next marque into 

context, consider that often 

enough the British press of the 

late 1920s found itself describing 

the Delage D8 as the “Rolls- 

Royce of French cars.” 

Or this colorful quote, 

variously attributed to Louis 

Delage or that consummate 

car connoisseur David Scott- 

Montcreiff: “One drives an Alfa, 

one is driven in a Rolls, and one 

buys one’s mistress a Delage!” 

Delage 

La Belle Voiture Française 

by Daniel Cabart, Claude Rouxel 

ETAI [www.etai.fr], 2008. 384 p., 

700+ illos. Hardcover. ISBN 978 2 

7268 9432 3. €92 

(French) Hot off the press is 

this 2 nd edition of a book first 

published in 2005 on the occasion 

of the 100 th anniversary of 

the marque’s founding (1905– 

1953). “The Beautiful French 

Car” is not a slogan cooked 

up by a clever PR flak but an 

accolade given by the public. 

The serious literature on this 

marque is quite thin and this 

book goes a long way towards 

painting a definitive picture 

of the entire lifespan of the 

company, not just the glamour 

decade from the late 1920s 

onwards. Based on extensive 

research of public records as 

well as interviews with employees, 

the book corrects various 

errors. All of the photos 

are period (among the gems: 

a 1921 Labourdette skiff with 

luggage trailer) and of remarkable 

quality, and many of them 

as well as the documents have 

not been published before. 

The emphasis is on models and 

development, less on finances, 

pricing or contextual history. 

While the extensive and storied 

sporting history (including 

a 1914 Indy win) is referenced 

in good detail, the focus is on 

the touring cars. Sidebars cover 

special models, historic events, 

coachbuilders, yearly highlights 

etc. The in-depth coverage 

ends with the death of 

Louis Delage (1947); the Delahaye 

years (to whom the company 

had been forced to sell in 

1935) are condensed into all of 

20 pages. 

Appended are plant layout, 

brief biographies of key personnel, 

aero engines, car production 

numbers, race results and 

speed records, specs by model. 

No index. Won the Prix Bellecour 

2005 and a 2006 SAH 

Award of Distinction. 

The relevance of this book 

is also evident in the fact that 

Dalton Watson [www.daltonwatson.com] 

recently issued 

an English language version, 

translated and significantly 

expanded by Delage enthusiast 

David Burgess-Wise. 

(Delage: France’s Finest Car, 

2008. Hardcover. ISBN 978 1 

85443 224 7. $225/£110, numbered 

limited and signed edition 

of 1000) 

This two-volume slipcased 

edition now runs to 531 

pages and over 1000 illustrations. 

Photo reproduction is 

even better than in the French 

version. Vol. 1 is a page by 

page translation (with minimal 

deviations caused by language 

requirements) of the French 

original, reproducing its very 

nice layout and updated with 

corrections and changes made/ 

sanctioned by the authors, 

including 20 photo substitutions. 

While, technically, the 

French book is newer it does 

not contain these updates! As 

important, only the English 

version is indexed. 

Vol. 2 contains the apparatus 

also found in the French 

edition’s appendix, and then 

adds a host of new material in 

the form of details of Delage 

cars at the London motor shows 

1906–51, an overview of the 

Australian market, plus 100 

pages of period ads (1909–42) 

and road tests. 

Dalton Watson applied a similar 

treatment as above to another 

superb, long out of 

print French book, also 

translated and appended 

by David Burgess-Wise: 

Amilcar 

by Gilles Fournier 

Dalton Watson Fine 

Books [www.daltonwatson. 

com], 2006. 300 p. + 84 p. 

supplement, 500 b/w illos. 

Hardcover, slip case. ISBN 1 

85443 218 4. $175/₤95 

Despite their Englishsounding 

names, Amilcar 

(1921–1939) and Salmson 

were the quintessential 

light French sports cars 

of the 1920s. Starting with 

cyclecars, in which France was 

a pioneer, the company also 

built all-out racecars and light 

touring cars, and was taken over 

by Hotchkiss in 1937. Despite 

having an ambitious maker, a 

well-liked product, tremendous 

racing success, foreign representation 

and even manufacture 

of its product, and technical 

innovation, the company 

was no match for the economic 

stresses prevalent in the 

Europe of the inter-war years. 

The short but complex story is 

told here in all relevant detail, 

richly illustrated with photos, 






drawings, ads, road tests etc. 

Sidebars cover events, patents, 

and key figures. The photos 

especially add something 

to the RR/B reader’s experience: 

while we know that our 

marques were taken extensively 

to France for testing, there 

aren’t that many photos of that 

time and place in the RR/B literature. 

Here we get a visual of 

the France of just that period. 

Books 

Coachbuilding 

The Hand-Crafted Car Body 

by Jonathan Wood 

Shire Publications, 2008. 56 p. 

Softcover. ISBN 13: 978 0 7478 

0688 2. £5.99 

The traditional coachbuilding 

industry expired with the 

P VI though it lives on to an 

extent with some fine replica 

work being done today 

and even in companies making 

small runs (cf. Morgan). 

Its glory days, however, really 

ended in the late 1950s. So 

it is a special treat to be able 

to savor the entire industry 

in this packed and fast-moving 

booklet. Shire specializes 

in booklets of this type. All the 

essentials are there to understand 

how it developed from 

coaches and carriages, and the 

key stages of development as 

tastes and techniques changed, 

including Weymann fabric bodies, 

aerodynamic trends, largescale 

production using traditional 

(and later all-metal) techniques, 

and Wood even ends 

with the London taxi still being 

made on a separate chassis! Allmetal 

construction for the latter 

and other late 1930s bodies 

strictly signaled bodywork rather 

than coachwork as ancient 

skills with wood declined. 

Wood is a prize-winning 

writer on motoring history. This 

booklet from such a capable 

author is highly recommended. 

—Tom Clarke 

Prestige, Status 

and Works of Art 

Selling the Luxury Car 1888–1942 

by Thomas T. Solley 

Racemaker Press [www. 

racemaker.com], 2008. 430 p. 

Hardcover. ISBN-10: 0 9766683 

6 X. $100 

The name of the late Tom Solley 

(d. 1996) will be familiar to 

many RROC members, and a 

good number will have known 

him personally. A good place 

to start in reviewing this eagerly 

awaited book is his entry in 

the March 1952 RROC Directory. 

Living in New York at 

the time, no car was listed for 

him and the entry simply stated 

“Enthusiast, wants R-R lit.” 

As he notes in his comprehensive 

and explanatory Foreword, 

The narrative unfolds in 

chronological order and by 

model. Racing and foreign 

activities are handled in separate 

chapters. An entire chapter 

is about Brooklands racing, 

including seven pages of 

Amilcar records. The English 

version includes previously 

unpublished photographs 

from the Brooklands archives. 

That track is of course inseparable 

from Bentley history 

and there is much of crossover 

interest here, especially 

the photos. A “Technical Manual” 

contains extensive specs by 

year and type, and many chassis 

drawings. 

Vol. 2, whose page numbering 

begins where vol. 1 

ends, contains the text of 

the 1994 French edition, 

sans illustrations. 

he started collecting car catalogs 

when he was six years old. 

Members will recall his booklet, 

with Jack Triplett, Rolls- 

Royce and Bentley (1931) Sales 

Literature 1905–1965 (still 

available at Club Stores). The 

form of that booklet is carried 

through to the new publication 

but much improved with profuse 

use of illustrations, both 

color and b/w—a proverbial 

feast for the eyes. 

The presentation of the 

material requires some explanation. 

Preceded by a Definition 

of Terms, the main body of the 

book is divided into five chapters 

covering distinctive periods 

and subjects between the 

years 1888–1942, which develop 

the story. Chapter 1, after an 

introductory essay on “Cars and 

Could it get any stranger? From 

the Henry Chapron book, above. 

Among the things you will not 

see elsewhere, not even in 

Martin Bennett’s newest book on 

the Phantoms IV–VI, are these 

Chapron designs 5315 and 5319 

by Carlo Delaisse on a Phantom 

V chassis for a client who simply 

had to have the 1959 Cadillac 

look. This car did not get built. 

sales catalogues as icons and 

status symbols,” lists Automobile 

Catalogues by country of 

manufacture, then alphabetically 

by make, further subdivided 

by descriptions of the catalog/s 

and their contents. This 

approach is followed throughout 

but from Ch. 2 on each 

chapter also lists, in like manner, 

Coachwork Catalogues, 

their numbers prefixed with 

“C”. In all, details of 1371 automobile 

and 316 coachwork catalogs 

are covered. However, 

the book is not merely a catalog 

of catalogs: each chapter’s 

introductory essay explores 

the larger questions of the cars 

themselves and how the sales 

literature reflected the evolution 

of the car, societal attitudes 

and trends, the role of the car 

as status vs. utilitarian object, 

and that fundamental quandary 

of whether sales literature 

shaped or reflected the public’s 

tastes. 

Numerous entries are illustrated 

with images of the original 

catalog covers or pages, 

and a series of 54 highquality 

plates, not all necessarily 

pristine with the odd tear 

and mark left untouched, are 

printed on individual pages. The 

whole production is extremely 






atmospheric and rewarding to 

dip into or to read extensively 

from Solley’s authoritative 

text, assembled from his great 

knowledge gained over many 

years, to images of treasures 

that many enthusiasts would 

normally never see in their 

own lifetimes. 

Most of the great manufacturers 

and coachbuilders are 

represented and a Dictionary 

of Terms: French and German 

Equivalents, completes the volume. 

The book does not pretend 

to be totally comprehensive, 

and many of the catalogs 

belonged to public and 

other private collections. However, 

by the end of his research 

Solley (who, incidentally, was 

Director of the Indiana University 

Art Museum for 18 years) 

had acquired about two-thirds 

of the sales literature discussed 

and listed. The RR/B content 

is sizeable, as is that on many 

coachbuilders who built bodies 

on the Company’s chassis. 

One exceptional aspect of 

this collection is that the Solley 

material is now safely stored 

as the Automobile Collection 

of The Lilly Library of Indiana 

University, Solley having 

been a scion of the Lilly family. 

Sadly, he did not live to see the 

publication of this book. 

This sumptuous book is also 

available in a slip-cased, numbered, 

Special Edition of 300; 

with an accompanying folio of 

10 color plates from the book 

suitable for framing; $150. 

Both versions are attractively 

bound in a very tactile faux 

suede material and printed on 

heavy archival stock. A definite 

“must” for anyone with an 

interest in the history of the 

automobile, and so reasonably 

priced for the wonderful content 

and quality offered. 

—William Morrison 

THE SOLLEY BOOK is a perfect 

example of a work that 

while important would have 

had a hard time finding a mainstream 

publisher. Racemaker 

Press is a small private publisher 

whose admirable goal it 

is “to provide resources, management, 

and opportunities for 

scholarly works in the field of 

automotive history that might 

otherwise not be published.” 

But Racemaker does not 

only handle scholarly books, 

they also publish several fine 

books for a younger audience. 

What better way to create interest 

for cars and their history— 

and nice books—among children! 

Take, for instance, the 

Murphy & Nuvolari Collection 

(2006; ISBN 0 9766683 0 

0 & 0 9766683 1 9; available as 

a $40 boxed set or separately). 

These are reissues of two classic 

children’s books from 1968 

by Bruce Carter, illustrated by 

renowned children’s artist Raymond 

Briggs—adult readers 

may well remember them! 

They tell the epic story of 

Jimmy Murphy’s 1921 French 

Grand Prix victory in his 

White Duesenberg and Tazio 

Nuvolari’s 1935 German Grand 

Prix adventure in an Alfa 

Romeo. Intelligently written, 

beautifully presented, and 

printed on acid-free paper. 

While these books cover historic 

events, there’s another one 

that tells the fictitious story of 

Paddy’s Racing Potato (by 

Thomas Calvin Houtz, 2007, 

ISBN 0 9766683 5 1, $20) in 

which Irish farmer Padraig 

Dolan turns a giant potato into 

a race car to compete against 

the best in the world in the 

famed 1907 Grand Prix des 

Legumes in the French countryside. 

The story is told in 

verse and has fantastically imaginative 

illustrations. 

The Complete Bentley 

by Eric Dymock 

Dove [www.dovepublishing. 

co.uk; for overseas orders sales@ 

vinehouseuk.co.uk], 2008. 304 

p. Hardcover. ISBN-13: 978 0 

9554909 1 0. £55 (£87.50 plus 

S+H for a signed limited edition 

in slip case) 

Ninety years ago, on Jan. 18, 

Bentley Motors’ incorporation 

papers were filed. This book 

covers year by year and model 

by model—ending with the 

2009 Flying Spur/Speed—the 

illustrious company’s commercial 

and competition history. 

The following comments 

notwithstanding, the book is 

an entirely worthy effort, nicely 

presented on good paper and 

with a generous and thoughtful 

layout. But, with little effort 

it could have been better still. 

For instance, less than half the 

photos are captioned and none 

but a handful list chassis numbers. 

While it could be argued 

that those photos that accompany 

each model’s description 

are not in need of further commentary, 

a note on car data, 

coachwork, location, and people 

would have added useful 

detail. For the Bentley veteran 

this is not an insurmountable 

obstacle because few of the 

photos are new to the record 

and could be looked up elsewhere, 

but that very approach 

is in conflict with the author’s 

professed goal of wanting to 

provide a “definitive accurate 

one-volume one-make history.” 

In a few cases the text perpetuates 

bits of knowledge that 

for some time now are known 

to be wrong (cf. misidentified 

people in the B27LE photo 

p. 153). Or, the Blue Train 

Bentley entry mentions in one 

single sentence that the car 

shown (HM2855) is not the 

correct one but nevertheless 

devotes an entire paragraph 

and full-page photo to describing 

it. How hard could it be 

to (also) show the correct car, 

BA2592? Further, for the sake 

of the reader to whom all this 

is new, one would wish for better 

cross-referencing. Example: 

in the chronological section 

under “1922” there is no mention 

of Bentley’s one and only 

Indy 500 run, the firm’s first 

major—albeit unimpressive— 

race. That event is covered, 

in a later sidebar in “Bentley 

Models,” but the reader would 

not know this, especially since 

the Table of Contents, which, 

excluding the apparatus consists 

of all of two entries, gives 

no clue. The index, however, is 

exemplary and does include an 

Indianapolis entry, but, again, 

a reader would not think to 

look there unless they already 

knew that this event occurred 

in Bentley history. 

Many interesting sidebars 

(cf. Brunei, concept cars); timeline 

of the Vickers/VW deal; a 

history of the V8 engine 1946– 

2008. Bibliography; index. 

How To Keep Your Collector 

Car Alive 

by Josh B. Malks 

Motorbooks [www.motorbooks. 

com], 2008. 160 p., 200+ illos. 

Softcover. ISBN 978 0 7603 

3290 0. $25.99/£15.99 

It is unusual to see a general 

interest, multi-marque car 

book that has much to offer the 

experienced collector. This one 

is an exception. Malks (an SGA 

member and past president/ 

current editor of the Auburn- 

Cord-Duesenberg Club) is a 






veteran author—this is his 5 th 

car book and his experience 

shows. Direct and to the point, 

the book dives right into the 

details that escape most of us 

in even those areas in which 

we have the most experience. 

While the five-chapter section 

on the rapidly changing lubrication 

field alone will undoubtedly 

disclose information with 

which nearly all readers are 

unfamiliar, that is but a fraction 

of the book. There are 17 other 

chapters, from brakes to lighting, 

rust to storage. Malks has 

done an excellent job of bringing 

a variety of equally interesting 

and not generally wellunderstood 

topics to the forefront. 

The topics are handled 

in depth, yet concisely . . . 

this book is not to be confused 

with “run-of-the-mill” general-interest 

collector car books 

one frequently sees. This one is 

worth having and reading. List 

of suppliers; index. 

—Bill Kennedy 

It’s Only Original Once 

Unrestored Classic Cars 

by Richard Lentinello 

Motorbooks [www.motorbooks. 

com], 2008. 192 p. 533 illos. 

Hardcover. ISBN-13: 978 0 7603 

3264 1. $35/£22.99 

For some years now all the 

major concours, the RROC 

included, feature a Preservation 

Class for unrestored, original 

cars (Pebble Beach started 

it in 1999 and added a postwar 

preservation class only in 

2007). After years of primly 

restored, often overrestored, 

cars the collector car community 

finally sees the folly of erasing 

authentic and often unique 

history. Lentinello (editor in 

chief of four Hemmings publications) 

makes a case for preservation 

rather than restoration 

by showcasing dozens of individual 

cars and their stories. 

All but a few of the case studies 

feature American cars, of 

1950s–70s vintage. One chapter 

features prewar cars and 

one chapter future classics that 

can still be bought reasonably 

today (it’ll be interesting to see, 

in a few years, if these prognostications 

have come to pass). 

This is not a how-to book, 

or a primer, but simply random 

vignettes about this particular 

aspect of the hobby. Readers 

must of course realize that this 

book, and the preservation 

movement, is not to be taken as 

an excuse to let a car go to pieces 

and call it “original” but 

rather to carefully preserve 

what they have and nurture it 

along in a well maintained 

state. Index. 

The Fine Art of the 

Motorcycle Engine 

by Daniel Peirce 

Veloce [www.veloce.co.uk; in 

US: MBI, www.motorbooks. 

com], 2008. 144 p. Hardcover. 

ISBN 978 1 84584 174 4. 

$39.95/£19.99 

Ignore for a moment that 

this is a book about motorcycle 

engines—engines are 

engines. Actually, a motorcycle 

engine, generally unencumbered 

by the cladding ubiquitous 

on modern car engines, 

is visually a much more direct 

way of beholding a motor. If 

another magazine hadn’t already 

beaten us to the punch 

we too would have called this 

book “pornography for gearheads.” 

Much like the book 

Legendary Car Engines (see 

FL04-5), Peirce, an accomplished 

photographer with a 

sterling reputation, reveals 

the graphic/esthetic qualities 

that are inseparable from the 

mechanical function. 

Each of the 64 engines 

(1903–1995) is shown as a fullpage 

image plus another page 

of somewhat random, but pertinent, 

observations about the 

backstory of the photo as well 

as the photographer, sometimes 

accompanied by an additional 

photo. There’s practically no 

information on the engines, in 

fact only a few of them are factory 

correct—neither of which 

is this book’s concern. 

To find a particular make 

or model, start with the Index 

since the Table of Contents 

lists the entries by title of photograph 

only. Aspiring photographers 

will want to turn to 

the last chapter first because 

it shows a step-by-step explanation 

of the process of turning 

raw photos into eye candy 

such as this. Actually, anyone 

should read this chapter 

for a greater appreciation of 

the results: except for the studio 

shots, most of the photos 

were taken with a simple 8 MP 

Nikon Coolpix 8700 and then 

heavily retouched later (instead 

of using Photoshop filters). 

If you’re ever in Keller, 

Texas on a Friday night, stop by 

the Up-N-Smoke Barbeque 

House and you’re likely to run 

into the author and his fellow 

members of the Peckerheads 

Motorcycle Racing Team. 

Ultimate Car Collector 

Guide 

by James J. Schild 

Auto Review [www.theauto 

review.com or jschild@htc.net], 

2008. 176 p. Softcover. No 

ISBN. $20 + S&H, order direct. 

“Everything you want to know 

about car collecting but were 

afraid to ask!” Or, in the case 

of the novice hobbyist, didn’t 

know to ask. 

After more than half a century 

of amateur and professional 

involvement in the classic car 

movement, and possessed of a 

desire to share his knowledge 

(13 books to date!), the author 

presents here a bird’s eye view 

of pretty much everything in 

the collector car world: history 

of the hobby/clubs, body and 

engine types, how to identify 

cars, basic auto operating principles, 

738-item glossary, who’s 

who, resources, and restoration 

info—to highlight just 

a few topics. There is also 

an international calendar of 

events and even assorted trivia 

such as songs about cars, 

car movies, and car-specific 

TV shows. All illustrations 

are b/w. 

While this self-published 

book may be Spartan in 

appearance it is anything but 

in terms of wideness of its 

scope, which is not to be confused, 

and rarely compatible, 

with depth—lest one writes an 

encyclopedia. Therein lies no 

criticism, merely a qualifier to 

the prospective buyer to accept 

that this book neither claims nor 

aspires to be the final word on 

the myriad topics it covers. It is 

meant as a first not the last stop 

and to lay a good foundation 

from which to embark on further 

discourse. Possibly only 

someone who has compiled data 

and weighed what to keep and 

what to toss can fully appreciate 

the compromises an author of a 

book such as this must make. It 

is important to remember this 

when it comes to the many lists 

(museums, libraries, clubs, 

events) to prevent exasperation 

at the selection criteria; cf. an 

entry for the Morgan Sports Car 

Club of Austria seems of rather 




limited use when there is none 

for the incalculably more important 

VCC or VSCC. But don’t 

get hung up on this—the book 

fulfils its purpose, and there’s no 

other like it. 



CARS FOR SALE 

PHANTOM II (125GY) 1931 Hooper Sedanca 

de ville. This one-off bespoke classic 

on 150" wb was built for the Stand in Spain, 

then returned to the UK for acquisition by 

The Viscount Hembleden, Rt. Hon. Wm. H. 

Smith, a direct descendant of William the 

Conqueror, all confirmed by the chassis card. 

It was later acquired by a museum in the US 

in 1966, where it resided until 2008, when it 

was sorted out for operation. It was reported 

to have sold in 1931 for $30,000. Amenities 

incl rear sunshine roof, division, occasional 

seating, silver dipped interior fittings, ebony 

inlay woodwork, tools, rear trunk, and much 

more; distinctive, graceful, and respected lineage; 

very good overall condition. Ask 

$165,000. Norm Cohen GA 770-883-9115 

20 HP (GUK21) 1926 Roadster. 1976 restoration 

Diskon & Molyneux (Australia); Provenance, 

receipts (incl $A13,000 on engine), 

tools, 4 wheel brakes; runs & drives well; regrettable 

sale downsizing. $AUD 80,000. 

David Prince Australia Full details email: 

princed@ozemail.com.au 

25/30 (GUL49) 1936 James Young swept back 

saloon (small limo). LHD; dark blue & black 

w/ new tires; recently rebuilt generator; set 

of standard tools in boot; historic; restored 

1996, great running condition; used for weddings 

& driving our children to home coming 

banquets & proms; must sell, children off to 

college soon; rust-free, car has enjoyed Southern 

California most of her life since coming 

from England; featured in Lawrence Dalton’s 

book Coachwork on Rolls-Royce 1906–1939 

p. 367 as James Young’s great design for the 

swept back saloon. $79,000 obo Michael 

Boyko CA 951-313-6660 or email: md 

boyko@aol.com 

SILVER DAWN (LSHD38) 1952 saloon. 

Pristine condition, placed 3rd in ’06 & ’07 at 

Hershey, 3rd in touring at 2005 Greenwich 

Meet, 1st in touring at 2008 Williamsburg 

Meet, see picture Sept/Oct FL p. 9017; would 

like to trade up for a late Ghost coupé, convertible 

or P I; will pay up for car in like condition. 

$49,500. Victor Roccki Tom’s River, NJ 

732-991-7271 or email: riveroccki@aol.com 

SILVER DAWN (SNF121) 1954 saloon. Twotone, 

black over persimmon; excellent condition; 

professionally restored by the best in the 

business; possibly the best SD available; all 

tools and extensive documentation, literature 

and technical manuals included; now is the 

time to invest in a fine collectable. $55,000. 

Jerry Hoblit TX 936-856-5163 

SILVER WRAITH (HLW30) 1958 James 

Young saloon. RHD; Earls Court show car, 

aluminum body w/ luggage rack; not perfect 

but very nice and original automobile; 61,000 

mi. $45,000. Bob Earls Portland, OR 503- 

810-3839 or email: hfreedman@aol.com 

SILVER CLOUD I (LSFE223) 1958 saloon. 

LHD; dark maroon exterior; cream hides; 

carpets, headliner, wood, hides all in excellent 

Fax to: 

RROC Headquarters at 

717-697-7820 

Bazaar 

condition; ps, pb, new a/c compressor, new 

wiper motor; breaks completely rebuilt; new 

servo parts by RR dealer; starter rebuilt by 

Doug Seibert; have all bills, manuals plus 

small hand tools, tire pump; new Diamond 

ww tires; not a show car but excellent driver; 

very reliable w/ good history; original owner, 

“Lady Simmonds-Country BMS” I am 3 rd 

owner; car driven regularly; stored in heated 

garage; must see! $38,500. Michael Lawler 

NY 518-623-2514 or e-mail: mlawler7@ny 

cap.rr.com 

SILVER CLOUD III (SFU441) 1964 saloon. 

RHD; royal blue over silver exterior w/ blue 

interior; sunroof, picnic tables w / wine and 

stemware storage, some original tools, reserve 

gas tank; mostly original, good overall condition 

but needs some TLC. Please give Winston 

a loving new home as I can no longer 

care for him; 92,000 mi. $35,000 obo. Genelle 

Hughen LA 318-256-3316 

PHANTOM V (5BV55) 1961 Park Ward limousine. 

RHD; 8 seat; silver grey w/ dark blue 

leather; twin a/c under dash in front; boot 

system for the boss in the back; present owner 

10 yrs.; car always garaged; based in Perth, 

Western Australia, dry and warm; dual fuel, 

petrol and LP gas, think green; see the car on 

RROCWA website gallery; take advantage of 

the lousy Aussie dollar and grab it at $80,000 

US obo. Mick Dixon Western Australia 

61-8-9497-5571 or email: micknbrendixon@ 

optusnet.com.au 

YOUR AD 

COULD BE 

HERE 

or mail to: 

Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club, 

191 Hempt Road, 

Mechanicsburg, PA 17050 




Rates: For Non-Members AND/OR Commercial classified ads are $1/word PLUS $50 per photo 

sent electronically to HQ, b/w or color. Members pay $25 per electronically submitted 

b/w or color digital photo; text (up to 100 words) is free. There is an additional $25 

scanning charge for each photo print submitted by mail by Members, Non-Members, 

and Commercial. 

Deadlines: 12/1, 2/1, 4/1, 6/1, 8/1, 10/1. 



SILVER SHADOW (SRX1173) 1966 saloon. 

LHD; Regal red exterior; beige hide interior; 

new paint; overhauled motor; excellent mechanical 

condition; orig. owner’s manual and 

tool kit; a/c; maintenance records available; 

3rd owner; 62,000 mi. $20,500. James Allison 

Lexington, KY 859-272-8081. 

SILVER SHADOW (LRA14331) 1972 lwb 

saloon Black on black w/ carmel interior; 2 

sets of sheepskin rear compartment rugs; custom 

made bar in rear compartment to match 

interior wood, decanter, ice bucket, 4 crystal 

glasses (removable when desired); full set of 

service manuals; full maintenance records; 

all systems in great shape; always garaged, 

never in rain; new heat padding under hood; 

only two owners, chauffeur driven only w/ 

first owner; photos on request; a must see; 

pristine condition; 29,000 orig. mi. $28,500. 

Joe Monahan CT 203-393-0158 or email: 

jem1287@aol.com 

SILVER SHADOW (SRC 18311) 1974 saloon; 

silver mink; excellent condition; garaged; 

driven regularly; owner since 1990; 112,000 

mi.; $28,000 John Nading TN 615-948-3227 

or email: jhnading@comcast.net 

The Twins. A pair of 1977 SILVER SHADOW 

II’s that came off the assembly line one after 

the other. SRX30041 is pewter and charcoal, 

and SRX30042 is white, both saloons. I have 

contacted Rolls-Royce and they assured me 

that this is accurate. Both vehicles are in 

good condition inside and out w/ low mileage. 

The background on both is available including 

how they came to be sitting side by side 

on the island of Maui. $65,000 for the pair. 

Sandra Boothe HI 808-298-1322 

SILVER SHADOW II (SRX33074) 1978 saloon. 

LHD; white w/ red hides; mechanically 

strong car; recent work includes a/c, transmission, 

and brakes; very presentable driver; 

68,000 mi. $12,500. Brian Fabo Cleveland 

OH 216-789-8354 or email: bfabo@aol.com. 

CORNICHE (DRD20404) 1975 Mulliner, 

Park Ward drophead coupé. Ivory exterior; 

saddle interior; new tan top; all systems 

functioning appropriately; records; cosmetically 

pristine; 79,000 orig., properly maintained 

mi. $39,950. William Newman 

Valdosta, GA 229-292-0220 or email: 

w.j.newman@earthlink.net 

CORNICHE (DAE-08763) 1984 Mulliner, 

Park Ward drophead coupé. Champagne over 

tobacco brown paint, tan roof and interior; 

mechanically runs very well; serviced by R-R 

trained staff; handsome head turner; garage 

kept; only driven in good weather; good condition; 

74,000 mi. $54,000. Kurt Miller Baltimore, 

MD 410-382-7000. 

CORNICHE (DAF-10195) 1985 Mulliner, 

Park Ward drophead coupé. White w/ tan 

top; always garaged; private party; must sell; 

79,000 mi. $49,000. Burr McKeehan Newport 

Beach, CA 949-496-3357. 

CAMARGUE (JRL50575C) 1980 Mulliner, 

Park Ward coupé. Magnificent paprika color; 

beautiful in every detail; 39,000 mi. $72,000. 

A. Spranza CA 831-626-9233 

SILVER SPUR (NAD-06708) 1983 lwb saloon. 

Silver over black w/ black Everflex top; 

phone for details. $22,500. A. Spranza CA 

831-626-9233 

SILVER SPUR (NAG-15251) 1986 lwb saloon. 

Red; 86,265 mi. $20,000 Jacqueline 

Lorio Welsh, LA 504-232-0651 

SILVER SPIRIT (SAG-14568) 1986 saloon. 

Lt. oyster mushroom hides piped in maroon; 

will need alternator and ignition work down 

the road; runs well; thousands spent in maintenance; 

small scrape in wheel well; price 

reflects updating; 73,000 mi. $15,000 firm. 

Mark Wellington TX email: Bentley77068@ 

gmail.com 

SILVER SPIRIT (SAJ-21753) 1988 saloon. 

Magnolia white w / tan hides; The original 

paint is very glossy (always garaged) and the 

interior is near mint; this beauty has traveled 

only 35,000 miles and has been maintained 

to high standards by its three owners since 

new. $28,000 Jim Clinton FL 941-268-4755 

or email: jclint@ewol.com 

SILVER SPUR II (NAM-34312) 1991 lwb 

saloon. Original exterior paint in beautiful 

condition; shines as new; Everflex roof; white 

leather w/ grey piping; completely original 

interior (leather never re-dyed, etc.); leather 

& woodwork in truly beautiful condition (no 

cracks in leather); orig. lambswool rugs in 

wonderful condition; all components function 

beautifully; Continental headlights cost then 

approx. $2,500 ( orig lights will be included); 

never been wrecked; recently serviced at RR 

agent in AZ; owned by past chairman of RR 

& Bentley Owners’ Club S.A.; RROC member 

37 yrs.; 32,000 mi. $42,000 obo. Paul 

Adler Tucson, AZ 520-990-2430. 




Sell it in the B a z a a r 



SILVER SPUR III (NAV-59691) 1997 lwb 

saloon. Finished in stunning magnolia w/ 

parchment hides; southern classic has been 

maintained to highest standards; fully optioned 

incl. p. steering, brakes, windows, 

seats, a/c, turbo, burled door inlays, rear picnic 

trays, phone, am/fm/cd & more; immac.; 

only 35,000 mi. since new. Ask $46,950. 

Norm Cohen GA 770-883-9115. 

SILVER SPUR III (NAV-59900) 1997 lwb 

saloon. Gorgeous black w / cream leather 

hides accented w/ beige piping; all factory 

options including wood veneered steering 

wheel, wood veneered door panels, seat 

switches surrounded in veneered wood, rear 

seat desks; window sticker was $191,009; this 

rare 2-owner, non-smoker automobile has 

been meticulously maintained; all books, 

original window sticker, tool kit, lambs wool 

throws are included; just completed full mechanical 

inspection and maintenance service, 

ready for your enjoyment; remember last year 

of the true Rolls-Royce. $49,500. Joe Naglich 

St. Marys, PA 814-834-1018 

SILVER SERAPH (LAY-04615) 2000 saloon. 

Peacock blue/magnolia; dealer serviced from 

new; health concerns and downsizing means 

this could be one of three Rolls-Royce cars 

which must find a nice new home; 70,416 mi. 

$70,000. Michael Smith BC Canada email: 

mlsnbarbara@shaw.ca 

SILVER SERAPH (LAY-05239) 2000 saloon. 

Wildberry; dealer serviced from new; health 

concerns and downsizing means this could be 

one of three Rolls-Royce cars which must find 

a nice new home. $70,000. Michael Smith 

BC Canada email: mlsnbarbara@shaw.ca 

YOUR AD 

COULD BE 

HERE 

BENTLEY 3½ LITRE (B136CR) 1934 

Mann-Egerton saloon. One-off coachwork (c 

1629) in new three silvers re-spray w/ Tudor 

Red striping, original red leather, big sunroof, 

reliable rubber; all structurals and mechanicals 

rebuilt; spares & history of 123,000 orig. 

mi.; featured (p. 276, 291) in Bentley Beauty 

by Fraser/Knapek; declining health forces 

sale by fifth owner/driver “Hannibulskeeper”; 

reluctantly available to enthusiastic driver w/ 

garage; 75,000 enjoyable mi. thru 40 states in 

23 yrs. $79,000. R.P. Rydlun 8548 Brickyard, 

Potomac, MD, 20854 301-983-9408. 

BENTLEY 4¼ LITRE (B151GP) 1936 H.J. 

Mulliner saloon. Finished in two-tone blue w/ 

cream leather upholstery; car was completely 

restored in 1999; has been kept in immaculate 

condition by the previous owner and since my 

purchase in 2004; no work is required on this 

vehicle; car registered in Australia w/ English 

number plates (ASG5); Federal & State Concours 

winner, Concours d’Elegance 2004 and 

Masters Class Trophy 2005. AUD $275,000. 

Barrie Childs P.O. Box 168, Sylvania, N.S.W. 

2224 Australia 61-2-95220400 or email: 

barriechilds@bigpond.com 

BENTLEY MARK VI (B328NZ) 1951 saloon. 

RHD; large-bore engine (runs, needs some 

work); new radiator/dual exh/htr-core; only 

driven 600 mi./14 hrs. in the last 25 yrs.; body 

and interior partially dismantled/cataloged to 

repair damage (to L/R qtr.) caused by drunk 

driver; no frame damage; have new parts, but 

no time; too good to part out; needs a good 

home; 58,000 mi. $8,000. Mark Girard MA 

413-527-9532 eves/msg 

BENTLEY T2 (SBX36634) 1979 saloon. All 

wood, leather & chrome in excellent condition; 

repainted last year in correct sand & 

sable at cost of $10,000; originally a Palm 

Beach car, rare Bentley in excellent cosmetic 

& mechanical condition; many additional 

photos available. $27,500/offer. Raymond 

Steiner CO 719-635-0908 (press 1 to skip no 

solicitors prompt), cell: 719-237-0813 or 

email: raymondsteiner@mac.com 

BENTLEY MULSANNE S (SBL-31329) 

1990 saloon. LHD; serviced by long-time experienced 

Rolls-Bentley service shop; new 

paint, midnight blue-black, parchment leather, 

dark blue piping, no rips nor tears, excellent 

wood, new gas shocks, total overhaul of a/c 

system, new compressor and dryer including 

conversion to R-134a refrigerant, new brake 

accumulators and engine mounts; lambs wool 

over-rugs, special 5-spoke edition 17" wheels, 

all handbooks, all tools, clean AutoCheck vehicle 

history report. Former owner was Lord 

Phillip G. Wren, heraldry socket on right rear 

fender; present owner a 45 year member of 

RROC, prior club officer positions. The 30,000 

series RR and B motor car is a very desirable 

line. It was heavily refreshed beginning with 

the 1990 model year. Principle changes included 

a complex electronically controlled 

adaptive damping suspension system, new 

Bosch K-type of fuel injection and an improved 

a/c system. The new suspension is a 

marvelous improvement in the ride. Read up 

on the 30,000 SZ series on pps 596-606 in the 

2004 edition #1 of the Modern Lady magazine. 

97,000 mi. Asking price $27,500 obo. 

Robert W. McMichael Estero, FL 239-947- 

1211 or e-mail: McMichaelR@comcast.net to 

request pictures 




A picture is worth 

a thousand words 



BENTLEY BROOKLANDS R (EBW-66062) 

1998 saloon. Black/black; only 221 Rs made; 

car is flawless inside and out; leather headliner, 

all tools and books; 53,000 mi. $50,000. 

For addl info please contact Greg Worthington 

CA 415-515-4608 

BENTLEY BROOKLANDS R (EBW-66128) 

1998 saloon. Blue diamond metallic w/ pale 

grey custom interior; azure seats & jewelry 

& “waterfall” burl cap rails; striking appearance 

and in excellent condition; always garaged; 

all records; 70,000 mi. $54,000. David 

Craven DE 302-656-7838 

CARS WANTED 

SILVER WRAITH, SILVER DAWN, DERBY 

BENTLEY, MARK VI, or R TYPE standard 

steel saloon. Robert Nicholson P.O. Box 

29281, Presidio of San Francisco, CA 94129 

415-346-8486. 

Pre- and postwar Rolls-Royce and Bentley 

cars wanted in any condition or price. Will 

travel anywhere. Glyn Morris Tel. 847-945- 

9603 or email: glyn@belmontgroup.net. 

Wanted: Pre and Post War Rolls-Royce and 

Bentley Motor Cars. Prefer Good, Original 

or Restored Cars but will consider any. 

Please contact Mark Hyman 314-524-6000 

or email: mark@hymanltd.com. 

WRECKED, RUSTED or DISASSEM- 

BLED. Postwar RR/B automobiles wanted. 

Now buying worldwide. Highest prices 

paid. Immediate decision and collection. 

Tony Handler, Inc. 2028 Cotner Ave., Los 

Angeles, CA 90025 310-473-7773 or Fax: 

310-479-1197. 

ROLLS-ROYCE CORNICHES wanted. We 

will purchase your RR Corniche top dollar 

anywhere in the country. Any year. Frank 

Corrente’s Cadillac Corner, Inc. 7614 

W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90046 

323-850-1881, Fax: 323-850-1884 or email: 

correntecadillac@sbcglobal.net. 

Wanted Rolls-Royce and Bentley - Silver 

Ghost, 20-25, 25-30, Wraith, Silver Wraith, 

Phantom I, II, III, IV, V and VI, Cloud I, II, 

III and any Rolls-Royce and Bentley from 

1900 to 2003 in any condition. Top Price Paid. 

Please call Peter Kumar NY 800-452-9910 

or email: gullwingny@aol.com 

PARTS FOR SALE 

Custom made GAITERS, LEATHER BOOTS 

and FABRIC COUPLINGS for Rolls-Royce 

and Bentley PREWAR Rolls-Royce PARTS. 

Rudy Rosales 4086 East 71st Street, Cleveland, 

OH 44105 800-248-RUDY, 216-641- 

7711 days or Fax: 216-641-0060. 

Complete CLUTCH ASSEMBLY for 20/25. 

Make offer. Robert Nacvich Spring, TX 281- 

353-8566 

LAST CHANCE. These go to the scrap metal 

yard if nobody responds. VINTAGE BENT- 

LEY WINGS (FENDERS) - TWO sets of 

wings for a vintage Bentley. 1. Brand New 

Steel Blade wings, still in shipping crate built 

by Donald Day, includes hardware and new, 

correct running boards. $5,000 invested in 

them, make offer 2. Steel Flare wings for 

Vanden Plas; two rear wings are new manufacture; 

two front wings are good clean condition. 

$2,500 invested in them, make offer. 

More information and email pictures: Steve 

McDonald located in North Central Florida 

386-963-2527 or preferred email: Navy65@ 

windstream.net 

Donald Koleman, President of Competition 

Motors Ltd., as successor to the late John de 

Campi, invites you to visit our website www. 

competitionmotorsltd.com and view one of 

the largest inventories of pre-war Rolls-Royce 

and Bentley tools available. Parts are also 

available upon request. You may email your 

needs to rrparts@competitionmotorsltd.com 

or contact Tom at 603-431-0035 




MASCOTS and RADIATOR CAPS for all 

Rolls-Royce and Bentley models, usually 

in stock, and always priced right. Howard 

Schwartz NY 561-278-7394 



The Vintage Garage has been the name in engine 

rebuilding, mechanical restorations and 

service for decades. Now at our new facility 

in Vermont and ready to assist you with your 

Rolls-Royce or Bentley project. Contact Bill 

Cooke and Pierce Reid for restoration, parts 

and rapid turnaround component rebuilding 

at The Vintage Garage 802-253-9256 

or rpreid@pshift.com Visit us online www. 

vintagegaragevt.com 

We have in stock a very large selection of 

tools and accessories in connection with Rolls 

Royce and Bentley motor cars. We also acquire 

motor cars and a complete range of 

engine parts, wheels, interior fittings, radiators, 

light fittings, books, instruction manuals, 

badges and general memorabilia. ALL 

DIRECT FROM ENGLAND. Please do 

not hesitate to contact us either by e-mail: 

worspares@yahoo.co.uk or by telephone: 

0044 (0)1282 459778. Please also visit our 

web site to see our full listing of stock with 

photographs: www.rollsbentleyspares.com 

USED Rolls-Royce and Bentley parts for all 

postwar models. One of the world’s most inclusive 

stocks of engines, transmissions, mechanical 

and electrical components. Body, 

interior, trim pieces, and chassis cuts also 

available. Reasonable prices and knowledgeable 

assistance always. Phone calls preferred. 

“Your Post-War Rolls-Royce and Bentley 

used parts stockist”. Tony Handler Inc. 

2028 Cotner Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90025 

310-473-7773 or Fax: 310-479-1197. 

NEW MUSHROOM IGNITION COIL. Exact 

copy of original on the outside with modern 

core. STRONGER SPARK, better 

performance, $285. Also, we will recore your 

original coil, $225. Charles Tobin, River 

Carriage Shop 21188 Maplewood Ave., 

Rocky River, OH 44116 440-333-0561, or 

Fax: 440-356-5543 or 800-950-2415. 

Prewar windshield strips and running board 

rubber (only). Call or fax for list. Replacement 

Parts, Inc 770-459-0040 

Grille Assy’s, shells, vanes, new and used, 

1947 through Spirit/Spur. Replacement 

Parts, Inc 770-459-0040 

Cloud/Shadow/T, Spirit/Spur dismantling, 

most parts. Replacement Parts, Inc 770- 

459-0040 

Water pumps all postwar, new & rebuilt. Replacement 

Parts, Inc 770-459-0040 

Windshield seals, rear window seals, trunk 

seals, door seals, headlamp, seals, parklamp 

seals, trunk handle seals and much more, for 

all postwar standard and coachbuilt Rolls- 

Royce and Bentley Motorcars. Replacement 

Parts, Inc 770-459-0040 

LITERATURE FOR SALE 

ROLLS-ROYCE/BENTLEY, large selection 

of original sales literature, handbooks, 

manuals, press kits, books, Questes etc., most 

postwar models; some prewar. CALL OR 

E-MAIL WITH NEEDS. HANDBOOKS: 

examples – late Silver Wraith automatic - 

$350; Bentley Continental S2 coachbuilder 

supps - $120 each; 66 Shadow/T coupe (rare!) 

$145; 71 Corniche - $125; 87-88 Spur w/extras 

- $160; 89 Turbo R - $110; Seraph w/extras 

- $250. SALES LIT: from Silver Wraith, MK 

VI thru current; Examples -- SCI, II or S1, S2 

spiral bound - $65 - $85; 90’s R-R or Bentley 

full-line catalogues or press kits – most 

years - $30 - $45. Handbooks, service manuals 

and sales literature wanted! Jeff Trepel NC, 

704-866-4636 (eve/wknd) or email: jtrepel@ 

bellsouth.net 

SERVICES OFFERED 

Brakes sleeved and rebuilt: masters, wheels, 

clutch, slave. Rebuilders of: calipers, servos, 

air conditioner throttle valves, ride control 

valves, actuator valves, shoes relined. Better 

than new. Quick service. Lifetime written 

warranty. White Post Restorations One Old 

Car Drive, PO Drawer D, White Post, VA 

22663 540-837-1140, www.whitepost.com. 

Brake backing plates: complete units, restored 

with cylinders and shoes. White Post Restorations 

One Old Car Drive, White Post, VA 

22663 540-837-1140 www.whitepost.com. 

RESTORATIONS BY LONE WOLF. Now 

accepting complete or partial restorations 

on all postwar models. Coast to coast closed 

car carrier service available. Contact us for 

more information. LONE WOLF ROLLS- 

ROYCE/BENTLEY SERVICE 909-464- 

1877 www.lonewolfrrbentley.com. 

IN-HOUSE REBUILDING PROGRAM: 

steering racks, hydraulic systems, water 

pumps, carburetors. For these and others 

contact LONE WOLF ROLLS-ROYCE/ 

BENTLEY SERVICE at 909-464-1877. 

www.lonewolfrrbentley.com. 

SWITCHES LIKE NEW. Dash switches refaced 

to showroom perfection. Re-engraved 

by hand, repainted, repaired. Master switch, 

carb, fog, wipers, or any other engraved plate. 

Pre-1976. Three week turnaround. Call for 

quote. Also: refinish sill plates. The Frawley 

Company 138 Main St., Parkesburg, PA 

19365 610-857-1099. 2 

Wood, leather, trim restoration. Factory 

trained Rolls/Bentley specialist, Gold Coast 

Auto Interiors, Inc., Philip E. Howland 

16 N.E. 9 St., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33304 

954-467-1500 or Mobile: 954-205-1500, goldcoast@fdn.com. 




CARS, PARTS & RESTORATIONS 

Tel. 0031(0)252-527875 (The Netherlands) 

www.braboparts.com 



SHEEPSKIN RUG OVERLAYS & SEAT 

COVERS custom made by Easirider (UK) for 

all models RR/B, others. Outstanding quality, 

comprehensive color selection. Contact 

American distributor Phil Brooks, Kexby 

Ltd. Co. 102 Carnoustie, Williamsburg, VA 

23188 757-258-8550, fax: 757-258-8850 or 

email: philip.brooks@wap.org 

Offering RR and Bentley Service, repairs and 

restoration since 1976 in Houston, TX 281- 

448-4739 www.britishcarpartsco.com. 

Lever type shock absorbers rebuilt, Rolls/ 

Bentley 1967 and earlier. $345 each (most). 

Brakes resleeved and rebuilt, masters $265 

each, wheel cylinders $95-$145 each. Just 

sleeving $50-$95 each. Apple Hydraulics 

1610 Middle Road, Calverton, NY 11933 

631-369-9515, 1-800-882-7753, www.apple 

hydraulics.com 

TRAFFICATOR TURN SIGNALS RE- 

STORED. Broken arms replaced. Solenoid 

and light repaired. New original type bulb 

installed. Send disabled trafficator for a 

prompt quote on cost. If you are looking for 

a trafficator, we have a large assortment of 

NEW OLD STOCK, and reconditioned 

trafficators, and self-cancelling switches. 

Charles Tobin, River Carriage Shop 

21188 Maplewood Ave., Rocky River, OH 

44116 440-333-0561, or Fax: 440-356-5543 

or 800-950-2415. 

Rolls-Royce Phantom I, II and III, ALUMI- 

NUM CYLINDER HEADS, blocks, exhaust/ 

intake manifolds, mfg’ed to OEM Spec., made 

to order, other cast items mfg’ed on request. 

Empire Motors, Inc. 13451 Montana Ave., 

El Paso, TX 79938-9616 USA 915-856-9607 

or email: info@empiremotorsinc.com 

Rolls-Royce & Bentley Engine & Chassis 

Restoration & Service and Parts. The Touring 

Shoppe, 3050 Sirius Ave, Las Vegas, NV 

89102 Wayne McMiniment, 702-940-0978, 

fax 702-943-1530 Web site Touringshoppe. 

com, e-mail wayne@touringshoppe.com 

MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE 

Professional leather restoration/maintenance 

products, “Simply the Best since 1968” rejuvenator 

oil, prestine clean, crack filler, custom 

color Connolly dyes LEATHERIQUE 

WWW.LEATHERIQUE.COM 877-395- 

3366 

NEW WHEEL DISCS AND RELATED 

PARTS. Now available to fit prewar: Rolls- 

Royce, Ghost to P III, Bentley 3½L to 8L, 

Jaguar, MK IV, Hispano-Suiza, H&J Series, 

Lagonda, Bugatti, Type 44, 46 & 57, Cord 

L-29, Delage, Delahaye, Talbot 110, Lincoln 

A-B, Isotta Fraschini, Alfa Romeo, Voisin, 

over 35 different discs. Write, phone or fax 

for full information. Lmarr Disk Ltd. P.O. 

Box 910, Glen Ellen, CA 95442-0910 707- 

938-9347 or Fax: 707-938-3020 

VINTAGE TIRES for RR & Bentley motor 

cars. Most brands and sizes. Personalized 

service from a fellow RROC Member. Over 

52 years selling tires. Wallace W. Wade 

530 Regal Row, Dallas, TX 75247 214-688- 

0091, 800-666-8973, 972-661-3366 or email: 

wallacewade@earthlink.net 






We would like to congratulate these winners of the 2008 RROC National Meet 

Phantom II 230 AJS 

Member 

and thank them for allowing us to share in their success. 

Virgil Millet, Jr. Award 

First in Class 

Dennison-Jayne Motors, Inc. 

322 South Concord Road 

West Chester, PA 19382 

610-436-8668 

Phantom III 3 BT 187 

First in Class 

Specializing in Mechanical Restoration, Service, and Parts 

for Antique Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motorcars 

Electronic Ignition Conversions 






THE PREMIER SERVICE AND RESTORATION FACILITY 

IN THE NORTHWEST AND CANADA 

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars 

• Over 30 years technical 

experience 

• State of the art indoor facility 

• Uncompromisable attention 

to detail 

Bentley Sports Cars 

• Available Transport 

• World Class Customer Service 

• Well known and established 

in the classic and modern car 

industry 

BENTLEY AND ROLLS-ROYCE MOTORCARS BELLEVUE 

1882 136th place ne 

Bellevue, WA 98005 

T: 425 646 3111 

F: 425 643 1114 






“The brakes don’t 

stop your car? 

Impossible!” 

Whether you drive a Silver 

Ghost, a Shadow or an S3 

Bentley, you expect the 

brakes and every other 

component to behave 

properly, as Henry Royce 

and his successors 

intended. As a mechanic, Royce’s goal was to design the finest 

motorcar in the world, one that had sufficient power to climb 

mountains, the agility to take the curves, enough braking power 

to slow the descent down the other side, and the quality to last 

lifetimes — yours and your great, great-grand child’s. 

At The Frawley Company our 

goal for nearly thirty years has 

been to maintain, or to return 

customers’ cars to peak 

performance. That means fully 

understanding how every 

component works as well as 

the principles behind each of 

the cars’ systems and how they 

interrelate. That kind of 

experience doesn’t come from 

a manual, it comes from doing. 

If you want your Rolls-Royce or 

Bentley motorcar to perform its 

very best, please call for an 

appointment. We’re pleased to 

discuss your concerns on the 

phone or in person and will 

help you learn as much you 

care to about what keeps your 

car on the road instead of in a 

garage. There are no foolish 

questions. And the coffee’s 

always on. 

Royce would have felt at home here. 

You will, too. 




138 Main Street Parkesburg, PA 19365 

610-857-1099 



One of North America’s Largest Authorized Retailers 

of Crewe Genuine Parts for Crewe Built 

Rolls-Royce & Bentley Motorcars 

Woodwork 

Refinishing, Reveneering 

& Repair 

How is your woodwork looking?? 

CHIPPED, SCRATCHED, CLOUDY, 

CRACKED OR DELAMINATING? 

We Can Restore it to “Showroom” 

Condition!! 

• “Concours” Quality 

• Fastest “Turn-Around” 

• Unsurpassed Service 

• Expert Color/Veneer 

• Complimenting 

. . . Automotive woodwork is all we do! 

55-B Depot Road, Goleta, CA 93117 

Toll Free 800-800-1579 • Fax 805-962-7359 

ROLLS-ROYCE a n d BENTLEY 

M O T O R C A R 

S P E C I A L I S T S 

LARGEST INDEPENDENT DEALERSHIP 

IN PALM BEACH COUNTY 

PARTS - SERVICE - BODYWORK 

INTERIOR/EXTERIOR - RESTORATION 

Foreign car engineering 

CERTIFIED ENGINEERS 

FOREIGN TRAINED MECHANICS 




75 N. Congress Avenue, Delray Beach, FL 33445 

Tel: (561) 276-0114, (561) 276-0119 – Fax: (561) 274-9127 



IC 

IntroCar 

In Association with Healey Brothers 

Buy direct from the UK! 

The largest range of original, re-manufactured, re-conditioned and used products 

for Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars 1945 – 2000, including the full Healey 

Brothers product range. Illustrated below are just a few of the brand new additions 

to the range of re-manufactured spares we stock. 

BRAND 

NEW 

$450.00 

(incl. RROC 

discount) 

Large Master Cylinder for Silver Cloud & S Series 

Chromed Hub Nuts and Washers 

for Silver Dawn, Silver Wraith, 

Mk VI & R-Type 

Twin Air Filter 

for all models 1995-98 

Replacement Smiths Clock for 

Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, III and 

Bentley S2 & S3 

Brake Accumulator assembly 

(all cars 1980-98) 

In recent months Introcar has embarked upon an ambitious programme of product 

manufacture and will be introducing a large number of high quality new 

components to the range in each issue, new examples will be illustrated here. 

Simply call or email sales@introcar.co.uk for more details. 

Exclusive Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club, R-REC, Bentley Drivers Club and 

Specialist Association discounts apply to the majority of the range. 

Introcar Limited 

Small Master Cylinder for Silver Cloud & S Series 

Decoke Sets for all cars 

1965 to 1998 

BRAND 

NEW 

$450.00 

(incl. RROC 

discount) 

High Pressure Braided Brake Hoses 

(all cars 1965-87) 




1 Manorgate Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey KT2 7AW, UK 

Tel: +44 20 8546 2027 Fax: +44 20 8546 5058 www.introcar.com 



PRE-1955 BENTLEY? CREWE-BUILT ROLLS-ROYCE? 

TRUST JACK BARCLAY TO KEEP IT IN PERFECT SHAPE. 

THE LEADING SPECIALIST IN GENUINE PRE-1955 BENTLEY 

AND CREWE-BUILT ROLLS-ROYCE PARTS. As the oldest and 

largest Bentley dealership in the world, nobody is closer to the finest 

luxury marques than Jack Barclay. Even more reassuring is the fact 

that we have the largest stock of Bentley parts there is, and as the 

only authorised global supplier of pre-1955 Bentley and Crewe-built 

Rolls-Royce parts, there is no finer choice when it comes to 

maintaining the definitive driving experience. So, whether it is timing 

gears for an R-Type Continental or an exhaust manifold for a Silver 

Dawn, Jack Barclay’s dedicated team has 80 years behind it to keep 

your car in perfect shape for the road ahead. 

JACK BARCLAY LIMITED 

2-4 Ponton Road, Nine Elms, London SW8 5BA, United Kingdom. 

Pre-1955 parts hotline: +44 (0)207 978 2223. 

Parts hotline: +44 (0)207 738 8333. 

e-mail: parts@jackbarclaybentley.co.uk or visit 

www.bentleymotors.com/jackbarclay 




The name ‘Bentley’ and the ‘B’ in wings device are registered trademarks. © 2007 Bentley Motors Limited. 



TRUST CREWE GENUINE PARTS TO KEEP IT ORIGINAL. 

Whatever the age of your Crewe-built Rolls-Royce or Bentley thoroughbred, you can rely on Crewe 

Genuine Parts and servicing to maintain both performance and originality. Every Crewe Genuine Part 

comes with a limited warranty that covers replacement of defective parts for three full years, if fitted 

by an Authorized Bentley Retailer. 

You will find the latest information and special offers on Crewe Genuine Parts on our website at 

www.crewegenuineparts.com. Alternatively, you can contact your local Authorized Bentley Retailer 

for more information. 

www.crewegenuineparts.com

Dedicated to Rolls-Royce & Bentley Motorcars ... - Magazooms

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