Foundation Corner Edited by Alan Bodfish –

Foundation Corner
Edited by Alan Bodfish – [email protected]
This and That by Will Morrison, Hon. Archivist
[email protected]
A correction – fine tuning…
In Review 291, I reported on the early Vesters & Neirinck (Brussels)
bodied Bentley, B88AH, which had surfaced after being hidden for
many years in a barn in Southern Belgium.
I noted: Unfortunately, no rear wings came with the car in 2013,
and so the current owner is attempting to determine what form
the original items would have taken by looking at other Vesters
and Neirinck examples of the time. This is not easy as the other
cars mainly had more sloping tails than the top-opening ‘trunked’
rear on B88AH.
B88AH was displayed at Technica Essen in 2014, and rear wings
loosely modeled on similar wings to those of B114DG were in situ.
However, there was no central longitudinal crease incorporated,
and therefore, in this writer’s opinion, an opportunity was missed
to give the new wings the fine look of known Vesters wings from
1935, even although we cannot say what B88AH’s originals looked
like. If you take a look at the only known period photograph of
B88AH in the 1960s, replicated in Review 291, as well as the further
photograph of the car as found, you will see that the front wings
did, in fact, have a slight crease, which took away the bulk of the
wings. The further deep crease towards the inside finished off the
job of slimming down the section. This front crease would surely
indicate that the original rear wings would also have incorporated
a crease?
Apologies, but I have to put my hand up here as, unfortunately,
on looking at what we now know, the last sentence does not stand
up to close scrutiny. For a start, during the following year, Vesters
& Neirinck did not build another body for a Bentley chassis, and
styles would have moved on by the time the firm bodied the next
chassis, B114DG, which was fitted with an exotic coupé body for
Claude Lang of 203 Avenue Moliere, Brussels. This lovely car
was eventually replaced by the well-known Vesters & Neirinck
coupé, B156KT, described by the highly accomplished Belgian
racing driver and journalist, the late Paul Frère, as “THE MOST
BEAUTIFUL ROLLS-BENTLEY OF ALL TIME” in his ‘Continental
Diary’ in ‘Motor’ magazine of December 25, 1971.
In addition, out of eleven known examples by the Belgian carrossier on Bentley chassis, the rear style of four of the Bentleys is not
known due to the lack of images seen by us in Archives. However,
the remaining seven known examples were split between four
trunked and three with sloping tails.
The cabriolet, B88AH, was delivered in April 1934, whereas
the faux cabriolet, B114DG, was with Claude Lang approximately
thirteen months later. Lang eventually sold B114DG to M. Armand
Kirchen of 80 Meir, Antwerp in March 1937, and took delivery of
his 4¼-litre, B156KT, six months later in September. Both of these
Lang coupés, similar in many ways, were delivered through
André Pisart of Brussels (see Review 291), and Lang was a longterm BDC member.
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B114DG seen at Coys of Kensington in 1981. Note the very distinctive
longitudinal creases on the rear wings which matched similar creases on
the front wings. These creases immediately give a fine/slimmed- down look
to the large and voluminous rear wings. As an aside, on the sales order, it
was noted that the spare wheel cover was to be painted black by Park Ward
before delivery of the car to Belgium! (Will Morrison collection).
their record of success is extensive”. This, only seventeen months after
the first production chassis was delivered to its owner.
A later period in the life of SM3913
st B114DG: Note the voluminous wings, both front and rear, with the
crisp crease on the front wing lightening the look considerably. These wings
carry a far more pronounced central crease than those on B88AH as found,
and do not appear to need the heavy crease towards the inside which
acted as a ‘slimming agent’ in the case of the earlier car. (Will Morrison
collection).
More on George Gilmour and Bentley in
Scotland.
Following on from the last Review, I can report that George
Gilmour Ltd. of 231 Hope Street, Glasgow exhibited a Bentley for
the first time at the 1923 Scottish Show (26 January – 3 February)
on his stand (No. 13) along with a Standard and Hillman and,
shooting even higher some would say, an Isotta-Fraschini chassis.
‘The Autocar’ stated: “Those who are interested in a really fine, wellbuilt and fast car would be well advised to inspect the Bentley three-litre,
which is provided with an all-weather five-seater body. Every part of the
chassis seems exactly right for its work, and the appearance of the car is
handsome. Moreover, the Bentley cars are known to be of great merit, and
In the last Review, I presented certain details about the 4½-litre
‘Blower’, SM3913, and mentioned that we had recently been given
copies of correspondence to do with this chassis. After its first
owner, Gerald Bristowe Sanderson of Edinburgh, SM3913 went
through the hands of three further pre-war owners. Two in 1933; R
G Willson ‘down south’ in East Sheen and A C Sewall, c/o Morgan
Grenfell of London, and then back up north a bit in February
1936 to A M Lee of Sheffield, although he bought it in the south
from Gordon Sutherland’s Friary Motors, for £220. The car’s file at
Wroxton luckily holds a copy of the invoice. See Reviews 289 and
290 for both Sutherland Bentley and Aston Martin detail.
This photograph of SM3913’s supercharger installation was taken in 1998,
at a Brooks Goodwood sale. It shows an early double-wall body casting,
the type that was changed (due to heat distortion problems) after the first
25 production cars for the single-walled ribbed casting. SU carburetors
are fitted, rather than the Zeniths as originally specified by Villiers. Birkin’s
original units were also of this double-wall arrangement. A full explanation
for the reasons of change can be found on pages 35/36 of Hay’s ‘Blower
Bentley’. WOBMF Archives.
The letters mainly concern the 1950s, and although not ground
breaking, they are typical of what owners of our cars appreciate
knowing, each one adding to the history of the individual car
involved. Was there such a thing as a ‘typical’ Bentley owner?
Not if the contents of the letters is taken into consideration. One
in particular stands out as very well written and amusing – the
story recounted being very much of its time. Due to time and
space restraints, and its place in the ownership train of SM3913,
313
that particular letter will be dealt with in the next Review, but the
one replicated below shows that application and sheer guts will
get you far with Bentley ownership and give great enjoyment as
the miles fly by.
The first known post-war owner, in 1947, was Harry KempPlace of Colchester. One year later, Raymond Charles Erith (7
August 1904 – 30 November 1973) of Dedham House, Dedham,
Nr. Colchester had ownership. When he joined the BDC in August
of that year, he declared SM3913 to be his Club car, and to the
question which posed ‘Major alterations, additions, and in what
classic events, if any (Le Mans, TT etc.), has car been’, he replied:
‘None, practically in original state. I do not know anything about
its history before 1939’. We will meet Tim Scott as an owner of
SM3913 later on in the late 1980s in the next Review, but at some
point he was sent an undated letter by George Curtis of Dalebrook
House, Dedham, Colchester who declared himself to have been
the late Raymond Erith’s son-in-law. This was one of the letters
handed to Archives by David Burgess-Wise. It is interesting to note
that Raymond Erith merited an entry in ‘The Concise Dictionary
of National Biography’.
Dear Mr Scott
I thought the photo of my late father-in-law, Raymond Erith, driving
PH1932 (sic*) at Silverstone in the early 1950s** might interest you.
Raymond was afflicted with TB in his bones at the age of about four,
managed to get well enough to go to a prep school, and was there accidentally
kicked on the knee in a football match at the age of seven, during his second
term, which re-started the TB. He was either bed bound or confined to a
wheelchair for most of his youth, and never went to school again, having,
from time to time, a governess or tutor. He realised at the age of twelve
or so that he would never be a train driver (what he didn’t know about
steam power wasn’t worth bothering with) and diverted, via some books
on Italian Renaissance paintings given to him by his aunt, to architecture.
He got himself a place at the Architectural Association School in London,
where he was declared qualified after three years of a five year course, as he
had won all the prizes on offer. He went to work in a practice of reasonable
size for a while, and then left to set up in partnership with a friend, and
was becoming well established by the time the war broke out. Having a
fixed left elbow, barely any left hip bone, a fixed left knee and ankle, and a
shortened left leg, he was not military material, and being unable to find
any job he regarded as worthwhile he was helped by his aunt to start up as
a farmer, and became a very good one. Bearing in mind the sheer hard graft
manual labour and sweat that characterized the business in those days I
am, as one who has farmed for the last thirty years, fifteen of them single
handed, astonished that he managed it all. It was a life he enjoyed, and he
went back into architecture after the war only at his aunt’s instigation. His
mother and father, plus sister were living in this house, which was his, and
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declared themselves very comfortable, but his aunt believed that he had
talent, and was wasted as a farmer, so she bought Dedham House, saying
that the drawing room was big enough to be his office for a while, and that
he could pay her back when he’d sold the farm, which he did. His farm
foreman, horrified at the thought of working for somebody else, persuaded
him and his aunt that the land then on the market opposite the few fields
she owned next to her house, would make an excellent farm, protect her
environment, and keep him happy and good, so they bought it. It is now
owned by the National Trust. He was elected to the Royal Academy in the
earIy fifties. He was a classical architect of immense learning and quite the
most charismatic man I ever met. My sister-in-law wrote a book comprised
for the most part of his writings on architecture if such things are of interest
to you. (Raymond Erith, Architect,by Lucy Archer, Cygnet Press).
PH1932 (sic) was his principal mode of transport whilst he owned it,
and was regularly used at Silverstone, and Firle, often driven by Harry
Kemp-Place. On business it regularly took him to Oxford, where he was
working on various Colleges. If his arm and leg were giving him trouble - he
stoically endured much pain - he could put the car in top gear in Dedham
House drive, and leave it there until he got to his destination. If he felt OK
he would drive it with great panache and speed, and on summer evenings
his family would listen out for the blow off valves etc. as he slowed down
to leave the A12 at Birchwood, putting the vegetables onto the Aga when
they heard them.
My wife travelled, via every pass in the way, and occasionally via
those deemed worth a detour, to Rome, in the car. They made a truly royal
progress, old men would take their hats off and stand with their hearts
covered as they passed. At level crossings they were frequently detained as
every other driver got out to come and inspect the car. Nothing was ever
stolen from it, as it was, where ever parked, the immediate object of attention of a rapidly increasing crowd.
When he visited his daughters at their boarding school in Wantage, he
used to take them out to tea at the Bear . The room was above the coach gate,
and the reverberation of exhaust made every tea cup in the room rattle on
its saucer.
Raymond always said it was quite the nicest car he had ever owned, it
had a nice character, unlike a Jag he later owned, which he always swore
had killed someone. He always regretted selling the Blower. He was finding
the fuel bill prohibitive. I tried to buy it off him, long before I met his
eldest daughter, but couldn’t raise the £650 needed. He advertised it in
‘MotorSport’, and I spoke to him on the phone. I have always regretted
that I didn’t go over to look at it: I was living the other side of Essex at the
time. I could get as far as £450 or so, and hadn’t got the wits to borrow
the balance off my bank, who would as like as not in those days have said
they didn’t advance monies on such goods, even if paid off at £5-00 per
week. I bought my 1924 3 litre drop head coupé instead, slightly later,
for £145-00, and if I live long enough, hope to complete the farm building
repairs/restoration for my landlords, The NT, which will give the space to
rebuild the remains, which I haven’t driven since 1961. I have a vast ‘kit of
parts’ requiring re-assembly, and should get as far as a rolling chassis very
quickly with both the 3 Litre and the 4 ½. Trimming the coach work will
take rather longer.
Hope this is of interest to you,
Yours sincerely,
George Curtis
Harry Kemp-Place of Evergreen House, London Road,
Stanway, Colchester, mentioned in the letter, had owned SM3913
before Raymond Erith, from at least April 1947, and according to
the small record card held in Archives, sold it to Erith in August
1948. He then appears to have bought the car back in April 1954,
and three months later entered the car in race 4 at BDC Silverstone
of that year.
Here we see Harry Kemp-Place racing SM3913 in race 4 at BDC
Silverstone, 31 July 1954, sandwiched between the 3/4½-litre of Gordon
Grant McDonald of Birmingham (chassis DE1207) and the Speed Six saloon
of Simon Christopher Becker of London, chassis LR2778 (a Sportsman
coupé by H J Mulliner). Both cars were well known within Club circles of the
time. WOBMF Archives.
The Bentley 3-litre mentioned by George Curtis was chassis 766.
On joining the BDC in 1986, he also owned the 4½-litre RL3437
and a further 3-litre HT1629 bought as a pile of parts. All three
chassis are still extant. If room permits, I will take a look at George
Curtis’ Bentleys in a future Foundation Corner.
*The registration number of the Blower, SM3913 was GH1932,
not PH1932 as indicated by George Curtis, an easily made mistake.
**Raymond Erith’s SM3913 was one of four Blowers entered
within Class (d) 4½-litre (Supercharged), 6½-litre and 8-litre
Bentleys at BDC Silverstone 1950. To be continued in Review 296.
A blast from the past.
Those readers who visited the Foundation’s tent at Club Concours,
would, no doubt, have been intrigued with the little French D.F.P.
10/12, registered LT6625, which we had on display. For those who
didn’t come across this most attractive small car, or who were not
there, a short explanation.
The 1914 DFP Bentley Motors ‘hack’ described in the text, in the
Foundation’s tent at Club Concours, 2014. The cars event board, numbered
100, was most appropriate!
In 1912/13, John H Easter (see Review 274) bought a D.F.P. from
WO, and in that period Bentley & Bentley took up a sub-tenancy
from John Easter, in premises from which to run a service station
for the D.F.P. cars which they sold. This was at 47-48 New Street
Mews (now Chagford Street). These premises later became famous
as the first ‘works’ before Cricklewood, where the first chassis and
engines were constructed.
BDC members Ian Milburn and his wife, Margaret, bought
LT6625 in 2013, and there was a very specific reason why we in the
Foundation were keen to have the car on show. It is possibly hard
to believe, but in the early 1920s this actual car, now 100 years old,
was used by Bentley Motors as a ‘hack’ vehicle and it was driven
to Le Mans in 1923 as transport for certain employees
I can do no better than use some of the wording off the poster
put up on the day, the detail supplied by Ian.
1914 DFP 10/12, Special Two-Seater, reg. No. LT 6625, chassis No.
EM 2217, Engine 1598 cc. Manufactured by Doriot, Flandrin et Parant,
of Courbevoie, Paris. The 10/12 was the smaller of the DFP cars WO and
brother Horace (HM) sold as sole concessionaires from their company of
Bentley and Bentley Ltd.
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Brief History of LT 6625 up to 1968.
1914 ‘Given as a wedding present to a lady in 1914’, according
to owner Alys Wooley’s notes of 1977. Originally painted
Dark Red.
1920sLikely to have been re-purchased by Bentley and
Bentley as a second hand car for resale, but ending up
as the works ‘hack’ at Bentley Motors.
Joby Bowles, a mechanic at Bentley Motors, when
inteviewed by David Burgess-Wise in 1985 remembered
the car, saying, “The greatest single happening when I
worked for ‘Bentley and Bentley’ was the first entry at Le
Mans in 1923. I was so keen to go to Le Mans that when
a mechanic I worked with said he’d keep an eye on me, my
father paid for me to go. We drove across France in the works
hack, a little pre-war 10/12 DFP, which I came across later at
Beaulieu. I’d got a note of its number in my book, but that car
is easy to recognise, because its radiator badge was chipped
where it had been driven into a vice on the workbench.”
1931 When Bentley Motors was declared bankrupt, LT 6625
was most probably sold off as one of the assets.
1939Ended up as power for a saw bench during WWII.
1949Lt.Col. David Griffiths DSO.
Taxed for road use until 24.03.1950. Log book states
“This old car has not been used on the road for several years.
It was fixed as a stationary engine to power a circular saw. D
G Griffiths, Lt.Col.”
1968 In September 1968, WO was photographed in LT 6625 at
an event at Beaulieu to celebrate his 80th Birthday ...
A move to the centre.
In Foundation Corner, Review 291, I pondered the question of
the odd Derby-built Bentley with a central gear change, rather
than one positioned on the far right, and asked for additional
input of known chassis or, hopefully, photographs of the factory
arrangement. Known cars (their details seen on the build/sales
cards in Archives) were ‘overdrive’ Bentleys B110MR, B1MX and
B143MX from 1939.
A number of cars have been fitted with non-factory arrangements
by subsequent owners. BDC Member, Michael Symonds, recalled
having seen B30BN (now, alas, with an open body) in the 1990s
with what he believes was a central gear change. When new,
B30BN was fitted with a most stylish ‘aerodynamic’ saloon body
by Thrupp & Maberly and displayed on their stand at the 1934
London Motor Show.
Thrupp & Maberly had also been involved with the ‘Airline’
body for chassis B67AE in early 1934 for Geoffrey Smith of ‘The
Autocar’. With streamline the ‘buzzword’ of the time, numerous
coachbuilders were attempting to achieve the perfect streamlined
form, but most designs retained the traditional upright Bentley
radiator shell, which rather defeated the object of the exercise.
1960Purchased by the Montagu Motor Museum.
Restored in Nov. 1960 by Montagu Motor Museum
staff at the Manchester Evening News ‘Do It Yourself’
Exhibition and driven back to Beaulieu.
Repainted peppermint green. (In this colour the car
features in many Veteran and Vintage Books published
in the Sixties and Seventies).
Memories.
W.O. Bentley in
the renovated
‘peppermint’
DFP, Beaulieu
1968.
316
The rather beautiful B30BN as shown by Thrupp & Maberly at the 1934
London Show. Finished in light grey with fine blue lines and a chromium
band on the waist moulding, the interior was upholstered in light blue
leather, whilst the fillets etc. were blue and grey to tone with the body and
interior colours. A sliding roof finished off the body specification. Despite
the agreeable form, streamline did not really take off in the UK in pre-war
days, the buying public of the time being considered rather conservative.
(The Automobile Engineer, November 1934).
Michael also passed Archives pages from a Brightwells auction
catalogue from 16 July 2014 which featured B26KT (registered
DYK331). An illustration of the interior shows the car fitted with
a central gear lever, and the text notes that this feature was fitted
from new. However, there is no indication of this on the original
sales order in our files, or in cards held at the R-REC.
A further non-factory arrangement was mentioned in an
email sent to Archives by BDC Member, Noel McIntosh, showing
Antipodean humour: “I was very interested in your BDC question
about centre change gearboxes. I will have some news for you as soon as
I have the pics and story. This local man fitted the centre change when he
was 94 as he had a bad hip. He now tells me the bad hip broke and he used
the old one to make the gear knob, much to his surgeon’s delight. But now
he is 98 and not using the car so much! Don’t hold your breath as I have
been waiting four years for the pics as I knew it would be of great interest
to our less agile members - and the historians.”
May we all be well enough to do this at 98 - or even 88!’
However, we appeared to strike lucky with an email from
Laurence Anderson of Berkeley in the United States. He wrote:
“Do you still desire photos of this device? I’m currently servicing a 1937
(Rolls-Royce) 25/30, GGM24. This transmission was ordered center
change from new and still is as built. Its owner, David Clover, has given
permission.”
The 25/30 Rolls-Royce replaced the (3½-litre) 20/25, from April
1936, was fitted with a single carburetor version of the 4¼-litre
engine and was produced alongside the Bentley 4¼-litre. There is
no reason to doubt that the central gear change arrangement seen
in the photographs sent by Laurence Anderson was any different
to the central mechanisms fitted to the later ‘overdrive’ Bentleys.
The arrangements appear to follow the pattern as suggested in
Review 291.
The central gear change arrangement fitted
from new to 4¼-litre Rolls-Royce 25/30,
GGM24. This is almost certainly the same
as was fitted to a small number of 4¼-litre
Bentleys from new. The first thing to observe
in the photograph is the hexagonal blanking
plate screwed to the cross-shaft housing
which incorporates the speedometer drive. In
the standard arrangement shown in Review
291, the gear lever was sited out of the
picture at the bottom, attached to a crossshaft which entered the housing where the
blanking plate is sited. If you compare this to
the first picture on page 38, Review 291, you
will observe that the gear lever and gate has
been moved from the position noted above
and mounted in a new casting, fitted in the central position where, on the
standard arrangement, the flat casting incorporated the filler plug and dip
stick. The newly sited filler plug can be seen, and the new position for
the dipstick will be seen in the following photograph. (Laurence Anderson
photograph, thanks to David Clover).
In this photograph, the new centrally positioned gear lever and gate base
casting can be clearly seen, as can the newly sited filler plug and gearbox
dipstick. Also obvious to the right is the hexagonal blanking plate screwed
to the end of the cross-shaft/speedometer drive housing. It should be noted
that due to the re-positioning of the filler plug and dipstick, the raised
(machined) sections that take those two components would surely have
necessitated a new gearbox casting? (Laurence Anderson photograph,
thanks to David Clover).
A photograph taken from the
left (nearside) showing the new
gear lever base casting and
brake servo mechanism.
(Laurence Anderson
photograph, thanks to David
Clover).
Those readers with
beady eyes, and lucky
enough to have a copy
of Ray Robert’s ‘Bentley
Specials
and
Special
Bentleys Vol I’, may have
noticed two illustrations
of a central gear change
arrangement
fitted
to
a
Derby-built
Bentley
gearbox, on page 384. As
suggested by Ray, this is a conversion to a ‘normal’ Derby gearbox,
this being obvious by the twin oil fillers seen, one (repositioned)
on the original cover to which the gate had been attached and
the other sited on the gearbox casing in near-enough the same
position as shown in the photograph above. The dipstick was still
317
sited on the cover, whereas, as above, it was repositioned by the
factory further forward on the casing itself.
Remember – If it moves, oil it!
3 Litre chassis 180. Registration number PM
1923 – Alan Bodfish
Recently I have been in correspondence with Robin Dean regarding
the cars of the late Commander C.W. Milner. He owned a 3 litre
chassis 728 and a 6½ chassis TW 2702 and from Milner’s late
daughter (Fiona Grant) came this image of her father sitting in 3
Litre chassis 180. It is not dated but it is thought the car was owned
at the time by Alexander Wedderburn, father-in-law of Stuart
de la Rue, Chairman of Bentley Motors. After Mr Wedderburn’s
death, the car passed to Stuart de la Rue and after his death, his
widow (Peggy) married Clifford Felton and they moved to Shifnal
in Shropshire.
Commander Milner lived in Billingshurst Sussex which was
close to where the Wedderburn’s lived in Willington Sussex, so
this picture may have been taken during the mid 1930s. A point
of interest is that by the late 1970s the car was a virtual wreck and
was auctioned. The owner in 1977 reported that, before restoration
on the radiator, “faintly from long ago, was a white number 3”.
That is shown clearly in the photograph from Mrs Grant. Had the
car been involved in any competitions?
Also it was believed this car was fitted with four wheel brakes
from new but the early photograph clearly shows a brakeless front
axle fitted. This car was from January 1923 and four wheel brakes
were not offered until 1924. In the auction catalogue for 1981, it
suggests that four wheel brakes may have been fitted from new as
the car was ordered by the Chairman of Bentley Motors, but this
looks as if this could not have been the case.
Woolf Barnato and the Blue
Train – Alan Bodfish
Commander C.W. Milner in 3 Litre chassis 180 showing a brakeless front
axle and what is possibly a competition number Photo: Fiona Grant.
318
Looking through the Barnato Press
Cuttings book held in the Archive, the
following article from ‘The Motor’ of
18th March 1930 was found.
The piece is entitled ‘Another Blue
Train Exploit’ and covers Barnato’s
drive with Dale Bourne across France in
opposition to the Blue Train. The salient
point is the wording “Captain Woolf
Barnato, driving his standard Speed Six
Bentley saloon, on Thursday and Friday,
March 13th and 14th.”
Article on Barnato’s run
against the Blue Train March
1930. Photograph: The Motor.
This is echoed in Barnato’s own report of the run in BDC
Review 1 June 1946 (and reprinted in Review 244 April 2006),
where he says “I wagered I would get to England in my Saloon
Speed Six before the train got to Calais”.
The Foundation Display and Eddie Hall Model
– John Hamperl
There was a splendid turnout for the BDC Annual Concours
d’Elegance at the end of June, despite some fairly iffy weather
on the day. Still, every silver lining has its cloud and, those
members who were driven into the shelter of the Clubhouse,
thus forsaking the cloud, found a silver ingot of a value beyond
the dreams of avarice.
I refer, of course to the fine Museum display, this year
planned and prepared by Tony Tomlinson, aided and abetted by
Alan Bodfish, with design help from Mike Smith and students
of the art department of South Cheshire College. (Thanks to
some clever footwork by Ken Lea in earlier years, students are
given projects relating to our displays as part of their practical
training.)
The theme of the display is the introduction of the Derby
Bentley and the racing career of Eddie Hall with one of the
items on show being the “Eddie Hall Model”. Some members
have expressed disappointment to learn that the “Model” is not
a scantily clad human female, draped over a new vehicle, but a
motor car.
However, the Eddie Hall Model does have vital statistics. It is
a highly accurate scale model of the Derby Bentley (B 35 AE) that
Eddie Hall raced from the 1930s through to 1950. The model was
commissioned by Rolls-Royce, made by Models Manufacturing
Co. London and presented to him in 1936 as a token of appreciation of his extraordinary success on the track.
Through the years the model has suffered with age-related
deterioration – don’t we all? You may recall that the WO Bentley
Memorial Foundation was offered the opportunity to buy this
unique piece of Bentley racing history. For us to purchase the
model was entirely compatible with the aims and objects of
WOBMF. We would own it and arrest its deterioration and
indeed, restore it.
It was estimated that around £12K was needed to purchase
and restore the model to its former glory. At the time of writing,
thanks to fantastic generosity on the part of some BDC Regions
and lots of individual Members, we have raised £10K. Just a little
bit to go...
The model is now ours and some fine restoration work has
begun.
And so to W O Bentley Memorial
Foundation.... – John Hamperl
The short straw has come winging its way towards me with the
accuracy of a laser-guided harpoon. At the last Trustees’ meeting
I was requested (ordered) to write a little piece reminding the
BDC membership of the raison d’ȇtre for the WOBMF and, the
important role played by it in propagating the Bentley gospel.
I am sure, by now, that most BDC Members know the purpose
and function of the Foundation. However, for the benefit of new
members and, those of you – like me – who cannot remember
what day it is, I will risk a brief run-through.
The WO Bentley Memorial Foundation was founded a
few years ago as a Charitable Trust. The rules of the Charities
Commission are very strict and, in order to maintain Chartable
Status, WOBMF has to be run as an entirely separate body from
the BDC, albeit alongside it. To that end, WOBMF has a panel of
seven Trustees, plus one employee – Alan Bodfish.
One of the most important duties of the Foundation is to
protect and preserve for future generations, all manner of
Bentley related material, from archives to artefacts; from original
records and drawings right up to photographs of contemporary
Bentleys. What happens today is somebody’s history lesson
tomorrow. There is a team of archivists under Will Morrison
and Alan Bodfish who deal with a great many enquiries about
specific cars. We give lectures, show films, liaise with other
organisations and generally try to give knowledge of all things
Bentley to a wider public.
We have published a number of books, the latest of which is
an absolutely fascinating study by BDC member Dr. Tom Dine:
“W O Bentley, Rotary Aero Engines”. It tells the story of the
Rotary engine and the amazing part played in its development
by WO during WWI. I commend it to you. and I could not put it
down. (Well, I could really, but reluctantly.)
The Foundation is in constant need of funds to fulfill its aims
and, relies heavily on the most incredibly generous support
given by BDC members. Most opt for a voluntary donation of £10
(or more) collected with BDC subscriptions. This makes them
a “Friend” for the year. A one-off donation of £300 (or more)
makes one an “Associate” for life.
I will not, this time, ask you to pronounce “WOBMF” out loud!
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