Bentley
Bentley motorcar, 1934 T.1987.38
“Performance and Peace can now be reconciled … in its docility and absence of fuss under all conditions it is without a rival amongst sporting cars.”
From The Bentley catalogue
Comment by Reprint from The Autocar May 1934
The whole point of the car is that it represents in a very large degree the modern idea of a car of high performance such as is usually called a sports car, and shows in every way in its performance and behaviour that a high usable maximum speed need not necessarily be accompanied even by appearance which to some minds suggests a speed model, and that at the same time such a car can be absolutely quiet, smooth, docile, and flexible to handle in traffic.
From: Reprint from The Autocar May 1934
Question by Glasgow Museums
What would you drive if you could chose any car? Are vintage cars better made than modern ones?
Or is it time to forget cars altogether, and look for greener ways to travel?
Eyewitness by Malcolm Cordwell-Smith
My Father found this car, in the Forest of Dean, in an orchard, beside a pub in I believe, 1960. I was only nine or ten, away at boarding school and home for the holidays so this was, if you like, my toy. I painted the dashboard black; it was originally black unlike now. It has now been beautifully restored in walnut. It was complete, there was rust on it but the body is aluminium so it hadn’t apparently come to much harm. It didn’t need much work; we did re-wire the car and managed to get it to work.
I was only nine or ten and I used to start the car up on my own. My father didn’t know that, of course.
I remember, I don’t know why I had done it, I had loosened one of the large wheel nuts and my father came down suddenly and said, come let’s go out in the car and I didn’t have the heart to tell him I had done this and I was frightened that the wheel would come off as we were driving along.
From: Malcolm Cordwell-Smith
Eyewitness by Maurice Beale
The restoration took two-and-a-half years but it was worth it in the end. The crowning glory came when she won her class at the Bentley Drivers Club Concourse d’Elegance at Kensington Gardens when we celebrated her completion
From: Maurice Beale
Eye Witness by Peter Tompsett
I knew the last owner of the car having acquired a similar vehicle myself. I used to pass him regularly on my way to work and can say that he always drove the car enthusiastically!
From: Peter Tompsett
