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Although
often obscured by paint,
the chassis number stamped on
the front dumb iron is one of the
easier nurnbers to find. The precise
position is indicated here by
Tim Houlding. |
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The big green Bentley stood in the
high street. Suddenly a man in tweeds sprinted from
the Post Office and sprang nimbly over the side of the
car. The engine started with what seemed like a deafening
roar. The only other thing I remember was the driver
pushing a lever on the outside before speeding off.
The Bentley was known locally as a Birkin team car.
I 'was five, and almost ever since, I've wanted to know
the veracity of this unlikely tale and what became of
that machine. The closest I ever came, was to trace
a man who said he had removed the supercharger.
But such chill trails could be a thing of the past.
Bentley buff Tim Houlding has established a unique consultancy
that provides current owners, prospective purchasers,
dealers and those prone to historical licence, with
the essential history of every 3,024 vintage Bentley.
He describes his work as 'Bentley archaeology'
a desire to see as many correct bits as possible all
together in one car. In Houlding's view a genuine example
is better value and more enjoyable for present and future
enthusiasts, and, if you look at life that way, a sounder
investment.
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Although
a replica, this is arguably the most authentic representation
of a team car instrument panel in existence. Replica
builders should accept there is no dinner-plate-size
speedometer, but some rather untidy features like
a horn push attached to a
steering column spoke. |
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Interestingly, his research is made
necessary by the susceptibility of the vintage Bentley
to ambivalent pedigree. There are a number of reasons
for this: new cars were almost as demanding to drive
as they were fast, and accidents necessitating heavy
repairs, frequent. For example, Houldmg has on his books
a 1930 Speed Six that suffered three major crashes in
the first 37,000 miles of its life. As a result, two
replacement axles, two new steering arms and a reconditioned
set of front road springs were fitted. The only numbered
part would have been the axle, but the discrepancy between
what's on the car and what's on the build card, is clearly
a puzzle for the historian. Unusually, in the case of
this Speed Six, the chassis frame was straightened after
one altercation, rather than replaced.
Chassis frames were made and repaired
by Mechans in Glasgow, but no attempt was made to reunite
a reconditioned frame with the car frorn which it came.
This procedure was compounded by former chassis numbers
being left on when new ones were added. Matters are
made even worse because the works -was notoriously lax
about listing numbers from changed components, or even
updating its records generally. Normally, only SE (Service
Engine) numbers are noted for cars that have had transplants,
and in these cases the crankcase inscription, was also
changed. Things improved in 1926 when Woolf Bamato took
control of Bentley Motors. He regularised numbering
and did latter-day connoisseurs a favour. From then
on front and rear axles, the differential nose-piece
and the steering column were all numbered exactly the
same as the chassis frame itself.
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Houlding
has made an indepth study of the team cars. Typical
features for the replica builder to note would be
the Bentley plug spanner mounted on the cam case
and the quick release oil-filler mechanism visible
in the
foreground. |
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When looking for a genuine, original
Bentley of 1922-25 vintage, a prospective owner should
seek a number sequence which, usually has engine and
chassis within about 10 numbers of each other and a
braked front axle number approximately 300 below that
of the chassis. This is because the early brakeless
axles on the first 300 or so cars were usually changed
for braked versions, the numbering of which started
again at 'one'. As mentioned above, the rear axle and
differential nose-piece should have the exact chassis
number because of ratio specificity, and finally, the
steering column number should be no more than two or
three higher than the chassis.
Houlding operates from a cottage in
rural Worcestershire, the view of the surrounding farmland
obscured by columns of motoring magazine back numbers
and mega-enlargements of photographs from the five occasions
when Bentley won at Le Mans. He is a man possessed by
Bentleys. The badge forms his watch face, the winged
'B' emblem is on the coffee mugs and a set of replica
tail lamps impede the route to the loo. But the heart
of the operation is a filing system forming perhaps
the world's most comprehensive record of the vintage
Bentley. Each car has its own entry, including copies
of the original Bentley Motors build and service sheets,
material from subsequent owners and photographs, if
available, of the car when new and in later incarnations.
Says Houlding: "I can't go quite as far as tracing
who canoodled on the back seat of a client's pride and
joy in 1924, but should certairtly know that when it
was just days old it had a prang with a Manchester tram."
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A
previously unpublished photograph from Tim Houlding's
unique archive of the 1924 Duff/Clement Le Mans-winning
3-litre chassis 582. Houlding's research reunited
it with its original engine number 588. The picture
is interesting for several other reasons. The copious
amounts of mud have been applied with a brush after
a dry race. Duff believed the British public would
not appreciate the magnitude of the victory seeinq
a clean car. The horn ring and aircraft style switches
on the left side of the dashboard are racing features,
while present-day restorers should note the somewhat
rudimentary fitting on an additional nearside spare
wheel. |
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A query about a particular car will
usually prompt a response within 10 minutes, if only
to say it was scrapped long ago. Compilation of a detailed
history on a well known Bentley takes about a week.
An in-depth study of a particularly ambiguous example
could involve several weeks sleuthing and cost the enquirer
between £500 and £1,000 for a bound pedigree
document.
Already there have been a number of
notable successes. Houlding has been restoring Bentleys
since he was 19 bits of his first 6-year rebuild
were found in a Scottish fence. Recently he acquired
a crankcase for his own stock of parts. "It had
an SE number, but when I got it home I could just see
some heavily filed figures five something eight.
I knew straightaway that it was a reconditioned racing
crankcase. Telling the vendor I'd taken away something
very special, I added that I couldn't keep it. We subsequently
subjected the metal to a sophisticated image enhancer
which revealed that unless Bentley put an'S' in, the
middle of their numbers, which they did not, the figures
were 588. That is the number of the 1924 Le Mans-winning
engine. The crankcase was then passed to the owner of
re-engined chassis 582 to bring off the historical,
and I think ethical, coup of helping create what is
now the only Le Mans winning Bentley that carries its
correct Le Mans-winning engine."
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Frank
Clement (left) and John Duff
with their 3-litre at Le Mans. Their
difference in height (about 12")
posed a problem with the driving position. |
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Not all Houlding's activities have
such significant historical implications. "Quite
frankly, with the average vintage Bentley, numbers are
not that important. You have to allow for straightforward
replacement, the dismantling of cars, cannibalization
and so on. But in my view it is always important to
put the record straight, and when it comes to the valuation
of cars, of course, proven continuous history is an
asset."
Continuous provenance, and thus originality,
was the attraction of a 1930 Speed Six for one Australian
client. He was distraught when he contacted the widow
of a previous listed owner and she, for whatever reason,
denied any knowledge of the car. Happiness reigned when
Houlding's records turned up a photograph of the car
with her late husband.
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This
victory brochure was published by Bentley Motors
after the 1924 win. Bought recently at auction it
contains some later scribblings attributed to Wally
Hassan, celebrated Bentley racing mechanic and distinguished
automobile engineer. |
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Another problem with a 'Big Six' arose
when a past owner's son wanted to know if the car his
father had owned was bought new by the Duke of Kent.
Houlding verified the story. The bad news was that it
was broken up 40 years ago.
Then there was the American restorer,
ostracised by his fellow enthusiasts because his 1929
car, bought new by two Oxford undergraduates and used
for an attempt on the US coast-to-coast record, was
alleged to have had the fabric body re-covered in the
wrong material. In desperation the adversaries called
in Houlding to pass judgement. Alas, the texture was
not quite correct.
This last ruling reflects his pet enthusiasm
for competitive Bentleys, the study of which has resulted
in a library of 600 slides. Some of the queries are
nightmarishly complex with the potential for damaging
litigation.
Take the bizarre case of The Birmingham
log-book. A particularly exciting 1940s-built special
came on the market with a 4½-litre heavy-crank
engine, genuine 3-litre Speed Model chassis, and D-type
racing gearbox. In 1946 the special builder had come
by an old-style buff log book for a totally unrelated
Bentley and used the details to give his delectable
concoction a vintage identity. He then sold the car.
Things got complicated when, to reap
the benefit of the post-war single-rate car tax attracted
by fresh registrations, the new owner took the engine
number that the special builder had used, which included
the latter's initials, and was issued with a 1949 Birmingham
mark on that basis. Years later, though, this innovative
Bentleyphile had a change of heart and applied to DVLC
for the identity from the old buff log book. It was
provisionally allocated to him but he failed to have
the car inspected by the local licensing office. Truth,
as they say, will out, and by now someone had not only
discovered a long-chassis 3-litre frame that went with
the old buff log book, but had built a Bentley around
it and applied to DVLC for their chassis number's original
registration, which, because the special's owner had
never followed through, was allocated a second time.
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A
previously unseen picture of the only unaccounted
for team car. It is Houlding's ambition to discover
the fate of 3-litre chassis 1040, and engine 1069,
seen here at the 1925 Le Mans wearing race number
nine. |
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There were now two cars disputing the
same identity, and one the special sporting
a highly non-Bentley chassis number! Enter Houlding,
magnifying glass to the fore. He admits the case had
him baffled. "There was no doubt the special had
been built on a genuine short chassis as there was no
trace of 'cut and shut'. However, I could not find a
correct number anywhere on it." In this instance
a screwdriver would have served better than the lens.
A deck board above the front chassis crossmember was
eventually lifted and there, at last, was numerical
proof positive. From there on it was comparatively easy
to match original registrations to chassis.
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This
unpublished photograph also shows the only unaccounted
for team car, seen here at the 1925 Le Mans, wearing
race number nine. Frank Clement (left) and John
Duff stand next to it and chassis 1138. |
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A much more straightforward solution,
dependant on one of Houlding's most closely guarded
secrets, was provided for a client wishing to 'create'
a Blower 4½ always a delicate area because
of the astronomical sums they attract. Says Houlding:
A lot of genuine parts including an engine had been
assembled but the chassis side rails obtained were not
numbered and needed authenticating. The only way of
telling an original Blower frame is by four small but
unique holes. They were there, and my client was able
to carry out a totally honest reconstruction."
Replica team cars are sensitive ground for Bentley aficionados
and in the interests of future generations Houlding
would like to see better research by their creators.
"Regrettably, many are historically
unsound," he says. "There's more to it than
spraying the thing green. For example, the colour used
by Bentley Motors was, in fact, much lighter than what
is now termed British Racing Green. And putting a dustbin-lid-sized
plate on the back for a racing number and tying it all
together with bonnet straps is not sufficient either.
The competition cars had all sorts of subtle modifications
to the electrics, the horns, fillers and so on, and
these details are frequently ignored."
Ironically, it is with a team Bentley that Houlding's
personal archeological ambitions lie. "I should
like to trace Duff's 1925 Le Mans entry, a 3-litre with
chassis number 1040, engine number 1069, which is the
only team car unaccounted for."
Is this the ultimate barn yard find? If you fancy your
chance, it was last heard of as a saloon in Bradford
in 1932, owned by a family called Keighley and registered
MD 7187.
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