Chassis number HP383
Engine number 308
It is registered in Nova Scotia, antique plate number 5675.
I've attached a recent photo.

RROC 59th Annual Meet 2010 Ontario

HP 383 (1926 3-litre) Vanden Plas Coupe - Owner: D. Howe

"David Howe tests his backwards driving skills in his 3L (HP383) trying not to bump his fellow tourers that had gotten to the hotel before him."

"Hello, My uncle, Edward Brian Mortimer-Rose, was a fighter pilot in WW2, sadly killed in 1942. I have a picture of him taken at RAF Warmwell in Dorset with his Bentley. I wonder if you could identify the model from the photograph? As far as I can see the letters in the registration are 36 or 38, possibly preceded by LR or LP, but I cannot be sure of that.

Some additional information about my uncle for your interest:
- Edward Brian Mortimer-Rose, usually known as Brian RAF Flight Lieutenant
- Distinguished Flying Cross & Bar
- From Littleport, Cambridgeshire
- Son of Edward & Eelinn Mortimer-Rose of Plantation House, Littleport
- Attended Haileybury School
- He joined the RAF in February 1939
- Granted a Short Service Commission on 2 May 1939
- Posted to 234 Squadron in November
- Flew with that unit during the Battle of Britain (Spitfires) & into 1941
- Posted to the Middle East in November 1941 then straight to Malta where he took command of 249 Squadron on 6 December 1941 (Hurricanes?)
- Shot down 26 December, he crash landed at Luqa. After recovering, he took command of 185 Sqn. in Feb. 1942
- He led 185 Squadron until May 1942, then took a rest from Ops. In January 1943 he was posted to the Algeria/Tunisia front
- He reverted from Acting Squadron Leader to Flight Lieutenant. And took command of a flight of 111 Squadron
- Just a few days later, on 28 January 1943, he was KiFA when his Spitfire collided with W/C George Gilroy's as they took off from Souk el Khemis. Gilroy survived.
- Brian was only 22 years old at the time of his death and he is buried at the Medjez-el-Bab War Cemetery (ref. 6C4) in Tunisia.
- His victories included 12 enemy aircraft destroyed and a further 5 probably destroyed.

I have asked my brother, also Brian, if he can locate any further old family photographs.

Many thanks for your interest and help!"

David Green responds to reader Jonathan Macfie's enquiry, identifying Edward Brian Mortimer-Rose's 3 litre.

Dear Robert, You have an enquiry from Brian Mortimer-Rose's nephew about a Bentley his uncle once owned. It is obviously a 3-litre with a standard radiator and a modified body, complete with wartime alterations to the headlights. The only 3-litre coming remotely close to LR or LP and 36 or 38 is LPT 326, which makes it a standard model from February 1926. My copy of Hay indicates it started out as a coupe on a long chassis, a comparatively unusual use of the length. It was cut to short chassis length at some stage. Its original registration number was KU 7770, and its chassis number was HP383. My copy of Hay is the Second Edition, where the car is listed as still surviving, having been relengthened. It should have a VdP tourer body, and a registration number of SL 9980. I have checked this registration number against the DVLA database and it is recorded as requiring new taxation in 1987, and is a Bentley recorded as being made in 1924. This suggests the car may no longer be with us.

"Hello Mona. This is fascinating and thank you for getting in touch. It may very well be the car you're looking for. The chassis number is indeed HP383! The engine number is 308 and I gather it was not the original but transferred from another car made in 1924. I believe it originally had four seats but was shortened to two, presumably before Flight-Lieutenant Mortimer-Rose owned it, and later elongated back to four seats with a replica Vanden Plas body.

I bought it from two Swiss gentlemen who raced it in the Alps, who had bought it from Stanley Mann who had done work on it in 1989. One of those two moved to New Brunswick where I saw and bought the car. I had the engine overhauled a year ago by Pierce Reid in Stowe Vermont and it runs beautifully. It is registered in Nova Scotia, antique plate number 5675."

- David Howe

~~

"Hello Jonathan. I believe I may have the Bentley that was once owned by your uncle. The chassis number is the same, HP 383.

I live in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia and bought the car in about 2003 in New Brunswick from a gentleman who lived in Switzerland who had bought it from Stanley Mann, who I believe had done some work on it in 1989 and then raced it in the Alps. He had a partner, a retired jockey, Ernst Zwalen, who emigrated to Canada with the car and brought it to a show In Prince Edward Island where I saw it.

As I understand it, the car was originally a four seater with a Mulliner body but at some stage, presumably before your uncle owned it, it was cut down to two seats, I assume to make it go faster or perhaps to attract the ladies :), and then later restored to four seats with a replica Vanden Plas body. You can see the butt welds on the chassis. At some stage the engine
was replaced with one from a 1924 car, number 304. Other modifications before my time include complete rewiring with many more fuses, removal of the thermostat and installation of two electric fans behind the radiator. I've installed an overdrive and electric fuel pump and replaced one magneto with a coil, so it is far from original but much easier and enjoyable to drive. The engine was overhauled professionally a year ago.

I was very interested in your biography of your uncle. I would love to hear if you know any more of the history of this car."

- David Howe