Thank you for all the attention that our March newsletter received. The combination of the new format, interesting articles and the controversial subject of originality struck a reaction with you that brought a lot of response. Without your comments, photos and chassis discussions, we would have nothing new. By reviewing your old family photo albums and taking pictures at events, you have created this web site. After ten years, you have built a solid foundation for recording the histories of W.O. Bentley's cars. There is a long way to go and as you spread the word, the website will grow even further.

We always suggest that you search the records on you car by going to the Bentley Drivers Club. Just what do they have and where did they get that information? I used to correspond with Gibbs Pancheri in the 1980s and 1990s, an old-timer in the BDC and club officer going back to the 1930s. I met him at a BDC event in England and he got a kick out of educating this Texan who had so much interest in Vintage Bentleys. He stated that Nobby Clarke, who used to run the Bentley Works Service Department, gathered up all the records before it closed (1936?) and took them to W.O. Bentley. That includes the purchase records, service records, engineering drawings, etc. That is, all the paper work. The building and land were owned by Rolls-Royce who then sold the property, but R-R was not interested in the Bentley service work and records, which R-R would have thrown in the trash. I found in the July 1969 BDC Review that the second Bentley Works Service Department, and the last, was closed in 1939. It was called the Kingsbury Road Service Department and Nobby Clarke was again the Works Manager. There were service records there too. Nobby Clarke got those records and also gave them to W.O. who then turned them over to the BDC. Thank you Nobby Clarke and W.O. Interestingly, Stanley Sedgwick says in his book that the records were not well kept and there were many errors that he tried to straighten out. Since then, we have Hay to thank for her effort in setting the records straight. Add to this the efforts of our readers; we will see a clear record of our cars in the future.