Received from John C Boothman on January 30, 2016
"Thanks Robert - an excellent topic for (endless) debate!

I am absolutely with Clare Hay and Stanley Mann on this one. Continuous history is what counts. There is no such thing as a completely original usable vintage Bentley. At the very least, tyres, battery, brake and clutch linings etc. will have been replaced several times if the car has had anything like normal use. Deterioration and replacement of some moving parts and refurbishment of others (as well as coachwork) is also inevitable.

If it was bought new and driven straight into a garage and left there, it would be undriveable today unless perishable materials were replaced and extensive recommissioning took place, but in any case this is a fanciful proposition.

Even in the art world restoration is a given. There is little or no difference in value between two paintings, one of which has been expertly restored and the other not. The identity of the original artist, and the artistic merit of the painting, are what count. And a Bentley is not a work of art but a complex engineering masterpiece, which like all mechanical products will eventually cease to work if not periodically serviced, repaired and restored. Since the old Bentley Motors went out of business in 1931, this almost inevitably involves fitting new non-Bentley parts.

On the philosophical question of what constitutes a car's identity, a non-car example may help. The USS Constitution is the oldest floating commissioned warship in the world. Over the past 220 years or so she has had many refits, repairs and restorations. It is estimated that no more than 15% of her timbers today were in the ship at its launch in 1797. Yet this has been an incremental process occurring over two centuries. Would anyone really suggest that the ship is a replica? Much the same is true of the extensively restored HMS Victory which is even older than Constitution (though no longer afloat).

Closer to home, we have the famous 1990 court case over Old Number One, which had been extensively modified and developed over the course of its racing career (and later). The judge in upholding the identity of the car ruled that "the new parts that were incorporated in this car were part of its development" and drew the crucial distinction between a replica and a car with continuous history.

Of course, there will always be a special place for old cars that are perceived to have high degrees of originality and authenticity, as against those tricked up to attract modern tastes. The current value attached to four-cylinder Bentleys with original closed bodies, perhaps shut away for decades, is a sign that collectors are increasingly appreciative of these qualities. But those of us whose cars have led harder lives, and consequently contain fewer surviving 1920s parts, have nothing to be ashamed of."