1929 Bentley beauty at charity car show

 

Among the many vintage and classic cars in an unassuming Prescott Valley garage is a 1929 Bentley owned by Dick and Diane Belveale of Prescott.

 

They’ve had it for three or four years now, and the story behind how it came to be in their possession starts with when Dick joined the Bentley Drivers Club, after getting his first Bentley, he said. The club had sent a directory of all the other people who had the make of car, and the only other person in Arizona who had one lived in Carefree, so he got to know the man.

 

Dick Belveale with his 1929 Bentley that will be at the Special Cars “fore” Special Athletes charity car show Sunday, Oct. 14.

 

At the time, the other person was 93 years old, had two Bentleys and was dying of old age, Dick related.

 

“I bought those two from him,” Dick said. “He wanted to sell them before he died and he didn’t want to sell them to a used-car auction house.”

 

The men looked into the history of the 1929 vehicle well before Dick bought the cars because it was both of their hobbies, Dick said. Given the nickname “Greenfly,” the car was once owned and driven by Johnnie Green, who wrote “Bentley: 50 Years of the Marque,” which is considered the definitive work on Bentleys. Green was also a serious race car driver.

 

The car was raced at Brooklands and Silverstone in the United Kingdom and regularly clocked in at 92 mph. It’s a unique car, and Dick feels honored to have it.

 

The public will have a chance to see the 1929 Bentley and 149 other classic cars at a charity car show called Special Cars “fore” Special Athletes at The Club at Prescott Lakes, 315 E. Smoke Tree Lane, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14.

 

Tony Hamer, co-chair for the show, noted one interesting aspect of the Bentley is its fabric-covered body.

 

“That came out of the old manufacturers of airplanes from the first World War,” Hamer said. “All these guys finished the war, they had nowhere to take their trade. Bentley picked them up.”

 

Admission to the show is free and donations are welcome, Hamer said. Sponsors have also made donations, and proceeds will go to Special Olympics in Prescott, Prescott Valley and Chino Valley. Past shows have brought in $10,000 to $15,000, and the expectation this year is somewhere around $25,000, Hamer said.

 

Also part of the event will be music, food, vendors, demonstrations, silent auctions, raffles, a ladies’ fashion show, dog training exhibition, blind magician and the Beautiful Signers.

 

Hamer said he’ll have his 1968 E-Type Jaguar as part of the show and mentioned that the 1929 Bentley will sit opposite a 1954 Bentley.

 

“People can look at them and do a comparison,” he said.

 

Next year, Bentley Motors will be 100 years old, and Dick Belveale’s Bentley is invited to a huge Bentley rally in the summer, will do a tour on the California coast and go to Colorado, said Stephen Golde of Fine British Cars, Ltd.