V-to-C Miscellany, May 1993, May 1993

Anyone who has recently looked into the Rolls-Royce showroom in Conduit Street, London W1, will have seen the prototype Bentley R-type Continental, which in the 1950s was used by R-R for development testing and attained a speed of 120mph, then 20 per cent faster than any others of this range. This Bentley, OLG 490, covered over 250,000 miles on this and demonstration work between 1951 and 1960. It was sold to Stanley Sedgwick, then-president of the BDC, who did another 122,000 miles in it before selling it to its present owner, Victor Gauntlett. Longevity indeed!

This is why Rolls-Royce claims that more than 60 per cent of all the cars it has made since 1904 are still in existence.

The Aston Martin OC is holding its Road Rally on June 11/13, starting from the AM/Lagonda works at Newport Pagnell and finishing at Silverstone for the St John Horsfall race meeting. It is open to all AMs, plus other pre-1968 and pre-I975 cars, in those classes. Regs from Sandra Deacon on 071379-7863. Another one-make fixture is that of the Jensen OC, which has its International Weekend at Shrigley Hall, Pott Shrigley, near Macclesfield, on lune 18/20, with charity benefits. Details from Thelma Smith on 0283-760535.

That rare car, the straight-eight Hampton, is now fully restored and we hear that a replica Leyland 8, to be built around an original engine, is contemplated by an enthusiast in Kent. If any readers possess Leyland spares he would be glad to hear from them. W B