there was a fatality on the rally when a father and son driving a VW Beetle collided head on with a bus at night in India, but undeterred the crews continued towards their final destination of Paris. One aspect of the rally that Sir Gerald empha- sised in his talk was the people they met on the route, of all nationalities and religions, but all were interested in the cars, particularly the children who were not that different the world over and all showed a keen sense of curiosity about the cars and the mainly western crews. Finally pulling in to the Place de la Concorde, Sir Gerald and Bruce realised they had finished and won a silver finishers’ medal to boot and were actually one of only two cars that never requested the service crew's help, the other being a Ford. The overall winner was a British crew driving a 1943 Willys Jeep, but the award most treasured by Gerry and Bruce was the unexpected Spirit of the Rally trophy and the over £150,000 they raised for Macmillan and Motability.
Tim Morris
indsor and Chantilly not only boast magnificent castles and race courses but on the first weekend of September both venues hosted prestige Concours D’Elegance events which featured important cars with Brooklands heritage. Two Bentleys of great significance participated in the main competition at the 5th Concours of Elegance which returned to Windsor Castle for the first time since the initial event. ‘Old Number 2’ is the second of three factory Speed Sixes fitted with Vanden Plas bodywork. Built in 1930, this 6½-litre straight-six made its debut in the Brooklands Double Twelve in May of that year. It was driven by Woolf Barnato and Frank Clement who won the race having covered 2,080 miles at an average speed of 86.68mph. The following month Clement and Richard Watney took the car to second place at Le Mans having covered 1,760 miles in the 24 hours. The car is still very much original, the bodywork retaining a patina that demonstrates its age and none the worse for that. Parked alongside ‘Old Number 2’ in the castle’s magnificent Quadrangle was the 1928 4½-litre Vanden Plas Le Mans car, registration YW 5758. This car won the Brooklands 500-mile race in 1929, the fastest endurance race in the
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The Friendship Bridge, the border between China and Nepal. The route was closed in 2015 due to earthquakes which destroyed villages surrounding the bridge. Many of the villages Sir Gerald photographed in 1997 have now gone (Gerald Acher).
BROOKLANDS CARS AT TOP CONCOURS News
Erez Yardeni’s 1921 GP/TT Sunbeam at Chantilly (Gareth Tarr).
world at that time. Other successes in a three- year racing period included the 1929 Brooklands Double Twelve and Six Hours and 1931 Brooklands Gold Star Handicap Race, as well as third place in the 1929 Le Mans 24 hours. The radiator of the car has been engraved with six of its most notable results. Like ‘Old Number 2’, YW 5758 has been carefully preserved over the years and retains much of its original features. The Windsor Concours celebrated the Queens 90th birthday. 1926 was also the year of the first
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