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Specialist dealers in early Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars. 1934 Rolls-Royce 20/25 Park Ward Saloon. Click on the images below to enlarge them. To return to this page afterwards, click the 'back' button on your browser.
Just out of a forty year slumber, sitting in the same garage since the early 1970s, and now in running order, and drives around our yard following minor re-commissioning. The engine sounds sweet, and all the signs are that the refurbishment required will be relatively light. The car is in sound condition, painted in primer many years ago, and has particularly appealing, mostly original, brown leather interior. The large sliding sunroof adds to the car’s appeal. Chassis No. GYD45. Reg No. CPC 132. £24,500. Snippets:
The Brythonic Kingdom & The Embiricos Racer. Sir
Reginald Dorman-Smith, took delivery of GYD45 in 1935 at his home of Dockenfield
Manor, Frensham.
Sir Reginald was Pres of Nat. Farmers Union (1936/7) & later Min of
Agriculture (1939/40).
In 1941 he was the Gov Gen of Burma 1941/46 & was in office at the
time of the Japanese invasion & from May 1942 to Oct 1945 he was in exile in
Simla, India.
He was born in County Cavan, Ireland & his brother Eric was a
Major-General in the British Army, however after falling out with the British
establishment Eric changed his name to Dorman O’Gowan & became an Irish
Nationalist sympathiser, his other brother Victor was a Captain in the Royal
Navy.
In February 1939 GYD45 was sold to Lt Col Howard G. F. Hay who at the
time resided at Filleigh in Devon, the origin of the name is from St. Fili an
early saint of the Kingdom of Dumnonia (the Latinised name for the Brythonic
Kingdom which we know as Devon).
Col Hay’s other homes included “Gunfield” at Ingatestone and 23
Paultons Square (other notable residents of Paultons Square were Nr 19 - Paul
Nash (war artist), Nr 14 - Henry W. Fowler (lexicographer) & Nr 51 Mary
George (historian).
GYD54 was used during WWII as the Lt Col’s official staff car!
In 1954 Lt Col Hay emigrated to Australia where aged 72 he married Ethel
Wacey aged 63!
When he left the UK he gave GYD54 to his son H. S. F. Hay, known to
friends & family as Soltan.
He placed a towbar on the 20/25 & used the car to tow his prize pigs
to various shows throughout the country, we have a letter from Soltan to a later
owner of GYD45 in which he states that “she was not fast but did about 80mph
& would cruise indefinitely at 60mph” with fuel consumption of about
18/20mpg!
The other car that Soltan owned & raced was B27LE, better known as
the Embiricos Bentley which was commission in 1938 by the Greek shipping magnate
Andre Maris Embiricos & built by Marcel Pourtout.
In January 1939 it was tested a Montlhery with average speeds of 107mph,
it was then crashed by Embiricos’ chauffeur before being rebuilt & then
used to check out the new Autobahns in Germany.
B27LE was then shipped back to Brooklands where with G. Eyston driving it
achieved speeds of 115.05mph, later that year Embiricos sold the car to Soltan
who used it as his daily mode of transport & in 1949 (with 61,000miles on
the clock) Soltan entered his Bentley in Le Mans where he finished an extremely
respectable 6th place.
In 1950 & 1951 Soltan again entered B27LE into Le Mans & finished
14th & 22nd place respectively as well as setting a
record for 3 consecutive Le Mans finishes.
He continued to enjoy racing the Bentley and in 1954 finished 3rd
in the National Davidstow (Formula Libre Handicap).
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