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The boys are back in town! |
Text & Images: The Consultant
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The morning of the 13th of January was a misty winter morning, like any other winter morning in Delhi. Yet, for those gathered around North Block, South Block, and on Rajpath, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Republic day Parade preparations, the sight of a phalanx of vintage racing Bentleys snorting, popping and banging their way down was a complete surprise. It was the start of the Great India Rally, which would take the Bentleys from New Delhi all the way to Bombay via UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. |
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Organised by the Benjafield’s Racing Club, the Bentleys came in from England, and other parts of Europe, and gathered in Delhi at the Taj Palace hotel prior to the start. The Benjafield’s Club has a small number of members, just 85, who are interested in racing and rallying their vintage Bentleys anywhere they can. Previous exploits have seen members driving in countries as diverse as Turkey and Argentina. For the India Rally, a total of 7 Bentleys were in the fray – a 3-litre, two 4.5-litres, three Speed Sixes, and one amazing 8-litre. After reaching Bombay, the club had a special service at the Gateway of India to remember those who perished in the attack of 26/11. |
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AX: What was the stimulus for you, what got you into cars?
PS: Well, as soon as I understood the wheels of a motor car turned round I was hooked. Long before I went to school, I was totally absorbed by them. I can clearly remember the first car I sat in – an SS Jaguar saloon, black with brown upholstery, and I sat in the right-hand rear seat. I was already fascinated by suspensions and why cars make the noise they do long before I started going to school. I became fascinated by the Bentley story, and at school I was most interested in the three Bs... Bentley, Birkin, and BRM.
AX: How did the idea of the India Rally come about?
PS: It’s been 4 years in gestation really. I had conceived the possibility of doing this rally after 2000, after traveling in India in my 3-litre Bentley. I brought my family – my wife, my son Edward, and my daughter Anna. The roads, ten years ago, were much worse than they are now. But the car had no problems at all, and we were so thrilled with the way everybody treated us in India that we decided to try and put an event together when the opportunity was right. Being chairman of the Benjafield’s Racing Club, as I was at the time, I suggested it to all the drivers and asked if they would be willing to take the risk, and they all said yes. Four years ago, I got their consent and I started the work to put this rally together.
AX: Tell us about the Benjafield’s Racing Club please…
PS: Benjafield’s Racing Club was started in 1990. It was a group of racing drivers who had been racing for many years with the Bentley Driver’s Club, a club that started in 1936 and is a very distinguished, brilliant club, the best one in my view – they race, rally and socialise every day of the week throughout the year, and it’s a marvelous fraternity of about 3,000 people… but they didn’t focus solely on racing and rallying, and we felt we would like to have a club that focused solely on vintage racing and rallying, so we created the Benjafield’s Racing Club. |
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AX: Why Benjafield’s Racing Club?
PS: It’s called Benjafield’s Racing Club because, in 1927, the Le Mans 24 Hour Race was won by a Dr. Dudley Benjafield and Sammy Davis in a 1927 3-litre Bentley, despite the famous White House Crash. Old number seven, though it was number three in the race, was extracted from the wreckage, and though it was very badly damaged, they put a new wheel on it, and, with just one headlight, it carried on to win the race. Dudley Benjafield, to us, epitomised the gentlemanly aspect of the sport – he was a great gentleman, polite and courteous as well as a great driver on the track, both quick and safe. When it came to winning a race, and he was partnered with another driver, if he was well in the lead, he would bring the car in on the last lap and hand over to his driver saying, “You win the race,” which is very sporting. We felt he embodied the right spirit for us. He was very much a team player, like the members of the club. No one is a prima donna and if somebody starts getting too clever, we start throwing bread rolls at them.
AX: Can you tell us about the charitable aspect of this rally?
PS: Yes, the background to running it for charity is that we thought it appropriate to help Indians who are trying to develop their new safety systems on the road and elsewhere – factories and wherever health and safety norms are required. We have been involved with this kind of work in other continents, and we thought we would help Indians too, that is to help them cope with disaster situations, so we are supporting the Rashtriya Life Saving Society.
AX: How many Bentleys have you got on this rally?
PS: We’ve got seven vintage Bentleys on this rally – three Speed-Sixes, which is a high number, two four-and-a-half litre cars – one a Tourer and one a Le Mans car – one three litre, which is a baby, and one eight-litre. It’s a real eight-litre as well, though it’s been rebodied, and has a Le Mans body on it now – it’s a colossal car and very noisy. But the noisiest car is the Speed Six. My car is the oldest car in the rally, a 1925 three-litre, and I have raced and rallied that car for 23-24 years. I’ve just rebuilt the engine, and as I haven’t had time to run it in, I’ll be doing that in India.
AX: How do you feel about Ettore Bugatti’s (in)famous statement about Bentleys being the fastest lorries in the world?
PS: Well, if I had a choice in taking a Bugatti from Delhi to Bombay or a Speed Six, then there is no choice because a Bugatti wouldn’t make it past Agra – it would need major work. Fabulous cars, but they are very delicate; rather like Swiss watches, they need constant loving care and attention, like a temperamental French woman. But Bugatti was actually passing a compliment, though people think it was derogatory remark – he was actually saying he was hugely impressed.
AX: Did Rolls-Royce do Bentley a disservice after they took over, you think?
PS: Their attitude at first was wrong, and they treated Mr. Bentley very badly – he was brutalised by them frankly. He was neutralized, he couldn’t design a car, though they let him do testing, he wasn’t allowed to provide any input towards design, and he was a very frustrated and sad man because he had created this tremendous image that they ruined. But I have to say that the Derby car, the silent sports car that they produced, was a very fine car. Looking at it in a historical perspective however, Rolls-Royce saved the name of Bentley.
AX: How do you feel about the fact that the two finest English marques ever are, today, both German owned?
PS: I have to say that in both cases they have put in tremendous resources. They’ve put in development work and backing, a modern plant, which is just not available in Britain. We’ve never had the economic scale to do it. Before VW-Audi bought the company, Bentley Motors was a small company just bumbling along producing tiny numbers of hand-built cars. The takeover has been a boon to the make, and the marque, and I have to say that the Continental GT today is a product anybody would be proud of, including Mr. Bentley.
AX: Which states will the rally be traveling through?
PS: Starting from Delhi, we go to Agra and then to Jaipur. Then Jaipur to Jodhpur, Jodhpur to Udaipur, Udaipur to Ahmedabad, from Ahmedabad through Baroda to Surat, and then we finish in Bombay. There will be a prize giving dinner in Bombay, and the following day we have a service at the Gateway of India to remember those who died in the attack on 26/11 last year. We want to say to the Taj Group, and to all Indians – we saw what happened, we were with you all the way.
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